ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250013
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
LET'S GET our minds off the election for a while and think about what technology has given us in this century.
In the early part of this century, if we wanted to go to a store or visit a neighbor, we either walked, rode a horse or drove a horse and buggy. Now, if we need to go a block away, we get in our car. There went our muscles.
They say our children are couch potatoes. No wonder. They ride a school bus - even if they live only a block from the school.
Then came computers. All we now have to know is our alphabet, how to count to 100 and which button to push. There went our brain.
They have come up with patches, pills or whatever so that we can quit smoking cigarettes. There goes our willpower.
Now, what does that leave us? No muscles, no brains and no willpower. Wonder what wonderful advances technology has in store for the next century?
EDITH L. MARTIN
ROANOKE
Teens relate to new gospel music
IN RESPONSE to your Oct. 1 Extra section article, ``Charlotte crusade'':
I was disappointed with some of the comments made by my fellow Christians. No, we can't all enjoy the same tastes in music, but we can all agree on the message each genre promotes: God loves people. He accepts them, heart and soul, and changes their lives with his boundless love. It's a change that is complete and fulfilling.
My husband and I have had the opportunity to sing "bluegrass gospel" in many churches in and around the Twin County area. We have been welcomed to these congregations with open arms and open minds. Unfortunately, this article leads me to believe that contemporary Christian music is neither appropriate nor holy.
What saddened me the most were the statements, "[the teens] sure didn't have their minds on God," and " dc Talk has no place in Billy Graham's crusade."
Jesus Christ used parables when he taught the multitudes. These were simple stories of everyday occurrences. The people understood them and related to them. They applied them to their lives, and the principles in the stories changed them.
Michael W. Smith and dc Talk may not be great hymn writers like Fanny Crosby or V.P. Ellis, but they use words, rhythms and images that today's youth can understand, relate to and apply to their lives. You can be sure the Rev. Graham realizes this.
JENNIFER H. BROOMS
FRIES
Get ready for Clinton's bite
MY EXPERIENCE has taught me that the American electorate generally gets what it deserves in its votes for a president. The unfolding of this presidential election campaign reminds me of the fable of the youth and the pretty snake.
It seems that a youth spotted a pretty snake and greatly admired it. The pretty snake encouraged the youth to pick it up and take it home. By training, the youth had been admonished to avoid all snakes, and told the snake that he was afraid it would bite him. But the smiling snake pleaded that it was very delightful and pretty, and it certainly could cause the youth no harm. The snake was so persistent and charismatic that the youth picked up the snake - and was promptly bitten. Shocked and dumbfounded, the youth cried out, ``I can't believe you bit me." To which the snake coldly responded, "You knew I was a snake when you picked me up."
Voters have been warned of the declining integrity and liberal, socialistic agenda that awaits a Clinton victory in November. And the greater a victory, the greater will be encouragement for the resurgence of government intrusion (more laws, taxes, control) into our lives and activities. For those who do not desire this outcome or do not believe their training, do not be surprised when you are bitten.
But capitalism will not be completely dead. The enterprising entrepreneur who has the template for the popular 1994 bumper sticker proclaiming "Don't Blame Me, I Didn't Vote for Clinton'' should be making a lot of money by 1998.
MAX BEYER
ROANOKE
Beirut killings have not been avenged
IT WAS 6:22 a.m., Oct. 23, 1983, Beirut, Lebanon. A suicide driver in a yellow Mercedes truck smashed through the front of the Battalion Landing Team headquarters and into the atrium lobby.
At least 12,000 pounds of explosives were then detonated. The roof was lifted completely from the top of the four-story building. It then slammed back down, crushing each floor below it. Two hundred forty-one Marines, sailors and soldiers were burned, crushed and smothered to death. More American servicemen died that morning than in any single day since World War II. When I look back, my first memory is of how young most of them were.
Today, I don't blame President Ronald Reagan, though it was his failed and ill-conceived policy that put our Marines in harms way.
He sent us to Beirut literally overnight. He was humiliated and panicked over the slaughter of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in Beirut by Christian militiamen in September 1982. The Marines landed and were ordered to sit tight for months in a treacherous, tactical position, with the Shouf Mountains on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other.
The month before the bombing was known to our Marines in Lebanon as the September war. There was daily combat against Amal militias and Syrian and Iranian fighters. Our Marines were going through the hell that is war before the bombing.
I blame Hussein Mousaawi, the Shiites, Iranians and the Hezbollah. A devout follower of Moussawi bought the explosives that killed our servicemen, and his cousin got the truck. Moussawi has been quoted as saying that killing our Marines, sailers and soldiers in Beirut was a good and brave deed. Laughing, he said that the ruins of the BLT are a statue to a great achievement.
It hurts me every day to think that those people are still alive, and our brave, young servicemen who died in Lebanon will never be avenged.
JERRY ELLER II
SALEM
Making too much of `Photogate'
IT APPEARS that Mark Warner is grasping at straws after a long campaign that started off very promising for him and his party. Falling short in the polls and with time running out, he's making a scandal out of a case of poor judgment. When it comes to ``Photogate,'' there is no reason he should be upset - except, of course, if he dislikes the tie he is wearing in the picture.
Was the act wrong? Yes, but what are the damages? He's put in the shoes of one of Virginia's senators shaking the hand of a former governor of Virginia in the presence of the president of the United States - all of whom are members of his own party.
Mark Warner refers to the act as an attempt to smear his campaign. It's only a smear if he doesn't associate with the rest of the liberals in the picture, and that isn't the case. I am sure Mark Warner has shaken Doug Wilder's hand. I am sure John Warner has, too! Mark Warner even worked on Wilder's campaign. So, why is Mark Warner so upset?
I am not condoning the act at all. It's wrong. But like most politicians, Mark Warner thinks that if something is wrong and the other guy did it, it must be good for him. John Warner's campaign used poor judgment and that should be noted, but making a scandal out of it is absurd.
S. MARK HARRELL
ROANOKE
Voters mustn't sell out for Clinton
AFTER MUCH thought and soul-searching, I don't see how an American with any principle or personal integrity could possibly vote for Bill Clinton or anyone associated with him. He has made a joke of the office of president of the United States.
Voters, don't sell your freedom for the promise of a few dollars.
GEORGE W. BUSH SR.
ROANOKE
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