Letters To The Editor

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Dogs don’t belong at public events

At this year’s Fourth of July fireworks show at Riverfront Park, my wife and I were sitting out on the lawn in the Lilac Bowl enjoying our evening, listening to the music and people-watching. It seemed as though a good time was being had by all.

Directly behind us was a lady sitting and minding three dogs. Just to my left was a family with a Golden lab with it’s tail wagging happily, only occasionally hitting me and was slightly annoying.

Behind me, I could tell that one of the dogs in the group of three was becoming agitated and it began barking. Again, that was only slightly annoying. Then, all of a sudden and without warning, one of the dogs attacked one of the others and it turned into a violent and frightening experience. The woman “minding” the dogs lost control and it took some quick intervention by others around her to control the situation.

This incident could have turned much uglier. People could have been hurt. There were very small children nearby and the woman with the dogs herself could have been attacked. The incident turned a tranquil moment into a very frightening one.

It’s time the Parks and Recreation Department put out a rule excluding dogs from large events. Bringing dogs to these events does no one any good - especially the dogs.

People bring their dogs only to show them off and not for the benefit of the dog. Dog owners should consider those around them at these events. Kevin M. Connolly Spokane

Kids run wild with laser light

The Fourth of July wasn’t the celebration it might have been. Five well-dressed youths about 13-15 years old and sporting a cell phone turned the day much darker than the clouds overhead.

They were using a laser light to harass the ducks and geese. Then they started using the light on some nesting birds. I said something to the girl about the eggs not hatching if she drove the goose from the nest. She laughed and succeeded in driving the goose away. Then, they proceeded to shine the laser into the birds’ eyes until they commented they may have succeeded in blinding one bird because of its erratic movements.

When all of the animals had departed, a new victim was chosen - a small child they shined the laser at until he cried that his eyes hurt. It was comical to them that the mother couldn’t figure out any real problem and ignored the child’s complaints.

Upping the thrill again, the youths began shining the laser into the eyes of oncoming drivers on the Division Street Bridge. On a bridge full of people, it would take just a jerk of the steering wheel to cause serious consequences.

I called 911 and reported the hazard these children presented.

My own daughter, only a few years older than these children, spent the Fourth of July in Kosovo, in a tent hospital helping refugees. The street kids she knew in high school would not have behaved in this manner; most of them knew better.

I hope a parent or peer of these kids will step in where none of us has the authority. Yvonne Welles Spokane

WASHINGTON STATE

Ignore the inevitable whining

Backers of Initiative 695, the $30 license tab initiative, have collected almost twice as many signatures as they needed to get this issue on the ballot. In Olympia, wheels are already turning as special interests, bureaucrats and politicians shift into high gear to defeat this popular measure which has over 70 percent of the public jacked up, according to a recent poll. So get ready for those “educational ads” paid for with our own money as bureaucrats and the political class attempt to enlighten the public as to just what this will “cost” us if we decide we’re tired of paying outrageous fees for the privilege of driving on goat paths.

After years of squandering excise taxes on nontransportation programs, they will now insist they can’t fix our rutted roads unless we continue to grease the system. Spare me. Where’s that $1 billion surplus they bragged about in public while fighting privately over which would be the best way to grow our already overinflated state government?

But the real pressure will come close to voting day, when the TV announcer ominously suggests that we have only two choices - vehicle excise taxes or a state income tax. In the words of the taxman, pay me this way or pay me that way; just pay me. That’s a false choice, and a political ploy that smells like a dead skunk in the middle of the road in August.

Here’s our chance to tell tax-hungry Olympia, Don’t tread on me! Vote for I-695. Rick Melanson Spokane

FIREARMS

Lindholdt commentary valuable

This is in response to Paul Lindholdt’s June 27 Roundtable column, “I just don’t need or want firearms any more.”

I applaud the courage of the piece and the spirit in which it seems to have been written. There is a harsh poetry to be found in the images he relates.

He traces his own rocky evolution from someone who has hunted for sport and for fun to someone who has given up guns because he can no longer find a place for them in his life. Hunting for sport no longer holds the allure it once did for him, thanks to perhaps a shift in his perception of the environmental, societal and personal toll firearms can take. Perhaps it’s time that we all take a closer look at that toll.

Lindholdt’s words can serve as a reminder that guns, be they used in sport, as protection or in criminal activity, can be a permanently lethal force with which to be reckoned, one that can change our landscape and our lives. Dawn L. Saari Spokane

Writer got amendment right

Pamela C. Behring gave the correct interpretation of the Second Amendment (Letters, June 6). It doesn’t concern private citizens. If it did, wouldn’t you expect a large number of lawsuits and the Supreme Court overturning gun control laws on the basis of the Second Amendment?

The media, including The Spokesman-Review, haven’t been reporting such actions, so Behring’s interpretation is correct. Walter A. Becker Pullman

ARYAN NATIONS

How sad, how unnecessary this hatred

I read the paper this morning and was appalled by the acts of the Aryan Nations. I pity these people who think that the “white society” is superior to all other races.

I am Korean American and I am proud to be a minority. I am proud to say that I don’t pity myself because I am of the minority. I do pity those who are of the Aryan Nations. They are the people who are hurting their own majority of people. Many Caucasians turn their backs on the Aryan Nations because they are a disgrace to their race.

I don’t understand the Aryan Nations for thinking that they are superior. I never can understand why they think that they have to hold rallies and curse those for not following them. They think that they are doing their best and they think it to be their calling on this Earth to discriminate against those who are not white.

Where do they come up with the idea that they need to do what they do and act as they do?

I am very offended when it comes to this subject. My parents tell me, “It’s happening wherever you go.” To me, nothing happens when people are mad at one another. Nothing will ever get accomplished when two groups are mad at each other and all they do is yell at each other.

Yes, opinions are heard, feelings are hurt, but what comes of it? No one goes home thinking that they have won. People only think of what could have happened. And they think that if they hadn’t done this and that, what would have happened?

I pity those who think that there is no more room for those of so-called “colored skin.” Isn’t this America, home of the free? Katie A. Brashear Spokane

BELIEFS

Just deal in genuine love

Re: Posting the Ten Commandments in schools.

Just a reminder: The Ten Commandments were issued several thousand years ago to an angry, unruly and feisty bunch of people. (Sound familiar?) Then, they had about 2,000 years to figure out how to implement those rules. Guess what? It didn’t work because everyone missed the point.

So a new rule was given, one that summed up and overshadowed all the rest: Love. If you love your neighbor, you won’t kill him. If you really love him, you won’t take his wife or his stuff or lie to him. If you truly understand the love of God, you won’t need a fake god.

You will abide in God’s rest in every moment and will understand the true power of God’s name.

I am a Christian but I do not live by the Ten Commandments. And I don’t want them on my wall. However, it seems that when I practice genuine love toward fellow humans, myself and God, I manage to comply with the Ten Commandments in the process.

Posting more rules, no matter how righteous they are, will do nothing to heal broken people. We have enough history to make that obvious. Only love can heal and change people. Authentic, total, even undeserved love, given, received, lived, learned and taught. Maybe if we posted that rule - and lived by it - what a different place this would be. Heaven, perhaps? Jean Tinder Mead

Church leaders’ attitude lacking

I am dispirited by the Calvary Chapel church leaders feeling it is necessary to sponsor a speaker dedicated to dismantling the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This act is totally against what Christianity is all about, which is building up members.

Calvary Assistant Pastor Duane Wilson says he has “a heart of love for the Mormons,” but this act of the Calvary Chapel leadership to bring in Mckeever is to demolish and discredit another Christian religion. Where is the love Wilson talks about?

It is important for leaders of any Christian church to help its members find the path which will lead to happiness and life everlasting. If Calvary Chapel is a church of love, it should invite a leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to its forum to discuss theology and doctrine, and let the spirit of our heavenly father act on those who attend. The spirit will guide those who are seeking truth and love. Tom Hix Spokane

Mormonism is not Christianity

A front page article on June 29, “Latter-day Saints marching in,” dealt with the growth of the number of Mormons. The author described Mormonism as “an American-born branch of Christianity.” That description is quite common but is actually very false.

By reading the literature of Mormonism’s leaders, it’s easy to discern that Mormonism is a polytheistic religion, in which the after-death destinies of Mormons are determined by their obedience to church rules of external behavior, and by participation in mandated rituals and ceremonies.

In direct contrast, Christianity is a monotheistic faith, in which one’s eternal life is secured by a personal trust in, and relationship to, the living God, who is Jesus Christ.

The moral principles advocated by Mormons are similar, in many ways, to Christianity. However, the most important and fundamental beliefs of Mormonism and Christianity are mutually exclusive. Mormonism is its own unique religion. It is not a form of Christianity. Jim Briggs Coeur d’Alene

So, which is it?

In the well-written July 3 article by staff writer Kelly McBride about the intended coming of a speaker to Calvary Chapel (who evidently has a message to Mormons), the reader senses one inescapable conclusion: For Mormons, the highest level of salvation means to attend a temple and follow the teachings of the LDS. Whereas, for Calvary Chapel people, the emphasis is on salvation through believing in Jesus Christ in a personal way and following the teachings of the Bible.

Did she mean to leave that conclusion? Or does that just seem to be the basic difference between the Mormons and Calvary Chapel? David W. Thorin Veradale

OTHER TOPICS

Picture spoke louder than words

On July 4, The Spokesman-Review editorial board reviews its guidelines for discussing and writing about topics. One of your statements is encouraging: “We encourage vigorous commentary, but avoid vilification, personal attacks and talking down to readers.”

Less than four inches from that statement, you feature a political commentary by staff cartoonist Milt Priggee, a member of the editorial board, that pictures Rep. Dennis Hastert sitting behind a counter at a whorehouse with a picture of a nude prostitute on the wall. The sign on the wall says, “Welcome to the House of Hastert.” There are three geeky-looking white males waiting their turn as customers. The heading for the editorial and Priggee’s cartoon is “Editorial values are all-American.”

It’s a very conflicting commentary that apparently excludes persons of Republican or conservative views. Donald B. Morrison Spokane

Let’s not forget there was a Girls State

Re: “Playing politics” (Our Generation, July 5).

I just want to recognize the fact that the week before Chris Rodkey and his friends attended Boys State, the 53rd session of Evergreen Girl’s State, run by the American Legion Auxiliary, took place. Like the boys, we had to create our governments and solve problems (my city was plagued by habitual flooding from a nearby river), and spent hours passing legislation.

It was a wonderful experience that I and my 380 new friends will treasure all of our lives. And, in defense of Central Washington University, the food was wonderful. In the longstanding tradition of Girls State, we all gained five pounds. L.E. Conley Liberty Lake

Character First would be of help

So many people think of character as a function. In order to truly embrace the idea of Character First, we must first understand the definition of character.

Webster’s defines character as “the complex of mental and ethical traits marking a person.” Character is who we are not what we do. It can be defined as honor, integrity, moral strength, honesty, goodness and uprightness.

Is Character First good for Spokane? Take a good look around. Pick any social ill, any injustice, any oppression, any discrimination or any senseless occurrence from the new list of destructive behavior phenomena now working its will on our culture. Today, like no other time in history, we suddenly find ourselves vigorously revolting against these external epidemics.

Take another look around. We are made or unmade by ourselves. By right thinking, we ascend toward perfection. By wrong thinking, we descend below the level of the beast. Between these extremes are all the grades of character and we are their maker and master. Cultivation of positive qualities results in constructive, wholesome character. Negative qualities weaken and may debase character.

Is Character First good for Spokane? Positively! Character First will sow the seeds necessary for Spokane to ascend towards excellence. Kimberly L. Drake Spokane