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Wednesday, June 15, 2005 | ||
For past Letters to the Editor, view our Archives by publication date.
Bad Links? | What our Readers Are SayingLetters to the Editor Why has drug dispute become so public?The recent writings in this newspaper regarding the staffing of Fayette Countys Drug Traffic Force bring to light several points that we citizens (and voters) should be concerned about: The fact that there are issues between the county sheriffs department and the county commissioners that are laid out on the forum of this newspaper for debate is in itself a major issue. Why is it that some in the Drug Traffic Force finds it necessary to go before the public in a battle of letters-to-the-editor to find resolution? Is it because the enforcement department finds itself in an impossible situation to do its job, or is the current structure and makeup and occupants of the county commissioners so far out of step with reality that they cannot do their jobs, or are they in fact doing well and it is the sheriff and his department that are failing to react properly to the problem? Is there a drug problem that is bigger than the county commissioners realize, and their zeal to keep problems buried under the carpet doing us more harm than good? I am not writing at this juncture of the argument to say who is right or wrong. I merely inject the point of argument that Fayette County is one of the highest per-capita or family income counties in the state of Georgia, if in fact it is not the highest. The illicit trafficking of controlled substances is one of the last vestiges of true free-market capitalism. Those who are selling this stuff go where the market exists. You dont have to guess that a dealer makes more money selling his trash here in Fayette County than other adjacent counties. To think that we are no different from any other county in the scope of why drug problems exist would be unwise. More later. Juan Matute
Parents, students must share blame This letter is in response to Shana Slays comments about her niece receiving an award for chewing gum. The award that was given her niece was voted on by the students, not the teachers. The awards were given in fun and were in no way meant to humiliate any of the students. I worked at Fayette Middle School over 100 days this year as a cheer coach and a substitute teacher. There are problems at FMS. But to blame them on the teachers is wrong. Most of the blame lies with the parents and the students themselves. It is not the teachers responsibility to make sure your student does their homework. It is the parents. It is not the teachers fault if your student does not study for a test. It is the students. It is not the coaches fault if your student fails P.E. because they do not dress out. It is the students. I have to ask Ms. Slay if she looked in her nieces agenda. This is where the teachers communicate with the parents daily. A lot of parents do not even check their students agenda. This is not the teachers fault. It is time the parents of FMS stop blaming the teachers and administrators for their students failures and lack of motivation. It is time the parents start supporting and working with the teachers instead of against them. I personally have had the privilege to work with the teachers of Ms. Slays niece. They are excellent, caring teachers. I have never seen them do anything that didnt have the students best interest at heart. I have had three children attend FMS and one that will be a sixth grader this year. I personally would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the hard-working teachers at FMS. Tammy Passmore
Harris didnt start it While Hollis Harris deserves credit for bringing World Airways back from the brink of bankruptcy, he was not its founder as reported in your article, Second round of applicants sought. The distinction of being Worlds founder goes to Ed Daly. Bill Bynum
Instead of more laws, gun safety training should be taught in schools On Thursday, June 9, the 2005 Georgia 4-H Fayette County Junior State Trap and Skeet Champions were recognized by the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. This honor was for the achievements of three teams and some individual members earning an invitation to the Scholastic Clay Target Programs division of the American Grand National Trap Association competition, as well as the 4-H National Modified Trap competition. These skilled individuals practice at the 4-H shotgun facilities on Ga. Highway 85 where thousands of shells are shot by individuals ranging in age from 11 to 18. Their skills are honed and trained to excellence under the watchful care and oversight of many dedicated adults who care about the proper use and place of firearms. However, this week a young man in Atlanta accidentally shot and killed his sister while playing with a firearm. How is it that tens of thousands of shotgun shells are fired over the course of a year at the 4-H shotgun range without incident but another casualty is suffered because of foolish judgment and simple ignorance? I suggest that the reason for a number of injuries incurred by firearm misuse and abuse is mostly due to lack of training. Gun control is a hot issue these days. All can agree that it is necessary that powerful machines are properly used, but everytime the issue of gun control comes up, politicians only seem to want to throw more laws and more regulations at the problem. Gun locks, stricter permit laws, certain firearms outlawed, and even the complete abolition of firearm use: each of these are profitable in the right dosage, but the politicians take each one to the extreme. It is interesting to note, however, that the areas (places, events) most heavily regulated are those where one is most likely to run into a malevolent criminal with a firearm. Clearly, these regulations are not as effective as some would hope. These regulations need to be supplemented, at the very least, and I think that those regulations that make it difficult for responsible law abiding citizens to have means of self-defense should be repealed. Firearm safety courses that teach citizens to be respectful of guns and use them responsibly need to be made readily available. In fact, as bitter as it might taste in some peoples mouths, I would even go so far as to suggest public high schools offering firearm training courses and even varsity sports teams as some states already do. The most dangerous individual is one with a gun who doesnt know how to use it, not someone who does and is more likely to have the respect and a disciplined sense of responsibility to safely handle a firearm. Consider automobile traffic. The most dangerous driver on the road is the person who does not know how to operate the machine. Also, the solution for making roads safer in general is training drivers how to operate cars more safely. Statistics have shown that people who have taken drivers educational courses have fewer accidents. This same concept translates to firearms even though few people have the courage to face that fact. In summary, I believe that current firearm regulations are probably more than adequate, if not overly so, and safety concerns should be supplemented with sufficient firearm safety training made readily available where young people can gain the proper respect and discipline to handle our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Drake Osterhage (age 17)
Whats right with Fayette County: PTC Youth race Too often we read about the many vexing problems concerning the citizens of this county. Issues such as traffic, zoning, taxes, schools, city facilities, and many others, trouble those of us who live here. Instead, for the 14th year, we would like to highlight what is right with Fayette County. This community supports one of the largest youth triathlons in the country. The organizers of the 14th annual Peachtree City Youth Triathlon would like to thank the over 100 volunteers who donated their valuable time to make this race a huge success. We had almost 300 young athletes from the ages of 7 to 15 participate in the race. Also, thanks to Mayor Brown and the city of Peachtree City for their continued support, as well as the police and EMTs, who kept the race participants and volunteers safe. Of course, we would be unable to put on a race of this magnitude without the support of our many generous sponsors. Thank you to our title sponsors, Georgia-Pacific and Wal-Mart, as well as our newest contributors, Smokey Bones, Vassey Dental Partners, Southside Consulting, and Royal Food Service. We always appreciate the devoted commitment of our long-time supporters: Cooper Lighting, Panasonic, World Gym, Melwood Springs, The Elephants Tale, Kwik Kopy Printing, Smith and Davis Clothing, and Pathway Communities. Finally, a very special thanks to Bicycles Unlimited for their sponsorship and bicycle support on race day. Fayette County shines often, but brightest when the community joins together to sponsor and support another successful Peachtree City Youth Triathlon. Thank you once again, and see you next year. Steele Mehl and Jack Polo
Bush a disaster on illegals President Bush and conservatives: Mike Thompson, great article. I am a conservative who voted for President Bush; however, he has proven to be a total disaster to the illegal immigration problem. On many issues, our government could be described as a rudderless ship. As a Marine Corps veteran, I am saddened by the world our younger folks seem destined to inherit. James Midkiff
Signs bad for PTC future Re: Sign change. This is a sad day for Peachtree City. Why people move to Peachtree City and plan to stay is because we are different. [Councilman] Steve Rapson has it right. I hope and pray this is NOT a sign of things to come (no pun intended). Steve Fraas
Thanks for mothers story This story [A Purpose-driven Woman] is about my mother. I couldnt have said it better. In many ways, [columnist] John Hatcher knows her better than I did. Thank you for letting John express his views as he does in your paper. He is a called man of God and his expressions of faith are worthy of being printed in your paper. Thank you, John. Wink Laney
Sex arrest story unfounded I was extremely upset by the article in the Wednesday, June 8, 2005, paper regarding Jose Rojas. Although some may see your article as news, I do not. It is extremely important to note that this article does not reflect the entire truth of the situation, nor does it mention that never in the history of Mr. Rojas 16 years has an allegation of this sort occurred. I have had the privilege of knowing Mr. Rojas and have seen his interaction with youth. He had dedicated his life to working with children in the martial arts and is a wonderful teacher as well as person. Its a shame a man so dedicated would be arrested for a crime which he did not commit. I urge each and every one of Coweta Countys residents, as well as those in Fayette County to always seek the truth and know that a man is innocent until proven guilty. Kelli Stearman
Mayoral candidate Boswell: Brown flip-flops on annexation, tax equity Steve Brown recently announced his bid for re-election. I had to make sure it was for mayor of Peachtree City, because only a few days ago he was going to run for Fayette County Commission Chairman. I guess he changed his mind. His announcement stated that he wanted to facilitate some unfinished projects. Peachtree City simply cannot endure anymore of his facilitation. In this campaign, unlike many others, I believe there are distinct differences in the stances on the issues. I say, I believe, simply because his platform remains undefined, vacillating according to his whims. His direction just like his campaign changes with the wind. One week he is running for Fayette Commission chairman, the next week mayor of Peachtree City. The list of differences seems to have no end, but lets start with the boundaries. Prior to election, Brown vehemently stated that he was opposed to the annexation of the West Village. As a direct result of this move and ardent opposition, all Peachtree Citizens are needlessly frustrated by the MacDuff road to nowhere. Now, of course, Mayor Brown speaks in firm favor of annexation. Prior to a vote on controversial rezoning of the Lutheran Church, Brown staunchly advocated a zealous and almost inflexible view on city zoning closely adhering to the land use plan. When the issue finally came to fruition, only one vote of 10 [Planning Commission and Council combined] was cast in favor of rezoning. Of course, Mayor Brown was the lone vote. Consistently, Mayor Brown has stated that Peachtree City has been short-changed by the county concerning taxation and provision of EMS services. Yet despite this rhetoric, he deliberately dropped the very lawsuit by Peachtree City against the county that would have had the issue resolved by the court. The city of Tyrone, meanwhile, has relentlessly pressed the county over the same issue, maintaining its lawsuit against them. Last fall, Mayor Brown unequivocally stated that the city could actually have lowered the [tax] millage (for last year), but a shortage for the LOST distribution disallowed the option. Why was the LOST distribution less? Mayor Brown facilitated the agreement himself, of course. His brilliance not only leaves Peachtree City with a lower percentage last year but this year also. In October 2000 our percentage was 38.76. After Mayor Browns facilitation, our percentage went to 35.13 percent in 2003 to 34.46 percent in 2004 to 33.45 percent in 2005. (A copy of this agreement is attached for the convenience of the editor). I am not a prophet, but I suspect with additional SPLOST funds (which he was also against) our millage rate will be lowered with him proclaiming what a wonderful job he has done. The truth is they could have lowered them last year. I am not from Paris, but the clear fashion statement for the current mayor is the Brown Flip-Flop. He has spent four years flip-flopping and facilitating for Peachtree City so that now we have a traffic nightmare with egress from MacDuff Parkway being a major culprit. The Brown-facilitated LOST distribution will cost Peachtree City millions of dollars over the next few years. This list is by no means a comprehensive discussion, and the November election allows much time for ample consideration by the electorate. However, what is not in question is that the leadership of Peachtree City requires integrity, reasonable spending measures, and planned growth in and around our city. I am convinced of the validity of annexing the West Village as well as providing sound egress solutions to Ha. highways 54 and 74. Critical concerns in this endeavor are density and adherence to the land plan. Our citizens have watched the chief negotiating strategy of the city drift closer and closer to whining, blaming and bumbling. As I stated, unlike many elections, the issues and differences are clear and decisive. We can continue with the Brown Flip-Flop, but that choice is a course toward the destruction of not only civic pride and responsibility, but also to respect and reason. I respectfully ask all Peachtree Citizens to follow the election closely and understand what is at stake. Observe the obvious, and vote this fall for common sense rather than hit and miss politics. Phil Boswell
Beyond animal liberation: Waaaaay beyond it Peter Singer is probably the only philosopher ever to be interviewed by Dan Rather. What could be so newsworthy about a philosopher? Well, Singer is notorious for espousing some controversial (some would say outrageous) views. He is perhaps best known for his book, Animal Liberation, in which he argues that the interests of individual animals, like the hens down on the factory farm, count equally with those of individual humans. He thus compares chicken magnate, Frank Perdue, to Adolph Hitler, as each is responsible for his respective holocaust. (I suppose, then, that our neighbor, Truett Cathy, might be thought of as a kind of Mussolini with a Georgia accent.) In one essay, he balances the interests of children living in a slum against those of rats that live in the slum and occasionally bite those children. Would it be permissible to exterminate the rats for the sake of the childrens health? For Singer, this is a genuine moral dilemma because the rats have moral standing equal to that of the children. With regard to human life, Singer, of course, advocates the moral permissibility of abortion. But he is not content to stop there. Infants are not persons, according to Singers reckoning, and so there is no good sense in which we may say that they have any rights, such as a right to life. Thus, it is morally permissible to kill an infant if there is some good reason to think that its future would be bleak: Killing a disabled infant is sometimes not wrong, given that the infant like any infant is not a person as I see it, he says. He continues, I think that its ethically defensible to say we do not have to continue its life. It does not have a right to life. And we can choose to end its life on the grounds that the future otherwise will be very bleak for that child. (Are you following all of this? So far we have Save the chickens! Kill the babies!) He also argues that it may be morally permissible to perform experiments on irreversibly comatose patients in the name of science. And he advocates active euthanasia in a variety of circumstances, especially when medical resources are scarce. Outrageous? Well, I certainly think so. And there is much fodder here for philosophical argument (which I will spare you here and save for my philosophy classes). So you might think that there is little else that Singer could say that would shock. But then a friend sent me a link to an article penned by Singer at nerve.com. The article, titled Heavy Petting, is Singers defense of the moral permissibility of bestiality, sex with animals. Reading this reminded me of a Weird Al Yankovic skit in which he is playing a talk show host. He holds the microphone up to an audience member and says, Sex with furniture: What do you think? But Singer is serious. He begins by noting that many sexual taboos, from the use of contraceptives to sodomy (the latter, he suggests, is part of the joy of sex) have been broken down. But the taboo against bestiality seems still to be in place. He writes, But not every taboo has crumbled. Heard anyone chatting at parties lately about how good it is having sex with their dog? Probably not. Sex with animals is still definitely taboo. Warming to his topic, Singer does not shrink from employing the sort of language that would make Barnacle Bill blush. The F-bomb is dropped more than once, for instance. Why the lingering opposition, revulsion, even, when it comes to bestiality? Singer suggests that it stems, in part, from the old out of touch view that all non-reproductive sex is immoral (and, of course, anyone so engaged is probably not knitting baby stockings). But more than this, he thinks that it stems from our desire to see ourselves as distinct from the rest of the animal kingdom. Christians, he notes, think that only humans have been created in Gods image, and this sets them apart. But, of course, Singer is convinced that this is a mistaken view. He asserts that we are animals, indeed more specifically, we are great apes. And because this is so, bestiality ceases to be an offense to our status and dignity as human beings. Indeed, by Singers lights, bestiality is morally objectionable only when it entails cruelty to the animal. But sex with animals does not always involve cruelty, he intones. I shall refrain from relating his rather explicit descriptions of some such acts. If Singers own discussion is not outrageous enough, one has merely to browse the reader feedback. The article receives wide approval, there are various confessions of the Singer-sanctioned practice, and those like myself who are shocked and outraged by the piece are regarded with derision. One person raises the sophomoric question, Well, whos to say its wrong? Actually, given certain assumptions about the origin and nature of the universe, this is not a bad question. Singers own view, of course, is Naturalism, the view that, as the late Carl Sagan put it, the cosmos is all that is, was and ever will be, or, as his former collaborator, Richard Lewontin, put it in a review of a Sagan book, We exist as material beings in a material world, all of whose phenomena are the consequences of physical relations among material entities. If we begin, as Sagan, Lewontin and Singer do, with this world-view, then we might indeed ask, Whos to say? Dostoevsky said that if God does not exist, then everything is permitted. Echoing this, the atheist and existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre adds, Nowhere is it written that the Good exists, that we must be honest, that we must not lie; because the fact is that we are on a plane where there are only men. Of course, the point of noting that we are on a level where there are only men is to raise precisely the whos to say? question: you have your opinions; I have mine. There exists no higher authority to adjudicate our moral disputes. More to the point, I maintain that bestiality (and, indeed, some of the other practices touted by Singer as a part of the joy of sex) is a perversion. But the original sense of this now politically incorrect word implies the twisting of a thing from its purpose and towards inappropriate ends; a misuse of the thing. To take an innocuous example, as a boy, I was in the habit of using my mothers table knives as screwdrivers for various projects, with the consequence that the job was tougher to accomplish, the knife tips were mangled, and my mother was unhappy. She would say, Thats not what these are supposed to be used for! And, of course, she was right. But the very concept of the misuse of a thing makes sense only within a certain context, and that context is design. Table knives are designed to cut meat or spread butter, not to screw wheels onto go-carts. They are made with a purpose in mind, and my use of them twisted them from that purpose (and twisted the knives themselves in the process). Singers world-view has no place for the concept of design when it comes to things like human nature and human sexuality. His is the blind watchmaker view. He would affirm with Bertrand Russell that man is a product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving. Jean-Paul Sartre concludes from this starting point that, for humans at least, existence is prior to essence. If you believe in God and Gods purposes for us, then you think just the reverse: essence is prior to existence. This means, simply, that there is an essence or nature of humanity that resides in the mind of God prior to creating. He created us with a purpose or function. We were made for something, and we live well, or flourish, insofar as we live in accordance with that design plan, or bring our existence into harmony with our essence. But if there is no God, then, according to Sartre, first of all, man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and then it is up to each individual to determine his own essence or establish for himself what it is for him to flourish or live well. At one point, Sartre does not mince words: If Ive discarded God the Father, there has to be someone to invent values. Youve got to take things as they are. Sartre suggests that each of us must fill Gods empty shoes in this respect. So it appears that if we take things as they are, or the way that Peter Singer supposes them to be, then there can be no serious talk of sexual perversion of any kind. To invoke Sartres language once more, we would have to say that perversion is an egregious instance of failing to align our existence with our essence. But such failure is just impossible in a purposeless universe. Anything goes in a cosmos that is all that is, was, or ever will be. To paraphrase Dostoevsky, if God does not exist, bestiality is permitted. A philosophers quip is that one mans modus ponens is another mans modus tollens. You and I both see that if A is true then B has to be true. You think that A is true, and so you also accept B. (Thats following the rule called modus ponens.) I think that B is false, and, since A cannot be true unless B is true, I conclude that A is false. (I thus invoke the rule called modus tollens.) Singer might cheerfully accept that his atheism entails the moral permissibility of bestiality, and thus go on to embrace the practice as a valid form of sexual experience. I am inclined to see things quite differently. To my mind, Singers blessings upon bestiality (not to mention his views on infanticide and euthanasia) constitute a reductio ad absurdum of his atheism. Some things are just plain wrong. Child molestation, for instance, is wrong. And so, if you hold a philosophical theory that entails that it is right, then I say so much the worse for your theory. I draw the same conclusion regarding the world-view that fosters Singers condoning of this perversion. The friend who clued me in to the article offered an astute observation. He suggested that it is as though Singer in particular, but perhaps our culture at large, is living out the description given in the first chapter of the book of Romans as though it is the script for life. The passage that he had in mind begins with the wholesale rejection of God and winds through a discussion of the resulting darkening of hearts and degrading of bodies through various forms of sexual perversion. We find ourselves in a culture that unblinkingly accepts the practice of abortion, even partial-birth abortion, and includes people clamoring for a redefinition of marriage to accommodate homosexual couples. (In principle, I can see no reason why such a redefinition need be limited to couples. Why not cluster marriages of three or more? And, of course, Singers article at hand puts an interesting spin on the possibilities here.) And now an influential philosopher at one of the worlds leading universities seriously advocates the killing of newborns and the permissibility of sex with animals. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator. Mark D. Linville |
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