Letters to the Editor 02-28-2006
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Judgement & Salvation - Warsaw - KEMRAD - Unfair Official - Winter Guard Clarified - Seniors Take Note - Left-Wing Media - Illegal Aliens
Judgement & Salvation
Editor, Times-Union:Where are the Christians who are not easily offended, return good for evil and forgive 70 times seven? Talk about a lack of mission right here at home!
Quote: "If you are offended, you are not 'politically correct.' So what? When did this type of tolerance become a favorable characteristic anyways? No one talks about how the political correctness is offending to the majority of us." (Jan. 19, 2006, editorial: Gays by Lynette Sherrill of Peru)
Quote: "You take offense at being called gay. Well, so do I." (Feb. 7, 2006, editorial: God Is Love by Deanna Newton of Warsaw)
Could it be that dishing out judgment and condemnation in direct contradiction to I Corinthians 13 is giving people the idea that "Churches are no more than cults of people who think the same way and put down anyone who doesn't believe exactly the way we do ... it is sickening." (Jan. 25, 2006, editorial: Love, Not Religion by Brandy M. Webb of Warsaw).
What makes condemning Christians think that homosexuals are such for the purpose of being against God any more than so many believers condemn and gossip to be against God? Tens of thousands of homosexuals have enduring humble and sincere faith in Christ's love. It is time to stop wrongly generalizing that all homosexuals, any more than all Christians, are like the few who get the attention of the media. "He (God) gave us the freedom to choose a life with Him or against Him ... He gave us free will." (Feb. 7, 2006, editorial: God Is Love by Deanna Newton of Warsaw).
Do we Christians follow our Bible? According to James 4:12, there is only one who can reconcile or reject anyone and here He dares anyone to think that they can correctly judge another. John 3:17 specifically denies that Jesus was sent to condemn anyone; and He didn't. John 12:47 even goes so far as to withhold condemnation of anyone even if they reject Christ. I Corinthians 8:9 advises believers away from being harsh or critical in ways that take a chance on driving anyone away from faith. And Matthew 7:1 leaves judgmental believers on the side to be judged.
In the words of our local www.unidiversal.com, "Christian faith is for all diversities" and I quote Jesus when he condemned homosexuals: " "
To add any other requirements for salvation is to add to the book referred to in Revelations 22:18, and to withhold the salvation of the book of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to take away from the book referred to in Revelation 22:19."
Susan Peterson
Warsaw
Warsaw
Editor, Times-Union:To the Warsaw Business Community:
It seems to me to be the perfect time to assume the presidency of Warsaw Community Development Corp. Our community is thriving, vibrant and presumably the envy of the surrounding towns as they try to emulate the successes that we are having. Our downtown is a balanced blend of retail, professional, service and governmental entities. The streets and buildings are well kept, attractive and very "inviting" to all those who visit our business district or thinking of locating their business here.
Most importantly, we have a strong sense of cooperation among all of those who depend on the success of our downtown for their livelihoods. The optimism and sense of volunteerism among our merchants is exciting and contagious. And the WCDC enjoys the strong backing and support from the Warsaw city government and Kosciusko County government.
Our challenge, as I see it, is not to rest on our laurels. The influx of retail and service organizations from outside of our market area has changed the landscape of our local business market forever. We must continue to look for new ways to attract and keep our customers and stay "open minded" when asked to participate in the activities that enhance the experience of doing business in Warsaw.
I ask all of the members of WCDC to continue their support of this effort and give generously of your time and ideas to meeting our overall goals. Soon, you may be asked to help on a committee or project and I hope you will gladly accept that challenge. I will guarantee that your support will be a benefit to us all, and you will feel good about doing your part regardless of how big or small.
Let's all help make a great community even better!
Clint Pletcher
President, WCDC, via e-mail
Warsaw
KEMRAD
Editor, Times-Union:KEMRAD, Kosciusko County Radio, was organized in 1960 or shortly thereafter, with the blessing of Warsaw and county police departments. A picture of our group, including myself, was printed in the Warsaw paper in 1966, quite a large number of us in the picture.
We have helped by directing traffic for parades when the Warsaw Police Department requested it. Also for other parades at Mermaid Festival at North Webster, at Pierceton, at Claypool and other places when requested. We have directed traffic for the Warsaw High School ballgames for many years, we hope we helped you to leave after the game was over. Sealed off the town of Atwood when the tornado struck until the National Guard arrived the next morning. Helped find a person who had wandered off from the nursing home, and other events such as this.
Many of us KEMRAD members are older and now unable to help. We need replacements to take our places and fill the ranks of KEMRAD. We are a group that helps others and if you are interested in helping others, you are needed in KEMRAD. We are required to submit your application to the Warsaw Police Department and the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department and get their approval since we work with them.
You will need to contact Thomas Styles, 574-268-9771, or Larry Engle at the Warsaw Police Department who will get you in contact with the proper person.
Wallace Huffman
Warsaw
Unfair Official
Editor, Times-Union:Basketball is most of all a game of class and integrity. To excel at it you must not only have honed skills with a basketball but you must also display character, class and possess an overall respect for the game. Indiana high school basketball is usually a sterling example of these qualities. Sadly, Wawasee High School dropped the ball during their Friday contest against the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings.
First of all, I would like to make clear that this unsportsmanlike display did not come from players from either Tippecanoe Valley or Wawasee. This disappointment came at the hands of the officiating crew proceeding over this night's activities. Officiating sporting events comes with an unspoken code of conduct. An official must be fair and impartial in their decisions and should favor neither team over the other. However, the officials at Wawasee High School broke this code of conduct and stepped over a sacred line. These officials were neither fair nor impartial. Every call seemed to go the way of the Wawasee Warriors.
While irritating, this would normally not be a problem, as I am sure all of us have experienced what we believed was sub-par officiating at the time. However, it came to my attention after the contest that one of the officials was employed by the Wawasee School Corporation. The cause for this bad officiating of this game became clear. This man was favoring his school over the other.
As a spectator and competitor, albeit not in basketball, I must say that I was severely disappointed over this display of poor conduct. All participants, whether athlete, spectator or official should do their utmost to preserve the conduct. All participants, whether athlete, spectator or official should do their utmost to preserve the moral integrity of the game. This man failed at his duty and I, for one, am ashamed.
It is my wish that this man should be severely reprimanded for his conduct. No official should be able to officiate at their own school. It is these kinds of performances that give off the wrong kind of image for sporting events at any level. This act was disgraceful and should never be allowed to be repeated.
Josh Foster
Mentone
Winter Guard Clarified
Editor, Times-Union:I wish to express my appreciation to David Slone for his articles featuring the students of the Warsaw Community High School Music Department. However, I would like to make an important correction to his recent article about the WCHS Winter Guard (2/17/06).
The story states Winter Guard is winning trophies "for the first time." This is not at all true. The WCHS Winter Guard has accumulated a great deal of "hardware" over the years, including trophies that commemorate nine trips to the IHSCGA State Finals. The guard has placed as high as third at state finals (in 1998). The WCHS Winter Guard has had a long-standing tradition of excellence in performance, and this year's group is no exception.
In spite of the error, I appreciate Mr. Slone's dedication to spotlighting the many positive things that our students are doing in the performing arts at WCHS. I merely wanted to set the record straight. Thank you.
Mickey Ratliff
WCHS Band Director
Warsaw
Seniors Take Note
Editor, Times-Union:We are writing to let all those seniors 60 and older know about a wonderful free transportation service in Kosciusko County that is provided by Kosciusko Community Senior Services.
My husband and I went through a very difficult time trying to get around when our van recently broke down. However, with just one phone call, we were out and about again. The people at the Senior Services office were ready to listen and get us scheduled on a van immediately. We want them to know how much we appreciated their help.
However, we also want other seniors to know about this wonderful service. The van drivers are always willing to lend a hand. They will assist you on and off the van and will help carry your groceries and other items into your home. The vans are handicapped accessible. Just call 574-267-2012 to make your van reservation and take advantage of this great Kosciusko County senior service. It can change your life.
Gene and Mary Dirck
Warsaw
Left-Wing Media
Editor, Times-Union:I'm writing to ask you to report on the new study showing the mainstream media's left-wing bias, and to urge the media to include more conservative voices.
A new study by researchers from UCLA shows that the "liberal bias" claim by many conservatives is true after all, and reveals a strong liberal bias in the news content of nearly all major media outlets. The media must include more conservative voices and provide balanced coverage. The study is located at http://shurl.org/mediabias
The new study, published by MIT Press in the "Quarterly Journal of Economics", measures media bias by estimating ideological scores for several major media outlets. To compute this, they count the times that a particular media outlet cites various think tanks and policy groups, and then compare this with the times that members of Congress cite the same groups. The study's results show a strong liberal bias: all of the news outlets they examine, except Fox News' Special Report and the Washington Times, received scores to the left of the average member of Congress.
Consistent with claims made by conservative critics, CBS Evening News and the New York Times received scores far to the left of center. The most centrist media outlets were PBS NewsHour, CNN's Newsnight and ABC's Good Morning America; among print outlets, USA Today was closest to the center.
All of the study's findings refer strictly to news content; that is, the researchers exclude editorials, letters and the like.
You can find a link to this new study at www.rightmarch.com
Sue E. Clark, via e-mail
Syracuse
Illegal Aliens
Editor, Times-Union:In case no one has noticed, we have a lot more Hispanic people living here than ever before. And a whole lot of these folks have no official papers that permit them to be here. They have cars, houses, kids, jobs, bank accounts and problems just like the rest of us. But some of them are illegal. What shall we do? I think there are three responses.
First, we could just ignore the problem as we have for some time now. This is the "do nothing" approach. My pastor, Denny Wilson, thinks this is usually the worst approach to problem solving. Better a bad decision than none at all. I have to agree. Simply ignoring matters usually guarantees they only get worse.
Second, we could insist that Immigration and Naturalization Service, now part of Homeland Security, come here to northern Indiana and force all these people and their families back to Mexico or elsewhere. But that is just not going to happen. The reason is really very simple. Corporations do not want this to happen. Illegal aliens are a large part of the workforce here in northern Indiana. If the law were actually fairly enforced, both the illegal aliens and the corporations which knowingly (or with a pretty good idea) employ them would be punished. But that is not happening. And corporations have such a profound influence on our government that is does not seem too likely in the near future that corporations will be punished for employing illegals.
That leaves us with the third option: accepting reality. People from the southern part of our hemisphere are heading north because that is where the work is. They are bringing their traditions, their language, their faith and their families. They are building their lives and their homes here. The reality is that they are a part of us. And I believe the only realistic response is to engage with Latinos. My experience is that the vast majority are decent human beings just trying to make it. A few are dangerous and should be deported and a good number do not understand our customs, language and laws. We must educate these folks. We need to understand that the children born here are U.S. citizens and the children who grew up here, even though born in another country, are, practically speaking, part of us, too.
I believe we need to embrace the solution proposed by President Bush - the guest worker program. This permits people to lawfully live and work here, return home in the future, or possibly seek to become U.S. citizens through lawful means. This takes work from all of us. We will need to learn their language and their needs. And they will need to learn our language and our expectations, legally and socially. In the end we will all be richer in the process.
A long time ago the prophets told the Jewish people to show mercy to the aliens in their midst. It seems to me that message is worth remembering today in Kosciusko County.
David C. Kolbe
Warsaw, via e-mail
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- Judgement & Salvation - Warsaw - KEMRAD - Unfair Official - Winter Guard Clarified - Seniors Take Note - Left-Wing Media - Illegal Aliens
Judgement & Salvation
Editor, Times-Union:Where are the Christians who are not easily offended, return good for evil and forgive 70 times seven? Talk about a lack of mission right here at home!
Quote: "If you are offended, you are not 'politically correct.' So what? When did this type of tolerance become a favorable characteristic anyways? No one talks about how the political correctness is offending to the majority of us." (Jan. 19, 2006, editorial: Gays by Lynette Sherrill of Peru)
Quote: "You take offense at being called gay. Well, so do I." (Feb. 7, 2006, editorial: God Is Love by Deanna Newton of Warsaw)
Could it be that dishing out judgment and condemnation in direct contradiction to I Corinthians 13 is giving people the idea that "Churches are no more than cults of people who think the same way and put down anyone who doesn't believe exactly the way we do ... it is sickening." (Jan. 25, 2006, editorial: Love, Not Religion by Brandy M. Webb of Warsaw).
What makes condemning Christians think that homosexuals are such for the purpose of being against God any more than so many believers condemn and gossip to be against God? Tens of thousands of homosexuals have enduring humble and sincere faith in Christ's love. It is time to stop wrongly generalizing that all homosexuals, any more than all Christians, are like the few who get the attention of the media. "He (God) gave us the freedom to choose a life with Him or against Him ... He gave us free will." (Feb. 7, 2006, editorial: God Is Love by Deanna Newton of Warsaw).
Do we Christians follow our Bible? According to James 4:12, there is only one who can reconcile or reject anyone and here He dares anyone to think that they can correctly judge another. John 3:17 specifically denies that Jesus was sent to condemn anyone; and He didn't. John 12:47 even goes so far as to withhold condemnation of anyone even if they reject Christ. I Corinthians 8:9 advises believers away from being harsh or critical in ways that take a chance on driving anyone away from faith. And Matthew 7:1 leaves judgmental believers on the side to be judged.
In the words of our local www.unidiversal.com, "Christian faith is for all diversities" and I quote Jesus when he condemned homosexuals: " "
To add any other requirements for salvation is to add to the book referred to in Revelations 22:18, and to withhold the salvation of the book of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to take away from the book referred to in Revelation 22:19."
Susan Peterson
Warsaw
Warsaw
Editor, Times-Union:To the Warsaw Business Community:
It seems to me to be the perfect time to assume the presidency of Warsaw Community Development Corp. Our community is thriving, vibrant and presumably the envy of the surrounding towns as they try to emulate the successes that we are having. Our downtown is a balanced blend of retail, professional, service and governmental entities. The streets and buildings are well kept, attractive and very "inviting" to all those who visit our business district or thinking of locating their business here.
Most importantly, we have a strong sense of cooperation among all of those who depend on the success of our downtown for their livelihoods. The optimism and sense of volunteerism among our merchants is exciting and contagious. And the WCDC enjoys the strong backing and support from the Warsaw city government and Kosciusko County government.
Our challenge, as I see it, is not to rest on our laurels. The influx of retail and service organizations from outside of our market area has changed the landscape of our local business market forever. We must continue to look for new ways to attract and keep our customers and stay "open minded" when asked to participate in the activities that enhance the experience of doing business in Warsaw.
I ask all of the members of WCDC to continue their support of this effort and give generously of your time and ideas to meeting our overall goals. Soon, you may be asked to help on a committee or project and I hope you will gladly accept that challenge. I will guarantee that your support will be a benefit to us all, and you will feel good about doing your part regardless of how big or small.
Let's all help make a great community even better!
Clint Pletcher
President, WCDC, via e-mail
Warsaw
KEMRAD
Editor, Times-Union:KEMRAD, Kosciusko County Radio, was organized in 1960 or shortly thereafter, with the blessing of Warsaw and county police departments. A picture of our group, including myself, was printed in the Warsaw paper in 1966, quite a large number of us in the picture.
We have helped by directing traffic for parades when the Warsaw Police Department requested it. Also for other parades at Mermaid Festival at North Webster, at Pierceton, at Claypool and other places when requested. We have directed traffic for the Warsaw High School ballgames for many years, we hope we helped you to leave after the game was over. Sealed off the town of Atwood when the tornado struck until the National Guard arrived the next morning. Helped find a person who had wandered off from the nursing home, and other events such as this.
Many of us KEMRAD members are older and now unable to help. We need replacements to take our places and fill the ranks of KEMRAD. We are a group that helps others and if you are interested in helping others, you are needed in KEMRAD. We are required to submit your application to the Warsaw Police Department and the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department and get their approval since we work with them.
You will need to contact Thomas Styles, 574-268-9771, or Larry Engle at the Warsaw Police Department who will get you in contact with the proper person.
Wallace Huffman
Warsaw
Unfair Official
Editor, Times-Union:Basketball is most of all a game of class and integrity. To excel at it you must not only have honed skills with a basketball but you must also display character, class and possess an overall respect for the game. Indiana high school basketball is usually a sterling example of these qualities. Sadly, Wawasee High School dropped the ball during their Friday contest against the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings.
First of all, I would like to make clear that this unsportsmanlike display did not come from players from either Tippecanoe Valley or Wawasee. This disappointment came at the hands of the officiating crew proceeding over this night's activities. Officiating sporting events comes with an unspoken code of conduct. An official must be fair and impartial in their decisions and should favor neither team over the other. However, the officials at Wawasee High School broke this code of conduct and stepped over a sacred line. These officials were neither fair nor impartial. Every call seemed to go the way of the Wawasee Warriors.
While irritating, this would normally not be a problem, as I am sure all of us have experienced what we believed was sub-par officiating at the time. However, it came to my attention after the contest that one of the officials was employed by the Wawasee School Corporation. The cause for this bad officiating of this game became clear. This man was favoring his school over the other.
As a spectator and competitor, albeit not in basketball, I must say that I was severely disappointed over this display of poor conduct. All participants, whether athlete, spectator or official should do their utmost to preserve the conduct. All participants, whether athlete, spectator or official should do their utmost to preserve the moral integrity of the game. This man failed at his duty and I, for one, am ashamed.
It is my wish that this man should be severely reprimanded for his conduct. No official should be able to officiate at their own school. It is these kinds of performances that give off the wrong kind of image for sporting events at any level. This act was disgraceful and should never be allowed to be repeated.
Josh Foster
Mentone
Winter Guard Clarified
Editor, Times-Union:I wish to express my appreciation to David Slone for his articles featuring the students of the Warsaw Community High School Music Department. However, I would like to make an important correction to his recent article about the WCHS Winter Guard (2/17/06).
The story states Winter Guard is winning trophies "for the first time." This is not at all true. The WCHS Winter Guard has accumulated a great deal of "hardware" over the years, including trophies that commemorate nine trips to the IHSCGA State Finals. The guard has placed as high as third at state finals (in 1998). The WCHS Winter Guard has had a long-standing tradition of excellence in performance, and this year's group is no exception.
In spite of the error, I appreciate Mr. Slone's dedication to spotlighting the many positive things that our students are doing in the performing arts at WCHS. I merely wanted to set the record straight. Thank you.
Mickey Ratliff
WCHS Band Director
Warsaw
Seniors Take Note
Editor, Times-Union:We are writing to let all those seniors 60 and older know about a wonderful free transportation service in Kosciusko County that is provided by Kosciusko Community Senior Services.
My husband and I went through a very difficult time trying to get around when our van recently broke down. However, with just one phone call, we were out and about again. The people at the Senior Services office were ready to listen and get us scheduled on a van immediately. We want them to know how much we appreciated their help.
However, we also want other seniors to know about this wonderful service. The van drivers are always willing to lend a hand. They will assist you on and off the van and will help carry your groceries and other items into your home. The vans are handicapped accessible. Just call 574-267-2012 to make your van reservation and take advantage of this great Kosciusko County senior service. It can change your life.
Gene and Mary Dirck
Warsaw
Left-Wing Media
Editor, Times-Union:I'm writing to ask you to report on the new study showing the mainstream media's left-wing bias, and to urge the media to include more conservative voices.
A new study by researchers from UCLA shows that the "liberal bias" claim by many conservatives is true after all, and reveals a strong liberal bias in the news content of nearly all major media outlets. The media must include more conservative voices and provide balanced coverage. The study is located at http://shurl.org/mediabias
The new study, published by MIT Press in the "Quarterly Journal of Economics", measures media bias by estimating ideological scores for several major media outlets. To compute this, they count the times that a particular media outlet cites various think tanks and policy groups, and then compare this with the times that members of Congress cite the same groups. The study's results show a strong liberal bias: all of the news outlets they examine, except Fox News' Special Report and the Washington Times, received scores to the left of the average member of Congress.
Consistent with claims made by conservative critics, CBS Evening News and the New York Times received scores far to the left of center. The most centrist media outlets were PBS NewsHour, CNN's Newsnight and ABC's Good Morning America; among print outlets, USA Today was closest to the center.
All of the study's findings refer strictly to news content; that is, the researchers exclude editorials, letters and the like.
You can find a link to this new study at www.rightmarch.com
Sue E. Clark, via e-mail
Syracuse
Illegal Aliens
Editor, Times-Union:In case no one has noticed, we have a lot more Hispanic people living here than ever before. And a whole lot of these folks have no official papers that permit them to be here. They have cars, houses, kids, jobs, bank accounts and problems just like the rest of us. But some of them are illegal. What shall we do? I think there are three responses.
First, we could just ignore the problem as we have for some time now. This is the "do nothing" approach. My pastor, Denny Wilson, thinks this is usually the worst approach to problem solving. Better a bad decision than none at all. I have to agree. Simply ignoring matters usually guarantees they only get worse.
Second, we could insist that Immigration and Naturalization Service, now part of Homeland Security, come here to northern Indiana and force all these people and their families back to Mexico or elsewhere. But that is just not going to happen. The reason is really very simple. Corporations do not want this to happen. Illegal aliens are a large part of the workforce here in northern Indiana. If the law were actually fairly enforced, both the illegal aliens and the corporations which knowingly (or with a pretty good idea) employ them would be punished. But that is not happening. And corporations have such a profound influence on our government that is does not seem too likely in the near future that corporations will be punished for employing illegals.
That leaves us with the third option: accepting reality. People from the southern part of our hemisphere are heading north because that is where the work is. They are bringing their traditions, their language, their faith and their families. They are building their lives and their homes here. The reality is that they are a part of us. And I believe the only realistic response is to engage with Latinos. My experience is that the vast majority are decent human beings just trying to make it. A few are dangerous and should be deported and a good number do not understand our customs, language and laws. We must educate these folks. We need to understand that the children born here are U.S. citizens and the children who grew up here, even though born in another country, are, practically speaking, part of us, too.
I believe we need to embrace the solution proposed by President Bush - the guest worker program. This permits people to lawfully live and work here, return home in the future, or possibly seek to become U.S. citizens through lawful means. This takes work from all of us. We will need to learn their language and their needs. And they will need to learn our language and our expectations, legally and socially. In the end we will all be richer in the process.
A long time ago the prophets told the Jewish people to show mercy to the aliens in their midst. It seems to me that message is worth remembering today in Kosciusko County.
David C. Kolbe
Warsaw, via e-mail
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