Letters

Bible doesn’t track changes

I often wonder at the wisdom of quoting the Bible to buttress a position, as Bill Wilson did in his Feb. 13 letter (“Homosexuality is a sin”). The Bible offers support for or against so many positions that one has to wonder about its value in a debate.

Wilson thinks the Bible condemns homosexuality. Yet, it also condemns work on the Sabbath – Exodus 31:14 and 31:15 says that anyone who works on the Sabbath “shall surely be put to death.”

Well, times have changed, along with our customs and understanding. I can’t remember the last execution for Sabbath work. So why are some of us still looking to the Bible to support our homophobia?

Bob Wynhausen

Sandpoint

Money gets to talk

Regarding Al French’s defense of Todd Mielke’s testimony before the Legislature on Senate Bill 6154, which would require citizens to know the Washington annotated code and have to pay $400 to appeal any decision made by government officials:

I think it would be more to the point that city and county officials be required to quote the section of code that supports their decisions. I know there were many times when I was on the Spokane County Planning Commission when the county commissioners completely disregarded the recommendations of the Planning Commission and the code. On appeal, the county was regularly found at fault because they were more concerned with providing favors to their campaign supporters than following any regulations.

You will also note that neither French nor Mielke opposed the requirement that citizens must pay $400 to question the poor decisions that are made, proving once again that only those with money get to talk.

Lindell Haggin

Spokane

Marine action was insulting

The photograph of U.S. Marines posing in front of a Nazi SS rune flag in Afghanistan (Feb. 10) is an obscenity and an insult to American soldiers who fought the SS to the death in Europe.

Is there no one in the Marine chain of command who is aware of the Malmedy massacre during the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945? Is there no one in the Marine chain of command who is aware of the millions of military and civilian deaths caused by the Waffen and Death Heads SS? Do the Marines realize that, if they had displayed that horrible flag after Malmedy, U.S. soldiers would have killed them – no prisoners, no exceptions?

I believe that senior NCOs and junior officers should be punished severely for this violation of American arms. Perhaps we should begin to teach history again.

Louis D. Zenowich

Sagle, Idaho

Don’t repeal gay marriage

Feb. 13 was a historic day in Washington. Though it has long been argued that, among other reasons, gay marriage should be allowed because it doesn’t really affect other people individually, the truth is that it does. It lifts everybody up because we’ve collectively taken a giant step forward in the march to equality.

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s personal journey that resulted in support for this issue is a common story. Just eight years ago gay marriage was used as a wedge issue to get people to the polls who would vote to keep it illegal and, the idea was, vote President George W. Bush in for a second term. While there are still many places that would not support these rights, it’s worth noting how far we’ve come so quickly.

I’m so happy for my gay friends and my friends’ gay parents. We should all be excited that so many lives are about to improve. Let’s not mess it up with a repealing referendum.

Greg Standal

Spokane

Questions on equal rights

In the name of equal rights, gay marriage has been signed into law in the state of Washington. But I have a couple of questions. I haven’t read the text of the bill. Maybe someone who has will have the answers for me.

In the name of equal rights, do two biological sisters who are lesbians have the right to marry each other? If they don’t, then their equal rights are being violated. In the name of equal rights, do two biological brothers who happen to be gay have the right to marry each other? If they don’t, then their equal rights are being violated.

And if they do have the right to marry each other, then do a heterosexual brother and a heterosexual sister have the right to marry each other? If they don’t, then their equal rights are being violated.

Cal Emerson

Spokane

Health care conundrums

From an AP release: “Another bill, by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., would go even further by allowing health plans to deny coverage for any service that violates their beliefs.”

Some people believe that any medical intervention is wrong. Does that mean that they can refuse to provide any health care for their employees? Less extreme: Some have religious objections to transfusions. Would they be able to deny coverage for those in the health plans that they offer?

Tim Rolfe

Spokane

Paul is misunderstood

Ron Paul. Love him or hate him. As I travel about wearing my Ron Paul button, I find that for the most part people don’t really know why they don’t like him.

So, why do young people flock to his banner? Could it be because he has promised to reduce the federal debt?

Those who do understand something of Ron Paul object to his foreign policy or legalizing drugs. First off, Ron Paul is not an isolationist but a noninterventionist. That means we don’t go into another country and kill their leaders when they have done nothing to harm us.

Some of our leaders want war with Iran. Fine! So, how many innocent men, women and children will be killed if we do that? Israel has much more at stake than we do, and they have plenty of nuclear weapons.

Ron Paul has never suggested legalizing drugs; it is just that he believes this ought to be left to the states, just like murder, assault and rape.

If Ron Paul is elected, the only ones who need to worry are those with their hands in the cookie jar.

Jim Hollingsworth

Coeur d’Alene

Are wolves the culprits?

I have lived in Pend Oreille County since 1978. I am an avid hunter and spend at least three months in the woods every year. Over the last three years, the deer and elk populations around us have been devastated. Where I used to see a lot of elk, they are all but gone. Around my place, which used to be the best deer hunting in the county, the deer are down to the lowest level ever.

The cause, I believe, is the expanding wolf packs. We started seeing wolves around our place three years ago in the Diamond Lake area. If you go up into the woods now, you will see wolf tracks behind every elk, moose and deer track in the snow. Talking to many other hard-core hunters in the area, they all agree that the wolves have taken a heavy toll on the wildlife.

Another three years of this and you can kiss the elk population goodbye. Perhaps the Fish and Game Department could address this issue before it is too late. Maybe trap some of the wolves here and send them over to Olympia.

Paul Carter

Newport, Wash.

Workers’ safety a priority

The Jan. 25 article about the upcoming toxic cleanup at Kaiser described all the potential environmental concerns but nothing about the safety for workers that will remove pollutants.

In 1988, as an environmental health specialist for the Spokane Health District, I was involved in a case where a number of temporary workers hired by General Electric became seriously ill after cleaning PCB sludge at the Trentwood plant. Workers were exposed to strong cleaning solvents and were provided minimal protection from cleaning agents being used. The whole case could’ve been avoided if proper safety measures were followed. The case went to trial, and on July 13, 1994, workers were awarded $13 million.

One worker told reporter Lynda Mapes: “Money can’t replace my health,” and “I’ve been cheated out of my life.” Appealed in December 1994, the settlement was reduced to $1.5 million.

I have thought of this case many times over the years, hoping remaining workers are OK. I learned recently that the worker Mapes interviewed in 1994 died in 2003.

I’m sure safety requirements of today are emphasized more than in 1988 – so although we all appreciate and want protections for the environment, workers’ safety should be first and foremost.

Diane Nebel

Rosalia, Wash.

New camp site inferior

Many points have been made regarding Camp Easton, but there’s one nobody can dispute: The new property’s waterfront is dramatically inferior to what the Scouts already own. This new property sits on aptly named Windy Bay, making it very unsafe for novice boys learning how to sail, canoe, kayak and row. Conditions here can change from placid to high winds and waves in minutes. Add to the mix increased boat traffic area from the nearby marinas, and you have a disaster waiting to happen.

Our current site has excellent accessibility, sitting in a protected bay. The new property’s waterfront activities will be crammed into a very small rocky area with no beach that is continually deposited with lake debris. This entire narrow and rocky shoreline cannot be altered under Department of Lands rules.

It is a 175-foot steep climb to the waterfront where boys must wear protective footwear at all times because of all of the jagged basalt rock. The proposed swimming area will be an artificial environment, created by placing a man-made underwater ramp with side walls. It’s essentially a swimming pool in the lake. This expensive piece of equipment will have to be replaced or repaired often.

Mark Whitt

Athol, Idaho

Why all the clapping?

The recent gay marriage legislation should give all citizens pause. Is the purpose to find a politically correct solution to a particular interest group’s demands? Political correctness implies an incorrectness. The obscurity lies in who sets the standard. It follows that anything that’s incorrect needs to be corrected; by re-education you become a right thinker. Failing that, you might be labeled a bigot, a racist or even an enemy of the people.

Nature, as a whole, is an ordered thing. Are citizens who object to same-gender marriage as disordered in a strict Darwinian sense correct? If they are correct, how can it be a public good? If incorrect, is the argument that it is ordered sustainable? The attempt to redefine accurate and historical definitions is to undermine them. Can a fiction be made real by legislative fiat?

Citizens of a religious persuasion hold marriage as something sacred or a sacrament. The separation of church and state goes both ways. A government with authority to not require something has authority to require it. In truly politically correct societies, you don’t want to be the first one to stop clapping.

Tom Crooks

Oakesdale, Wash.