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5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail
editor@illinoistimes.com.
DON’T SCUTTLE ELECTORAL COLLEGE Be prepared for more voter disenfranchisement. The
so-called “National Popular Vote” bill is sitting on the desk
of King Roderick the First [Martha Biondi, “Dropping out of the
Electoral College,” Jan. 17]. Under this bill, the state’s
electoral votes will be awarded to the presidential candidate receiving the
most votes nationally, even if the majority of Illinois voters support
another candidate. That’s wrong. George W. Bush may have lost the popular vote in 2000
by just over 500,000 votes, but 30 states voted for Bush. There’s a
reason why we have the Electoral College — it’s to dilute the
power of the most populous states and afford the smaller states some say in
deciding the presidency. The Electoral College system works fine as it is.
There is no need to change it because certain people are still extremely
bitter over 2000. Steven Lucas Springfield
WHAT ABOUT MY BAILOUT? I want to go on record as requesting the city and
state to finance my mortgage. I can guarantee that I would not earn a penny
in profit. Also, the amount is infinitesimal when compared to $30 million.
Ed Gutierrez-Perry
Pleasant Plains RELIGION? WHAT THE HELL! The cynical view that secularists have of the value
of religious belief exhibits characteristics of mythology. By failing to
recognize the differences between sound religions and its pseudoideological
lookalikes, either religious or secular, the secularist falls into the
common trap of leveling. It’s when religion surrenders to societal
passions of the moment that it denies the transcendent, which comprises the
very embodiment of its values. When that happens, religion yields to that
which man creates. At that moment man transforms into his own god [and] a
long train of disastrous and horrible consequences ensues. The fact is that secularism is at war with
Christianity and its concern with what is best for mankind as a mechanism
for selecting very real rights and wrongs. Secularism’s core embodies
what amounts to “what is best for me,” absent of morality
guides that conflict or restrain the carte
blanche of “me-ism.” It is a
theory about choice devoid of any concept of what good choice is, or even
why it is a virtue to choose correctly. Undeniably religion can be dangerous to basic human
liberties. But religion is not uniquely dangerous. Honest comparison means
that the cost of any alternative must be assessed in terms of the full
consequences entailed by the alternative. By that measure alone a sound
religion should be a welcome replacement to the massive horrors generated
by the false god of secularism. Tom Rand Naperville
SIMPLE SHELTER SOLUTION In response to [the recent article about a homeless
shelter], I’ll admit to being mildly annoyed about this subject [R.L.
Nave, “Sending out another SOS,” Jan. 3]. I am retired from
social services in Springfield. I was the assistant to director Cathy
Curran at Helping Hands (currently executive director of PADS in Chicago)
and the case manager at Salvation Army for four years until I moved on to
the position of housing director at SARA Center. I was one of the original
plank holders (Navy term) on the advisory board at SOS. Seven years ago,
Cathy Curran, Paulette Roberts (case manager at Helping Hands at the time),
and I attempted to open a warming center and day shelter in the building
across the street from the Sangamon County Building and across the tracks
from the Lincoln Depot. It’s the building marked
“Storage.” We met with nothing but resistance. We worked on it
for at least three months and were consistently told that Springfield
didn’t need more shelter space and certainly didn’t need what
we were calling a no-frills 24-hour shelter or a “safe haven.”
This is what annoys me. I have been retired going on
three years. I recently had occasion to visit both the Salvation Army and
Helping Hands shelters, as well as SOS. When I walked in the door of all
three places I heard a chorus of “Hi Rob,” “Hey Rob, how
ya doing?” and “What’s going on, Rob?” from clients
that I dealt with and tried to serve for years. It was great to see them
again, but why was I seeing them again? I would be willing to bet that at
least 50 percent of the people in those shelters are the same people I was
serving years ago. That’s fine; one would expect that folks that are
homeless are homeless for a reason and that we don’t necessarily fix
those reasons quickly. It can take years to transition people from
homelessness to self-sufficiency, depending on what their problems are.
Some we will never transition. I’ve always believed that it’s
not our job to serve the clients but it is our job to serve the
clients’ needs. That’s needs, not wants.
Casework for the homeless has its place, and the
folks at Helping Hands and Salvation Army do it pretty darn well. What we
don’t need is another shelter with all the strings attached. What we
need is simplicity. Give me a big open space that is heated, paint a line
down the middle of the floor, have a bathroom on each side, and an off-duty
Springfield police officer working security at the door. Give me 100
sleeping bags and 200 towels, and we are set. Here’s how it works:
The client comes in the door. The person at the door says, “Men on
the right, women on the left. No booze or food allowed. Give me your left
shoe. Here is your sleeping bag; when you give it back in the morning,
you’ll get your shoe back. Lights go out at 10 p.m. and come back on
at 6:30 a.m. You don’t have to leave if you don’t want to, but
there is no TV here and we don’t serve food. In the morning, we will
open all the sleeping bags, lay them out on the floor and spray them with
something very strong. Once every week we will have all the bags laundered.
We don’t have services; we are just a warm place for about 100 people
to sleep at night and stay in off the streets during the day if they are
tired or the weather is bad. Rules? Simple again; if you don’t cause
too much trouble, you can stay. If you do cause trouble, you have to leave
for that night.
See you tomorrow. I’ve been bringing this idea up to anybody who
would listen for years. Doesn’t seem to have worked. We need to do
something, but I don’t agree that we need another small shelter with
the same rules, services, and staff that we currently have. We need a new
way of thinking about this. If the homeless need someplace to go, give it
to them. Robert Brooks Springfield
PARENTS IN THE COURTROOM After reading Eric Fisher’s reply to my
original letter several weeks ago, I thought I might point out that he
obviously missed the point [“Letters,” Jan. 3, Jan. 10]. I am a
taxpaying citizen who in my opinion should be entitled to enter a courtroom
with my minor daughter if I so choose. That was my point. Everyone has an
opinion, and I respect his right to voice his.
Obviously the Illinois General Assembly agrees with
me. Unbeknownst to me at the time that I wrote the original letter, plans
were already under way for new law to go into effect on Jan. 1 that
“requires” drivers who are under age 18 who are ticketed for
traffic violations to appear before a judge with a parent or guardian in
order to receive court supervision! I was informed of this new law in a
letter from James W. Day, chief judge for the 7th Judicial Circuit. I
suppose the Sangamon County Courthouse might have to order some additional
chairs! While Fisher’s way of rearing children and the
path that I have chosen obviously differ, I did take note of his
suggestions and went ahead and pushed pins under my daughter’s
fingernails and made her endure water torture. I also considered a public
flogging on the Old State Capitol Plaza to totally humiliate her and
possibly teach her a lesson but was afraid that I would be reported to
DCFS, and I don’t need that hassle!
Terry
Young
Springfield
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2008.
