ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 12, 1996 TAG: 9602130046
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTER
DAVID Rakestraw's suggestion (Jan. 25 letter to the editor, ``Bring prayer back to classroom'') that the way to ``regain America's youth is to institutionalize prayer in the classroom'' is a clarion call to return to times of religious intolerance, wars and persecution.
He doesn't merely want prayer in the classroom, but the prayer of one particular religion. He claims a society that ``allows a mix of religions will eventually cause the destruction of that culture.''
So which religion shall we make the one and only religion? Roman Catholicism, one of the several hundred Protestant denominations, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism? Merely to ask that question shows the absurdity of the proposal. The lesson of history is mutual acceptance, not the killing or expulsion of people who believe differently, the kind of genocidal practices seen in Spain in 1492 or in the former Yugoslavia in recent years, not to mention Adolf Hitler's Germany.
Prayer and religion at their best are encounters with the divine, not something to be legislated, compelled from above or the outside. RUDI GELSEY BLACKSBUR
Children's future is at stake
CAN Roanoke County citizens unify in support of our children with a yes vote in the April 2 bond referendum for schools? Do we have a true sense of community? Do we care about Roanoke County children, and the quality of their education? Will all areas of the county benefit from a yes vote? Do the needs outweigh the costs?
The answer to all these questions is a resounding yes! The worst-case scenario is estimated to be a tax increase costing the average taxpayer $1.66 per month.
What would it say about us as a community if the referendum fails? What would it say to our children? Schools would be set back for a long time to come. If the projects are delayed, costs of future school buildings, renovations and additions would skyrocket. Students who should be Cave Spring High School's ninth-graders would continue to be housed in junior high schools. Overcrowded and inadequate building conditions would continue, and the technologies needed to educate a child in the 21st century would be lacking. Our sense of community and our educational system would be immeasurably harmed.
Let's work together toward school improvements that will benefit county students and the entire community, making it an attractive home to our children and their future families. Please vote yes. DEBRA LANDGRAF ROANOKE
A killing sport is not entertainment
REGARDING your Jan. 21 Extra section article, "With bird in hand":
With all due respect, I fail to see the "sport" in keeping a hawk deliberately hungry - to the point of risking its health - so that it might be ready to hunt at the will of the animal's owner. I also fail to see the fairness of it when the human in question is "helping" by scaring small mammals from their hiding places as opposed to letting the hawk find its own prey, which it does in the wild. The rabbit, in fact, wasn't there - at least not to the hawk. Why else would it be hiding in bushes but to avoid a natural enemy? Where exactly is the challenge in this activity, other than training a free-born bird to listen to human commands and not flee from human contact?
It might be noted that at one point in human history, humans were fed to half-starved lions for the recreation of other human beings. As reprehensible as this was, at least the lions got to eat their spoils instead of them being parceled out later so as not to "throw off their weight."
I might understand if the falconer ate the hawk's kill, but to be doing this simply for fun is appalling. I know there are those who don't share this point of view. That's why I avoid reading the Outdoors section, which, I believe, is where this article belonged in the first place. To place it on the front page of the entertainment section implies that this activity is entertaining. I most certainly don't think so. MARY KNAPP ROANOKE
Gingrich is out to destroy America
THE MORE I read about Newt Gingrich in the newspapers the more disturbed I become. He seems determined to destroy our government any way he can, and destroy as well those who depend on leadership and help when needed. I'm talking especially about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. If things are in such bad shape that they have to take this away from us to balance the budget, then this country is in serious trouble.
Until Gingrich came on the scene, the House, Senate and our presidents at least worked things out without a government shutdown. A government shutdown not only destroys this country, but all other nations around the world will lose confidence in America. Is that what Gingrich wants?
When election time rolls around again, there will be a lot of changes. You can count on it. VANDORA RAINES WYTHEVILL
SPCA is viewed with respect
REGARDING Beth Macy's Jan. 25 article, ``Good-hearted volunteers have special place for animals'':
Everyone involved with the League for Animal Protection would like to thank Macy for her excellent article regarding the shelter, our volunteers and our animals. By noon that day, we had received many phone calls from people offering to assist us at the shelter as volunteers, and from individuals interested in adopting our animals. We're thrilled with the positive response from our Roanoke neighbors and animal lovers.
I'd also like to mention that the Roanoke Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should be highly commended for all its hard work. We feel that Al Alexander has done a superb job in improving the SPCA's image and the care of "his kids.'' We work very well together with the SPCA and have supported it. In several instances, we've brought animals into our shelter that it had great difficulty placing for adoption. We realize its staff is very caring and has great compassion for the animals they euthanize.
Our organization and the SPCA cannot stress enough the need to spay and neuter your pets. They'll be much healthier, and you'll help stop the suffering and deaths of thousands of dogs, cats, puppies and kittens. WAINE TOMLINSON President, League for Animal Protection ROANOKE
Frank Roupas' generous gift
MY BROTHER-IN-LAW, two sisters and I went to Evergreen Cemetery to visit and pay our respects to the four children and their grandmother whose lives were lost in the recent house fire. After a few minutes of searching, we stopped to ask a gentleman, who also appeared to be visiting the cemetery, if he knew the location of the grave sites. Not only were we accommodated with directions, but we learned he was the one who donated the five plots to the family. His name is Frank Roupas.
As a society, we are often bombarded with all that's wrong with the world. Roupas is an exception to this. I feel acts of selflessness such as his should be held up as examples for others to follow. If everyone, including myself, followed his example, wouldn't our little corner of the world be a better place to live? JENNIE ROBERTSON VINTON
Nominate a liberal for a change
I HOPE this year that leaders of the Democratic Party will not give us another conservative Democrat to run against an always-conservative Republican. This past practice has destroyed the two-party system by giving the public two think-alike and look-alike candidates who then wage a mighty war talking about motherhood, apple pie, flag burning and which wildflowers should be classified as weeds. None of these subjects will make anyone's life any better or put one dime in any working person's pocket.
Just once in my life I'd like to see a liberal Democrat debate a Republican on issues that make a difference - subjects like the right of people to elect their president and all judges by popular vote, national health insurance and no-fault automobile insurance. They should tell people how the right-to-work law keeps wages low and harms senior workers, and how most elected leaders are locked in the death grips of special-interest groups. We need the right to pass our own laws at the ballot box.
All any Democrat has to do to get elected is simply tell people what big money and Republicans have in common. They're both the root of all evils - and likewise for conservative Democrats. OSWALD ENSOR GOODVIEW
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