ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 28, 1996 TAG: 9606280016
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
I IMAGINE most taxpayers are as tired as I am of reading about (and paying for) special religious diets for Virginia prison inmates (June 18 news article, ``Inmate: Rules for diet hard to swallow'').
All prisoners should be served the same nourishing, inexpensive meals on a ``take it or leave it'' basis.
If these people were truly religious, they wouldn't be in prison. No religion I'm aware of endorses murder, rape, robbery, etc.
The moral of the story is: If you want to practice your religion freely, don't do anything that might result in your incarceration.
If we have to accommodate these religious diets, next, I suppose, will be pleas from religions that practice drug use and kill chickens.
BOB MINOR
ROANOKE
Not all pet stories have happy endings
REGARDING the Pugsy saga (June 21 news article, ``It's about doggone time: Pugsy flies home at last''):
The Pugsy story is just another page in ongoing animal neglect by owners. If you don't hear or read about it in the news, you end up seeing it somewhere when driving around town - dogs left on short chains outside in sweltering heat with no water, cattle and horses kept where there isn't ample grazing or water, dogs and cats running loose in the streets.
The soldier who had Pugsy and moved to Roanoke claims to be Pugsy's rightful owner, but the newspaper says he wasn't willing to spend the money to pay the fees to get the dog back. He doesn't deserve to own a pet, and I hope he never decides to get another unless he's willing to take responsibility for it and to care for it properly.
Animals (pets) aren't something you bring home on a whim, and then leave neglected to fend for themselves, especially when they're tied or penned up and are unable to get to the food or water they so desperately need.
If you can't afford to care for an animal properly or are unwilling to spend the time to do so, don't get one! Animals don't need to be tortured by humans.
JOHN BLAZIER
SALEM
Why should taxes support killers?
REGARDING your June 19 article, ``Polly Klaas defendant convicted of all counts'': I noted that the defendant, when found guilty, turned to the cameras and raised middle fingers on both his hands. This story makes me wonder why a cold-blooded, hardened killer like this should be allowed to live another 12 to 15 years on death row as he appeals and appeals his conviction, on and on for what will seem like forever. He should be executed within 30 days of his conviction and forgotten about.
This is also true of Lem Tuggle from Marion. What will amount to millions of dollars will be spent on these heartless killers. What a waste of taxpayer dollars!
RON PENLAND
WYTHEVILLE
Christians must take stands against evil
CHRISTIANS TAKE affirmative action! Unfortunately, many reading that sentence will be thinking along racial lines. Such is the demise of the English language. In a similar way, how is it that the word "gay" has come to mean homosexual?
As a minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, I applaud my Baptist brothers who took affirmative action against the ungodly practices of Disney (June 13 article, ``Baptists rebuke Disney''). It's refreshing to see part of the Christian church fight the true enemies of the world - the flesh and the devil, not ourselves. And for such a stand for Jesus Christ, persecution will come.
Indeed, it has already begun for the Southern Baptists. Let them and all Christ's people rejoice. It's better to suffer the mocking of the ungodly than to be told by the Lord at the final judgment: "I never knew you; depart from me'' (Matthew 7:23). Likewise, if Christ's people are ashamed of him and his words in this adulterous generation, he will also be ashamed of us when he comes in glory.
I say let God's people arise, like the Rev. Joe Wright who prayed a national prayer of confession and repentance before the Kansas state legislature (May 23 news article, ``Pastor's prayer `made everyone mad'''). He labeled many of our national practices as sin - alternative lifestyles, laziness, abortion, profanity and perversion.
Of course, such a message offends those who are wed to the spirit of the age, people who have rejected Jesus and the Bible. The truth is offensive. Christians must take their stand. It's time to take affirmative action - reforming society through love, turning away from sin but toward men, women and children who were created in God's image.
Except for a visitation of God's grace, our nation awaits judgment. Let all true Christians persist in prayer for a major revival in America, one that crosses all denominational lines in the Christian church.
TODD ATKINS
ROANOKE
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB