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Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois
62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com
DON’T IGNORE PRIVACY RIGHT
Thank you, Fletcher Farrar, for your
editorial [“On abortion, the new search for common
ground,” Feb. 24]. I can only hope that any new framing by
the Democratic Party of the abortion discussion will not overlook
the key constitutional issue, that of the right to privacy.
The struggle to legalize contraception
dragged on for many years long before the Roe v. Wade court
decision to legalize abortion in 1973. Both decisions put their
emphases on the right to privacy with regard to sexuality and
reproduction. Many women and men today may not be aware of the long
and rough road to these freedoms and may take for granted this core
value in the U.S. Constitution.
The United States government is not a
theocracy. I, for one, cherish the freedom I have to decide these
matters according to the ethical convictions of my own religious
tradition.
LuAnn Atkins
Rochester
SPD’S “PROGRESS” IS A
MARVEL
“Bad boys” is a revealing and
thought-provoking article [Dusty Rhodes, March 3]. I can only
marvel at the great progress the Springfield Police Department and
Policemen’s Benevolent and Protective Agency Unit 5 are
making.
It appears the well-known Confederate Quota
for Profound Stupidity and Undistinguished Asininity, formerly
reserved for the sole benefit of the Good ol’ Boys and Gals
in Blue, is now available to all of their colleagues.
Only in America and here in Springfield, Ill., is
this sort of progress possible. Is that great or what?
Keep up the good work.
Joseph Washington
Springfield
DISTRICT 5 BANS POPULAR TEEN BOOK
Should the local school district’s
choices in curriculum, materials, and activities reflect the values
of the community? Should board members, as elected representatives,
make the final decisions regarding the acceptable content of school
materials? Should there be established policies to guide these
elected officials when a materials challenge arises?
District 5 had a board-approved policy
regarding the removal of materials from the district’s
libraries. The policy had been established to provide a balanced
decision-making procedure regarding challenged materials, with
community, teacher, principal, and librarian input, and with the
final decision about any censorship resting with the school board.
This was seen as a fair and balanced policy that had been in effect
for more than 20 years in District 5.
Sadly, this policy no longer exists.
Without input from the district’s
librarians or the public, the policy has been eliminated [by] one
district employee, behind closed doors, making censorship decisions
for the community. In February, this employee banned a teen novel, Aimee, from the
Glenwood Middle School library (grades 6-8) because he felt it did
not represent community values. Aimee, by Mary Beth Miller, is a 2002 American Library
Association “Best Book” award winner, a 2003 Colorado
state exceptional book winner, and a Barnes & Nobel “Best
Teen Book” winner. It was removed from the GMS collection
just two weeks ago. An employee at the district office decided that
this book, aimed at helping teens “cope with peer pressure,
decision making, and coping skills,” did not represent
community values.
It is ironic that the school district, which
eliminated an award-winning book, at the same time embraces Chicago, an award-winning
musical that glamorizes adultery, murder, and exploitation. What kind
of mixed signals does this contradiction relay to District 5 students?
As a former librarian at Glenwood High
School, I have defended teens’ freedom to read, and for 16
years spoke to students, teachers, parents and administrators about
book-banning issues and the value of District 5’s policy. In
my professional opinion it is unconscionable that District 5 has
closed the door on community input via committee, and has closed
the door on the invaluable knowledge of five library specialists
when censorship decisions arise. I implore school board members to
review this issue and allow the librarians to provide the
experience and expertise necessary to reestablish the invaluable,
democratic materials-challenge policy that had served the community
so well for so many years.
Karen High
Virginia, Ill.
PETER BENENSON, 1921-2005
The candle flickers. Peter Benenson is dead.
His was a life for humanity. As a result of
the profound success of his 1961 Appeal to Amnesty, Mr. Benenson
founded Amnesty International, the world’s largest
international human-rights organization, responsible for the
release of untold thousands of prisoners of conscience in the past
44 years. Irene Khan, secretary general of AI, said, “He
brought light into the darkness of prisons, the horror of torture
chambers, and the tragedy of death camps around the
world.”
Outrage over the arbitrary arrest and
imprisonment of two Portuguese students for toasting liberty
prompted Mr. Benenson to vent his sense of powerlessness in the
face of such injustices. Feeling that surely there must be more
people like him, distraught by these daily flagrant violations of
human rights but feeling particularly unable to effect change, he
launched a one-year campaign for amnesty, beginning with an essay
in the British Observer titled “The Forgotten Prisoners.”
The response from common citizens around the world embarrassed
Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, prompting
him to stand down in the face of global public opinion and release
the men.
Mr. Benenson’s campaign was
inspirationally unique, proving that individual citizens, acting in
nonviolent concert, can directly affect the liberty and dignity of
others on this fragile planet, that the opinions of an Illinoisan
can shame a faraway dictator to promote, instead of violate, human
rights. Human-rights activism and global civil society were born!
What was fantastic in 1961 — a
commitment of conscience — is still fantastic today. With any
luck there will be a day when we need no longer stand
“against oblivion”; when torture,
“disappearances,” rapes and mass murders are absent from
our relations; when the great work of justice stands at commanding
heights. Until that day, Mr. Benenson’s candle of hope blazes for
all humanity’s todays and tomorrows, an enduring symbol of the
ordinary’s ability to bring about the extraordinary.
Michael Ziri
Springfield
EXPAND CIRCUIT BREAKER PROGRAM
The state’s Circuit Breaker and
Prescription Coverage program helps many seniors. It should be
expanded to help many more by not requiring seniors to list their
Medicare deductions as income. Only money received is income.
Donald E. Palmer
Springfield
CHRISTIANS WERE PLAYED BY BUSH
It is time for many Christians to realize
that they were played by the president in the November election. He
played on their fears regarding two issues: abortion and homosexual
marriage. By couching his campaign rhetoric around those two
hot-button issues, he successfully led well-intentioned
conservative voters to avoid the pressing issues of the Iraq war,
Medicare and Medicaid funding woes, the budget deficit, and the
unjust tax cut for the wealthy.
I truly doubt Jesus would have so casually
overlooked the killing of thousands of Iraqis in the name of
freedom, the deaths of almost 1,500 American soldiers in an unjust
military action, and the plight of many Americans who struggle to
make ends meet on a daily basis. Jesus called on the church to take
care of widows and orphans and help the poor. He didn’t call
for political activism. Some church historians seem to indicate
that Judas was the one who got hung up on political activism, and
things didn’t work out so well for him. Too many of our
churches preach conservative politics, the point being that
churches shouldn’t be in the business of preaching politics,
period.
Contrary to the teachings in some churches,
compassionate conservatism has more to do with helping the less
fortunate and caring for poor people than standing on a picket line
protesting an abortion doctor, worrying about the effects of gay
marriage on traditional marriages, or making sure our retirement
plans are maximizing their return potential. The church should be
Christians emulating the love and compassion that Jesus modeled
2,000 years ago to a lost, hurting, and despairing world. Over the
past several years, our society has been caught up in the
“What Would Jesus Do?” phenomena. It is my belief that
if Jesus were here today, he would be spending much of his time
performing “I” surgery.
Chris Babb
Rochester
This article appears in Mar 10-16, 2005.
