| Think now: Where do ‘rights’ come from?
By CAL BEVERLY
editor@thecitizennews.com Join me as we try to think, together. Think. Stick to the issue. Ask pertinent questions. Attempt to answer those questions. - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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- Some lessons on minority rights
I’ve been reading a great deal about the Constitutional Convention of 1787 over the past few months. The entire process, and particularly the personalities involved, make for magnificent theater, and I’m left with a sense of wonder and awe at their ability to put aside cherished personal themes for the good of the nation. The document they produced has withstood the test of time and practicality, allowing for stable, flexible governance amidst the worst of economic times, and even civil war. Some lessons on the people’s right to vote As a Fayette County resident almost all of my life, a product of Fayette County Schools from kindergarten to high school graduation, and now a social studies teacher at Fayette County High School, I was disgusted by the lies and untruths you published in the March 3, 2004 edition of your paper. Same-sex marriage: Instead of insults, stick to the actual issues Why is it that when liberals attack conservative positions, they so often resort to personal insults and unsubstantiated denunciations of motive? Case in point: in the last issue of The Citizen, Mike Boylan accused persons opposed to gay marriage of “hating” homosexuals and harboring some irrational fear that gays were after their children. I’m not sure if this is the right place to send this, but I so enjoyed the editorials about our “misrepresentatives” and I immediately contacted them and left messages for the ones I had addresses for. Let your people vote! I have picked up The Citizen so many times in the last four years that I’ve lived in Fayetteville and have flipped to anything Michael Boylan has written because he writes with amazement and amusement about all the things near and dear to a Fayette County citizen’s heart. Like Lewis Grizzard and Celestine Sibley back in the 1970s and ’80s, he struck a chord with me. I’ve laughed and identified with many of Mike’s writings. One of my favorites is Mike’s article about YMCA Summer camp. Loved the editorial on “What About our Rights?” Here’s what we should do to take care of this: Your front-page editorial on gay marriage was inexcusable. Thank you, Michael Boylan, for the having the sense, the compassion and the backbone to point out that gay marriage is not an attack on heterosexual marriage. The following is a post concerning “gay marriage” on a veteran web site that I help in moderating, www.patriotfiles.com, in the political forum there. While I don’t want to get involved with the argument with Mr. Ellis, I feel I must make some points that are key to the future of both your arguments: Recent studies suggest that homosexuality is the result of a gene variation and is quite common in nature. Homosexuality has been witnessed in bonobo apes, seagulls and penguins, which means it is hardly unnatural. Rep. Virgil Fludd, it has been pointed out to me by the editor/publisher/owner of the local gossip rags that you are some of the few legislators doing your job of serving all the citizens of this state. I want to thank you for holding up your responsibility to minorities. Please pass on my appreciation to Bob Holmes, Joe Heckstall and Sharon Beasley-Teague. This letter is in response to Mr. Ed Nelson’s letter to the editor regarding “The Passion of the Christ” movie. I was very disturbed by the column David Epps wrote about the movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” He makes the assumption that criticizing the movie is equal to hating the source material. I disagree. According to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia’s proposed history standards reflect a national trend by placing the study of topics such as the Civil War primarily in the fifth and eighth grades as opposed to having these same topics repeated as part of the newly revise high school history curriculum. As a social studies teacher, I have the important task of enabling my students to become informed, productive, and contributing members of our democratic society. I am not alone. The Georgia State University Department of History has unanimously approved four responses to the proposed Georgia Social Studies Performance Standards. Click Here to view complete listing of articles for this edition of The Citizen News | 