Letters To The Editor

GOVERNMENT/POLITICS

Israel has friends in U.S.

Re: “Gingrich undercuts president on Israel,” by Norman Kempster (May 27).

Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks for me and my husband when he gives his support to Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We only hope his motives for speaking out are truly heartfelt and not just a ploy for gaining votes at election time.

Not everyone agrees with the Clinton administration. Israel still has many friends in the United States.

Speak up, America, while we still can! Lillie Jane Burch Kettle Falls, Wash.

Support raise in minimum wage

People need money in their pockets to spend for our economy to function. In the second half of this century, an increasingly exorbitant amount of this nation’s wealth is becoming concentrated in the pockets of a relative few. We are losing our middle class and more of the former middle class are becoming poor than are becoming wealthy.

Prison populations and spending on prisons are increasing dramatically, while violent crime is down nationwide.

Wages are stagnant at 1970s levels and we are producing more criminals (who are becoming an incarcerated labor force disrupting the wage scale) than we are stable, healthy households.

We have three methods in which to redistribute our nation’s wealth more equitably: wages, taxation and crime.

In this participatory democracy with a government (theoretically) “of the people, by the people, for the people,” it is up to us - we the people - which method of wealth redistribution we wish to emphasize.

Through the initiative process there is an on-going campaign (Initiative 688) to raise Washington state’s minimum wage to Oregon state’s current level in two years. Please support this peaceful campaign to begin addressing one of the causes of poverty in our state. Obviously, the cost of living rises regardless of people’s wages. It’s time wages began to catch up. More money in more people’s pockets enables more people to afford better food, clothing, shelter, health care and education. This will benefit our state and our community. N.G. Hannon Spokane

Please, sign the initiative

After reading the article in the June 7 Spokesman-Review on the minimum wage issue, I was appalled at the mentality of our businesses in the Spokane area.

It was suggested that we stop pursuing this initiative because we operate differently than the West Side of the state. Well, we sure do! We aren’t progressing like they are. But we aren’t telling the voting population that it doesn’t have to be that way, and it is them that will make the difference by signing this initiative, and if successful, getting it on the ballot so that the entire state can have a say in our financial future.

We should not have “working poor.” So, Spokane, start caring. Instead of trying to stop this initiative, encourage it.

This is not an East Side vs. West Side issue. This is an issue of growth and progression, and helping our working poor better themselves, and survive!

I think we too often forget that the end result of our efforts in our community is that we get what we give. Margaret Murphy Spokane

VIOLENCE

Guns really are the problem

In the wake of the school shooting tragedies in Arkansas, Tennessee, Oregon and elsewhere, it is time to give the National Rifle Association a piece of its own rhetoric.

One of the NRA’s favorite phrases is, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Fine. Then we should all stand behind new NRA president Charlton Heston when he states that prosecution is the answer to gun violence.

Let’s prosecute everyone - and that means everyone - involved with the crime. Prosecute the person who used the gun. Prosecute the person who owned the gun and did not store it in a locked gun safe, as an accessory to the crime. Prosecute people who may have heard the shooter say ominous or incriminating things before the incident. And before we forget, prosecute the parents of the shooter if he/she is under 18.

If this is not the solution that Heston supports, perhaps the NRA and society as a whole can finally acknowledge that guns really are the problem, and the ease with which children can gain access to them to commit pre-meditated acts of domestic terrorism is a crime in and of itself. Angela M. McMullin Spokane

Cry for gun control wrong

In the May 31 Spokesman-Review was a report of extensive, scientific and factual material on gun control, “Data go against what publicity tells us” (Perspective).

As an ex-combat infantry soldier of a war and a police action who now even tries to avoid stepping on ants, I firmly believe that disarming or even restricting the ownership of weapons by law-abiding citizens is unjustifiable. That the very possibility a mark may be able to defend himself deters much crime. You see, criminals are basically cowards.

This article is the first I have seen in a newspaper that proves the general cry for gun control is wrong and harmful to the safety of our people. Robert T. Thomas Spokane

ENVIRONMENT

Keep BN from polluting aquifer

People of Spokane, please give some thought to Burlington Northern Railroad wanting to build very large fuel storage tanks over our sole source aquifer for our drinking water. Take time to think about what could happen if our water becomes polluted.

Please write to the Kootenai County commissioners, P.O. Box 9000, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83816. Letters make more of an impression than going to a meeting and expressing your opinion. Let the commissioners know we don’t want Burlington Northern to build fuel tanks over the aquifer and risk polluting it. Ruth E. Herman Spokane

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

Organized Christianity hypocritical

Regarding the recent letters about Christian congregations accepting or rejecting homosexuals, it seems Christianity, in general, overemphasizes the Biblical condemnation of homosexual practices in comparison with the numerous injunctions against fornication and adultery.

Until Christian denominations expend as much energy debating the rejection or acceptance of couples who have sex before marriage, live together without marriage, or who have extramarital sex, I will continue to view organized Christianity as hypocritical.

Too many choose to downplay or ignore “inconvenient” scriptural passages, while attempting to enforce other passages with vigor, even hostility.

The only “sinners” who truly angered Jesus, toward whom he showed no compassion, were the Pharisees - the hypocritical religious leaders of his day. Food for thought. Brett Q. Robie Spokane

Pastor practicing what he’s against

In “Written word of God final judge for acts” (May 30), Pastor Ronald Johnson criticizes Beverly Vorpahl for failing “to submit to the authority of Scripture.” But I wonder if he really practices what he preaches.

Does Pastor Johnson demand the execution of suspected “witches” (Exod. 22:18), rebellious sons (Deut. 21:18-21), those who gather sticks on the Sabbath (Num. 15:32-36) and non-virgin brides (Deut. 22:13-21)? Does he advocate slavery (Pet. 2:18), including the beating of slaves (Exod. 21:20-21) and the selling of one’s daughter into slavery (Exod. 21:7-8)?

Does he recommend punishing children for the sins of their fathers (Exod. 20:5, Isa. 14:21, 2 Sam. 21:1-9), waging complete, unmerciful genocide against one’s enemies (1 Sam. 15:3, Ezek. 9:5-6), and slaying those who do not submit to his authority (Luke 19:27)? Does he forbid women to speak in his church (1 Cor. 14:34-35)?

If he selectively ignores the “authority” of any of these “clear, simple assertions of Scripture” because they are inconsistent with modern ethical standards, he is practicing the very same form of moral relativism that he preaches so enthusiastically against.

In quoting Lev. 20:13 to exemplify the Biblical attitude toward homosexuality, Pastor Johnson conveniently omits the concluding part of the citation, i.e., “… they (homosexuals) shall surely be put to death…” Let’s hope this is another “indisputable teaching of the Bible” he and his parishioners have chosen to ignore. Jack R. DeBaun Sandpoint

EDUCATION

Eliminating programs not the answer

I’m responding to Michelle Heacox, the 9-year-old who resented the special treatment Montessori and APPLE kids receive (Letters, June 8).

You did an excellent job expressing your thoughts and pointing out some basic differences between individualized learning and the traditional classroon. Your statements deserve serious consideration by all educators.

You said, “I know the difference between sitting in a classroom all day and going on a campout.” Montessori and APPLE teachers recognize that kids know more than most adults give them credit for, and can get excited about acquiring even more knowledge when active learning takes place. I suspect the campout involved a lot of experiential nature study as well as “regular” fun. Our Montessori kids (who are just as “regular” as you are) learn by doing, not just by sitting and listening to a teacher.

You said your previous teacher wouldn’t let you do a fancy play because she didn’t have enough help. In a Montessori (and probably an APPLE) classroom, the teacher wouldn’t need much help because the students would do all the work themselves. Writing, directing, designing and making props, and acting all involve valuable thinking skills.

You might be right when you say it’s not fair, but many dedicated people are trying very hard to change our school system. I don’t think the answer is to eliminate the Montessori and APPLE programs, but to incorporate what’s good about them into regular classrooms, or to have enough of these special programs so that any child wishing to enroll in them could be accepted. Elizabeth A. White Montessori teacher, Spokane

Some heartfelt advice to graduates

If I were to present a speech at a graduation, this is what I would say.

First, I would congratulate all the students on their accomplishment. You may think it’s not that big of a deal, but you need to remember how many didn’t make it.

Secondly I would tell you how important you were to me. You came into my life, you came into my heart, I gave what I could to you and now you’re leaving. It happens every year and it’s still a bit traumatic.

Thirdly, I would advise you to find a guiding principle that is bigger than yourself. For me it has been a personal faith, and it has guided me at every turn in my life.

Most importantly, I would tell the graduates, don’t aim too low. In archery, in order to hit the bullseye right on you need to aim slightly above the mark. I think in life it’s often that way. If you aim too low you miss the mark and may even slam into the ground. On the other hand, don’t aim unrealistically high or you’ll go sailing out into the sky only to at some point come back to Earth, lost somewhere.

I’ve seen people who have aimed too low and there is a sadness to them. They aimed too low in the goals they set, the mate they chose, the morals they kept, the education sought and the jobs they accepted. They aimed too low because they were afraid to stand up for themselves and afraid to take some risks. Don’t make their mistake. Marty Robinette, teacher Lewis and Clark High School, Spokane

Parents, not state, liable for kids

A recent radio interview defined public schools very well. In the interview with a District 81 employee, violence in public schools and security measures being implemented in response were being discussed. In discussing those security measures, and obviously without realizing it, the District 81 employee was really describing the atmosphere of a prison.

When we have to put law-abiding citizens within the walls of a prison to keep them safe, something is decidedly wrong. We don’t need another Governor’s Task Force to spend more taxpayer dollars conjuring up more ways in which the government can stick its unwelcome nose into the family. The problem isn’t going to get solved until the umbilical cord from the local school to the state and federal government is severed permanently and control of the schools is returned to the parents in the local community, and parents accept the responsibility of their jobs as parents. Lynn M. Stuter Nine Mile Falls

SPOKANE MATTERS

Mark Sterk would be strong leader

Local 492, which encompasses the corrections officers (not “jailkeepers”) at the Spokane County Jail, is one of many supporters of Mark Sterk. Prior to endorsing Sterk, I met with him to discuss his position on a variety of issues, including, of course, his plans for the corrections portion of his department.

Sterk has presented a positive, directed approach without making any promises that cannot be kept. Instead, we discussed goals that are attainable through hard work, dedication and a sincere desire to make the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department exemplary.

For my part, I look forward to a new sheriff who presents a progressive attitude and sincere desire to work with all divisions within the department.

Lt. Jim Finke registered his disappointment in losing the support of the deputies’ and lieutenants’ guilds. He forgot the largest division: Corrections. Clearly, Finke should have begun his door-to-door campaign in his own back yard.

There are many reasons to support Mark Sterk. Idle promises are not among them. The department needs a strong leader to take us into the next millennium, not a glorified deputy. Joel A. Gallagher, president Local 492, Newman Lake

Name-calling blocks productivity

Recently an editorial, a guest column and a few letters to the editor all supported the Lincoln Street Bridge project and cast aspersions on those opposed. Here are some points:

Regardless of the rhetoric, we are talking about a four-lane automobile transport system. All studies show that “if you build the road, they will come.” A four-lane, one-way route, with Monroe Street carrying the other one way, would lead to a significant increase in traffic. This situation would effectively make an island out of the library and, since geared towards traffic transport, would lead to a throughway through downtown, vs. visitors to downtown.

A huge concrete structure may be minimalist in design, but it cannot be minimal in impact.

There is not sufficient money available for the project as planned, and gazing down at the falls with cars whizzing behind you would not be an enjoyable experience.

Calling those who are opposed “naysayers” blocks productive dialogue and marginalizes those of us with different views. Members of a civilized society can do better than rudely labeling those with divergent opinions. Jim Weaver Spokane