Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Season to banish bigotry is at hand

The men who murdered Matthew Shepard were sentenced to life in prison in supposedly redneck Wyoming. If their trial had been in Spokane, 48 percent of the jury would have voted that Shepard was not entitled to the “special” right to life.

Coeur d’Alene has made great efforts to educate and to change attitudes while Spokane denies having a problem. Our sanctimonious belief is that hatred and ignorance are problems of North Idaho.

Recently, an article appeared in The Spokesman-Review suggesting that the hatemongers who tried to establish discrimination as city policy in 1999 were considering trying again.

During the No On Discrimination, campaign, the majority of the religious leaders of Spokane were silent or spoke with a whisper. A few brave exceptions stand out. If the supposed religious leaders in this city are to be leaders, they must assume that mantel and work to educate and to counter the ignorance and hatred that are much too prevalent here.

Those in the eager-to-cast-the-first-stone group on the right should not be the only ones to be heard in our city. Many groups are maligned, marginalized, assaulted or simply ignored. We need to recognize the bigotry and hatred in our city if we are to begin healing. Let’s start the process during this season of love, of peace and good will, before someone is crucified on a fence post here. James A. Hansen Spokane

Sex offender tidings less than glad

I sighed with relief when I read the headline, “Sex offender numbers drop.” After reading the small print, “But high-risk population increases,” my relief turned into distress.

The headline was misleading. It suggests optimism when the reality isn’t so pretty.

As the article points out, the level 2 and 3 sex offender population is increasing in Spokane County. The article does not address in detail what constitutes a level 2 or 3 offender. It’s important for people to understand what these two categories mean and the impact these perpetrators have on our community.

Level 2 and level 3 sex offender profiles may include more than one victim, history of sexual deviancy, sexually aroused by children, calculated/pre-planned assaults and predisposition to violence. Our community needs to know that level 2 and 3 offenders are at high risk to reoffend.

This population has grown from 51 to 80 in Spokane County in only two years and only half are on active supervision by community correction officers.

Spokane County does a commendable job of tracking and supervising this population. However, our county’s resources are being exhausted. As this population increases, our resources do not. And, there is no law that limits where sex offenders can live.

When a victim’s perpetrator is released into the community, the victim is often emotionally shaken and relives the initial trauma. We must be aware of what affects the safety of our community. This is our community and it’s our collective business andresponsibility to be aware, get involved and be heard. Susan Fabrikant Spokane

Sexual Assault Center Selfish dolt adds insult to car injury

This letter is directed to the selfish person who dented the side of my car while it was parked in the Wandermere Fred Meyer parking lot on a recent night.

As I walked out to my car after shopping for dinner, I saw a big dent in the passenger side of my car that was not there when I parked it. I looked around and wondered how many minutes ago it had happened. Were you, the person who hit my car, watching to see my reaction? Did you feel any remorse at all when you did it? Did you run off without so much as an apology because you thought I wouldn’t care since my car is old? Or did you just not want to pay for any damage you caused?

Congratulations! You not only succeeded in taking the good out of my mood, you forced me to swallow just a bit more pride, since I now drive a car that’s not just old but old and dented. A simple but sincere “I’m sorry” would have meant so much to me. Cendi L. Scott Deer Park

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

For the children, be there and be kind

Behold, unto you a child is born.

You held her in your arms. She sat upon your lap with her pudgy legs and dimpled hands, and you plunged a knife into her flesh …. Mom?

He ate his Cap’N Crunch at the breakfast table, while the cartoons played on the TV, and you put your man hands around his neck and squeezed his throat closed … Dad?

Share a smile with a child today. It may be the only one the child gets. If they reach out their arms for a hug, give one back fiercely and with tenderness. For some, nature has sorely cheated.

Behold, unto us, children are born. Jeannie U. Greene Spokane

Pill, or lack thereof, not an answer

Re: Mike D. Carpenter’s letter on contraceptive pills (Nov. 23). Wouldn’t it be nice if we banned contraceptive pills and we cured society’s ills? If the root of our problems were that simple, we surely would have done that by now.

Unfortunately, our problems are not that simple but in fact complex.

When will people drop their illusions and accept the hard facts that promiscuity, pre- and extramarital sex, child abuse, venereal disease, abortion, broken homes and children born out of wedlock (“illegitimate ”is a terrible label for a child) have existed frequently and everywhere throughout history. These are not new problems at all, only more apparent because of the media.

We all must take responsibility for these problems, if they’re to get better. When we as a society instill into the minds of our women and men respect, dignity, autonomy and a sense of power regarding our bodies; when we as women quit allowing our bodies to be used sexually to sell virtually every product; when we teach our young girls their inherent value and potential outside of just having babies or getting a man; and when women and men conceive their children carefully, cooperatively and purposefully, and every child is loved, wanted and cared for, then these problems will begin to wane. Until then, we’ll just shake our heads and blame things we are least willing to change within our own thoughts and actions. Jenine S. Martin Cocolalla, Idaho

Blaming the pill just nonsense

Mike D. Carpenter (Letters) is no doubt one of those fellows who once would’ve preached personal responsibility and accountability for one’s actions. I didn’t read any such message in his letter. No, he would rather blame a pill, but not people, for all our social ills.

Did the pill cause the divorce rate to skyrocket or did people? Did the pill turn us away from God or was that an individual decision made by people? Did the pill destroy cherished rights or was that a decision made by lawmakers and people in society?

Apparently, Carpenter would now like to go the way of the despised liberal, now that his ilk has power. It is easier to blame our social condition on a little pill than on humanity. Or is he finally trying to tell us the other truth about the anti-choice movement - that they won’t fully control women’s lives until the contraceptive is abolished, forcing women to bear more children than they can take care of, with the certainty of disastrous consequences for children as the result?

Carpenter’s arguments don’t enhance the family, a loving relationship with God, our freedoms, or our quality of life. His thinking is part of the problem, not the solution. Joan E. Harman Coeur d’Alene

Let’s strive for `fitly spoken’

A standing ovation, please, for Jim Kershner’s gentle lampoon (Nov. 20) of our far too easy use of four-letter obscenities. I nominate him for the presidency of the yetto-be-formed Coalition for the Elimination of Boring Expletives.

I view the use of “four-letter Anglo-Saxon words, or two four-letter Anglo-Saxon words” as leading indicators not necessarily of illiteracy, (some folks who use them profusely are highly educated in terms of college degrees, etc.), but rather a lack of imagination (as Kershner points out) and chronic linguistic laziness. Even so, their constant use leaves many of us feeling dirty after being subjected to their barrage and diminished in our humanity. Surely, we can do better for one another.

Many years ago, in a career development retreat, a psychologist pointed out that if you reverse the S-word you get a very playful alternative. And, I may add, one that is much less offensive to many ears. One of my favorite euphemisms is “oh, Balderdash!” A friend usually responds to untoward events or news with, “Aw shucks.” To be sure, neither phrase is elegant but each is deeply communicative in its own way.

So, let’s hear it for imaginative expressions which leave the air clean and human dignity intact after we give vent to them! An ancient proverb gets it right: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” Teddy E. Turner Spokane

THE ENVIRONMENT

Tell USFS to protect roadless areas

The importance of Idaho’s 8 million acres of unprotected roadless areas cannot be overstated. They provide the clean water and spawning grounds for fish along with unfragmented large swaths of forest for wildlife such as grizzlies, wolves and goshawks.

The Forest Service’s own studies have shown that streams and rivers are in better shape in roadless areas than in, logged places that have roads. And scientists note that ecological health is much better in places where humans haven’t brought in bulldozers, chain saws, off-road vehicles, cows and such.

I think we can all agree that the ecological health of our precious forests is crucial. The Forest Service is considering public input for a policy to protect these remote, wild places. Comments are due Dec. 20.

The agency will also hold public hearings and open houses tomorrow, in Grangeville; Dec. 8 in Orofino; and Dec. 14, in Coeur d’Alene. Here’s your chance to protect Idaho’s heritage!

To protect the ecological integrity of roadless areas, it is important to say no to road building, all forms of logging, off-road vehicle use, new grazing permits and new oil, gas and mining leases in roadless areas. For more information, contact Friends of the Clearwater, 882-9755. Natalie Shapiro Friends of the Clearwater, Moscow

Wayward agency due for a wake up

The Forest Service had an information meeting on forest planning on the Panhandle National Forest in Coeur d’Alene on Nov. 20. The gist of the meeting was to address the bug-kill timber issue.

It may be that the Forest Service heard more than it bargained for. Clearly, the mood was tense. Jane and Joe Lunchbucket are getting tired of the way the Forest Service has chosen to listen to the enviro-activists at the expense of common sense and reason.

In the long run, the way to bring to a close the nonmanagement the Forest Service is engaged in is to unload the present administration of tired old hippies and put in a president who will have the best interests of the American people, rather than his own pitiful legacy.

In the short run, the Forest Service seems to listen to the people who are taking them to court. It might be a good idea for those of us who are tired of nonmanagement and mismanagement of our forests to hold the Forest Service accountable.

The Earth-Just-Us enviro-groups are not the only ones who can sue but they are the only ones the Forest Service will listen to until we get our acts together. Gary Garrison Northwest Timber Workers Resource Council, Kettle Falls

Don’t foist our choices on Montana

After we remove the hydroelectric plants (the only practical, clean type of power production) we are going to need some type of power production facilities to replace them. So, should we replace them with nice coal-fired plants or maybe a nice nuclear facility? This time, we should locate it at home and live with the results, since we wanted a few more salmon. The people of Montana or someplace else should not have to live with our power choices. William H. Frey Spokane

Texas literally has trees to burn?

Re: “Tragedy involves waste of trees,” Letters, Nov. 26.

Harvey Martin is right on. Although it is a tragedy that the students were killed, it is an equally great tragedy that something like this could happen on a university campus in this day and age. While we in the West try our best to protect our forests and to harvest them responsibly, Texas makes a ritual out of destroying a forest every year in the name of tradition.

I’m a football fan and a university graduate and this really burns me up (to make a pun ). How can an institution of higher learning (as Texas A&M purports to be) condone such a flagrant destruction of trees? The paper reports that they are considering continuing the 90-year-old tradition. Just think of the number of trees that have gone up in smoke during this time in the name of football tradition.

It is also interesting that a man who wants us to elect him president rushed back to his alma mater to take part in the mourning for the students. He reportedly will be there for the big game. Do Texans really support this kind thing? Are they on a different planet than we here in the West? Bill Shawl Spokane

BELIEFS

Here are some more truths

Re: “Bible Week is for reading” (Nov. 19).

If Ralph Nielsen rechecks his Bible truths, he might discover the following:

The Bible implies it’s the Word of God with phrases such as “The word of the Lord came to me. ..” (Ez. 38:1) or “The Lord said …” (Deut. 19:17).

All versions of the Bible include the Jewish Tanakh (Old Testament).

The Bible is as accurate as any other ancient document. It’s been used by archaeologists to find hitherto unknown cities. It also contains principles, including hand washing and burying waste outside of settlements, that were considered inaccurate until scientists proved them to be true.

The Bible, written by numerous authors over a millennium, is remarkably coherent. Multiple accounts of the same event are no more diverse than court testimony.

It’s true the authorship of some Biblical passages is unknown but arguments that Moses wasn’t the author-compiler of the Pentateuch have been refuted by archaeological findings.

The Tanakh says Satan is an angel who rebelled against God (Is. 14:12) and tries to destroy the righteous with accusations and incitement to sin (Zech. 3:1, Job 1-2, 1 Chr. 21:1).

Revelation 20:2 says Satan was the serpent that tempted Eve.

The Ten Commandments are listed in Exodus 20:1-17.

Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). According to the New Testament, the righteous dead had dwelt in paradise and were taken to heaven by Jesus.

The Tanakh has over 300 messianic prophecies. A third of these, including Isaiah 7:4, 9:1-2, 42:1-4, and 53:1-9, refer to the suffering messiah, whom Christians call Jesus. Jane E. Cody Spokane

Writer missed the one about `judge not’

I was completely appalled by Clif Collier’s Oct. 31 letter, “City law should be same as God’s law.”

I am a straight, married mother. He can actually call himself a Christian and be an elder of a church? Jesus would be more apt to help those Collier has discriminated against. I do wonder, who kissed his tushy and made him God? Judge not, lest ye be judged.

Collier is no better than those he has spoken of - neither is anyone else. Remember, Jesus died on the cross for the sins of everyone. The only person Collier needs to worry about is himself, until he really understands what Christianity is all about. Try reading 1 Corinthians 13: “For God is love.” Then, he can look up the word “hypocrite.”

We’re all God’s children, whether we are white, black, straight, gay, addicted, non-addicted, male, female, incarcerated or free. Before he points his finger, he should take a look at himself and he may find peace in his life. God bless him and I wish him luck. Bernadine C. Arnett Spokane