Letters to the Editor 10-04-2001
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Deeter Responds - Let It Be Known - Life Chain
Deeter Responds
Editor, Times-Union:Responses (Arab I, II, III), Times-Union (9/28) were not surprising. "Imposed" registration on select groups is understandably disturbing to many. Could we trust our government with the bank of information from those of Arab descent? Most Americans would, I believe. Internment of Japanese (WWII) is of course commonly agreed to have been a mistake for well-known reasons. Registering legitimate Arabs seems a reasonable alternative, under the circumstances.
There remains extreme threat to national security from terrorist activity of certain twisted factions of the Arab world. The majority of Americans (CNN/Gallup Poll), i.e., two out of three, say "they believe there will be additional terrorist attacks in the USA in the next several weeks ... " (USA Today, 9/24, p. 8A).
Coupled with this terrible threat is continued abuse of Arab-Americans (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 9/28, p. 2A): "The number of hate crimes directed at Arab-Americans has almost doubled from a week ago and the FBI has formally opened 90 civil rights investigations since Sept. 11. FBI Director Robert Mueller said Thursday 30 FBI field offices are investigating attacks against members of Arab, Muslim and Sikh communities around the nation."
Perhaps there is potential for self-registration versus "imposed." Sheik Muhamad Hison Kabbani, a Muslim scholar and leader of a North American Muslim order, who attended the National Cathedral prayer service at the invitation of the president, "emphasized on the 'Today show' last week how important it was to cooperate with authorities, to help them get the men who so monstrously blasphemed the Islamic faith." This was reported in an article where the writer further stated, "... and we need them not simply to cooperate with authorities but to become authorities themselves, bringing to the nation's police forces, military services and intelligence agencies the skills only Arab- and Muslim-Americans can provide about a critical part of the world we clearly don't understand." (WSJ, 9/28, p. W13)
A registration vehicle could be designed with FBI assistance (taxpayer expense and providing maximum resistance to counterfeiters) and perhaps be carried out by an organization with shared sponsorship between the FBI and above described councils and institutes, at their expense as a contribution to their country.
As for the McVeigh/Oklahoma City and Kazinski/Unibomber attacks, this is a different kind of wacko. No ID system can guarantee the prevention of these immense tragedies. But Americans do want some help. USA TODAY (9/24, p. 1D) reported that "a Reader's Digest/Yahoo poll out today reveals that of 35,000 respondents: 71 percent want a new national ID system based on both fingerprints and retinal scans ... "plus other measures such as 70 percent favoring the use of wiretaps by intelligence agencies and 78 percent find it acceptable to videotape public places (as they do in England). "In short, we want more people being watched, even if that includes ourselves," according to this poll.
We have on the order of 280 million population in the U.S. -Êa big job for national registration. We should probably tackle the IDing of Arabs first. I appreciate the respondents' participation in the debate.
George W. Deeter
Warsaw
Let It Be Known
Editor, Times-Union:Let It Be Known
Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 ... We, the American people and citizens from all over the world, began the duties of our morning as we did every morning before, with a loving kiss goodbye to our babies, our children, our spouses, friends and loved ones. As many thousands hurried to an unforeseen fate, nothing could have prepared them or those of us who remain for the brutal devastation to follow and the heart-breaking agony in the finality of the many goodbye kisses. A day was about to unfold that would change our lives and the world forever. As the majestic Stars and Stripes flew proudly over our skies, as they did every day before, so too did evil on this fateful morning in September. We were at the mercy of a coward in hiding, whose intimidation of a freedom far beyond his comprehension is the only justification for an inconceivable attempt to disable it, with the assumption our freedom is our weakness, unaware it is our strength.
To the Face of Evil:
¥ Let it be known you can bring down our gleaming buildings, but you can never bring down our patriotic spirit.
¥ You can hide in a hole like a scared rabbit, but we will seek and we will find.
¥ You can weaken our hearts, but you have strengthened our souls.
¥ We feel nothing but pity for your ignorance, but make no mistake, it is not you we pity, it is your young who have our empathy, for they were not born terrorists. The distorted beliefs of your people make them one.
¥ In spite of our loss and suffering, we do not hate you, for we are not a nation motivated by hatred, we are a nation of loving people, capable of human forgiveness. Your unimaginable incapacity for compassion of human life however, defies humanity as we know it and as our God knows it.
¥ You have failed in your unspeakable mission and senseless acts to divide our beloved country; you have instead strengthened our unity and united we will restore, united we will defend and united we will stand.
¥ Let it be known, lives were not lost in vain, nor will be the many more to follow. Those who lose their lives for the love of country rescue all of us who remain.
¥ Our divine freedom that you dared to interrupt will continue and prevail.
¥ As all peace-loving nations unite with one voice, let it be known and let it be heard wherever you are, that human life must be sacrificed for the salvation of the world, so fear not ... for those lives include yours, your fathers, mothers, your innocent babies and children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and friends.
¥ Our finest hour is yet to come; this is not a threat, this is not revenge, this is a promise. A promise that your despicable acts demand. It was you, not we, who sealed the fate that is now upon you.
¥ÊLet it be known, for it is certain, that the battle you so cowardly initiated is the battle we have already won!
God Bless America - God Bless the World!
Sherry Yates
Jacksonville, Fla.
(formerly of Warsaw)
Life Chain
Editor, Times-Union:The members of Kosciusko County Right to Life are preparing for their annual Life Chain in Warsaw on Sunday from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., along Center Street. I'm writing in hopes of rallying support for this event. As Christians we have been silent too long on this issue. Hitler was quoted as saying, "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Martin Luther King in the fight for slaves to be counted as people, was quoted as saying, "There are in the South more open-minded moderates than appear on the surface. These persons are silent today because of fear of social, political and economic reprisals. God grant that the white moderates of the South will rise up courageously, without fear, and take up the leadership in this tense period of transition." We are in a tense period of transition right now. We have a pro-life president who is able to appoint up to three or four new pro-life Supreme Court justices during his reign of office. He stated that he will sign a bill to reverse Roe versus Wade if set before him. We need now more than ever before to let our voice be heard.
The life chain is a nonviolent demonstration. It is a way to show the number of people who are against abortion. This is not a political issue but a moral issue. Jill Stanek, a nurse at Christ Hospital in Illinois, took a stand against the live-birth abortions going on in that hospital. These are the verses the Lord gave her to fuel her conviction: Proverbs 24:11-12 (TLB), "Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don't stand back and let them die. Don't try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn't know about it. For God, who knows all hearts, knows yours and he knows you knew! And he will reward everyone according to his deeds." Isaiah 42:6-7 (TLB): "I the Lord have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will guard and support you. ... You shall also be a light to guide the nations unto me. You will open the eyes of the blind and release those who sit in prison, darkness and despair." These verses very much prove that this is a moral issue that we will stand before our Lord and savior to give account of what we did or didn't do about these mothers and their babies. He has called us to declare his righteousness to our communities.
When battles are long sometimes they can seem hopeless, but this is a winnable battle. Please join us as we stand for this righteous cause. Please don't be a silent supporter. This year let your stand be known to our communities.
Thank you for your time and consideration. We will be praying for you as you make your decision on this important matter. If you have any questions, please call Kosciusko County Right to Life at 267-4381.
In his service,
Pastor Don Horn
Faith Fellowship Members
Claypool
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- Deeter Responds - Let It Be Known - Life Chain
Deeter Responds
Editor, Times-Union:Responses (Arab I, II, III), Times-Union (9/28) were not surprising. "Imposed" registration on select groups is understandably disturbing to many. Could we trust our government with the bank of information from those of Arab descent? Most Americans would, I believe. Internment of Japanese (WWII) is of course commonly agreed to have been a mistake for well-known reasons. Registering legitimate Arabs seems a reasonable alternative, under the circumstances.
There remains extreme threat to national security from terrorist activity of certain twisted factions of the Arab world. The majority of Americans (CNN/Gallup Poll), i.e., two out of three, say "they believe there will be additional terrorist attacks in the USA in the next several weeks ... " (USA Today, 9/24, p. 8A).
Coupled with this terrible threat is continued abuse of Arab-Americans (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 9/28, p. 2A): "The number of hate crimes directed at Arab-Americans has almost doubled from a week ago and the FBI has formally opened 90 civil rights investigations since Sept. 11. FBI Director Robert Mueller said Thursday 30 FBI field offices are investigating attacks against members of Arab, Muslim and Sikh communities around the nation."
Perhaps there is potential for self-registration versus "imposed." Sheik Muhamad Hison Kabbani, a Muslim scholar and leader of a North American Muslim order, who attended the National Cathedral prayer service at the invitation of the president, "emphasized on the 'Today show' last week how important it was to cooperate with authorities, to help them get the men who so monstrously blasphemed the Islamic faith." This was reported in an article where the writer further stated, "... and we need them not simply to cooperate with authorities but to become authorities themselves, bringing to the nation's police forces, military services and intelligence agencies the skills only Arab- and Muslim-Americans can provide about a critical part of the world we clearly don't understand." (WSJ, 9/28, p. W13)
A registration vehicle could be designed with FBI assistance (taxpayer expense and providing maximum resistance to counterfeiters) and perhaps be carried out by an organization with shared sponsorship between the FBI and above described councils and institutes, at their expense as a contribution to their country.
As for the McVeigh/Oklahoma City and Kazinski/Unibomber attacks, this is a different kind of wacko. No ID system can guarantee the prevention of these immense tragedies. But Americans do want some help. USA TODAY (9/24, p. 1D) reported that "a Reader's Digest/Yahoo poll out today reveals that of 35,000 respondents: 71 percent want a new national ID system based on both fingerprints and retinal scans ... "plus other measures such as 70 percent favoring the use of wiretaps by intelligence agencies and 78 percent find it acceptable to videotape public places (as they do in England). "In short, we want more people being watched, even if that includes ourselves," according to this poll.
We have on the order of 280 million population in the U.S. -Êa big job for national registration. We should probably tackle the IDing of Arabs first. I appreciate the respondents' participation in the debate.
George W. Deeter
Warsaw
Let It Be Known
Editor, Times-Union:Let It Be Known
Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 ... We, the American people and citizens from all over the world, began the duties of our morning as we did every morning before, with a loving kiss goodbye to our babies, our children, our spouses, friends and loved ones. As many thousands hurried to an unforeseen fate, nothing could have prepared them or those of us who remain for the brutal devastation to follow and the heart-breaking agony in the finality of the many goodbye kisses. A day was about to unfold that would change our lives and the world forever. As the majestic Stars and Stripes flew proudly over our skies, as they did every day before, so too did evil on this fateful morning in September. We were at the mercy of a coward in hiding, whose intimidation of a freedom far beyond his comprehension is the only justification for an inconceivable attempt to disable it, with the assumption our freedom is our weakness, unaware it is our strength.
To the Face of Evil:
¥ Let it be known you can bring down our gleaming buildings, but you can never bring down our patriotic spirit.
¥ You can hide in a hole like a scared rabbit, but we will seek and we will find.
¥ You can weaken our hearts, but you have strengthened our souls.
¥ We feel nothing but pity for your ignorance, but make no mistake, it is not you we pity, it is your young who have our empathy, for they were not born terrorists. The distorted beliefs of your people make them one.
¥ In spite of our loss and suffering, we do not hate you, for we are not a nation motivated by hatred, we are a nation of loving people, capable of human forgiveness. Your unimaginable incapacity for compassion of human life however, defies humanity as we know it and as our God knows it.
¥ You have failed in your unspeakable mission and senseless acts to divide our beloved country; you have instead strengthened our unity and united we will restore, united we will defend and united we will stand.
¥ Let it be known, lives were not lost in vain, nor will be the many more to follow. Those who lose their lives for the love of country rescue all of us who remain.
¥ Our divine freedom that you dared to interrupt will continue and prevail.
¥ As all peace-loving nations unite with one voice, let it be known and let it be heard wherever you are, that human life must be sacrificed for the salvation of the world, so fear not ... for those lives include yours, your fathers, mothers, your innocent babies and children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and friends.
¥ Our finest hour is yet to come; this is not a threat, this is not revenge, this is a promise. A promise that your despicable acts demand. It was you, not we, who sealed the fate that is now upon you.
¥ÊLet it be known, for it is certain, that the battle you so cowardly initiated is the battle we have already won!
God Bless America - God Bless the World!
Sherry Yates
Jacksonville, Fla.
(formerly of Warsaw)
Life Chain
Editor, Times-Union:The members of Kosciusko County Right to Life are preparing for their annual Life Chain in Warsaw on Sunday from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., along Center Street. I'm writing in hopes of rallying support for this event. As Christians we have been silent too long on this issue. Hitler was quoted as saying, "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Martin Luther King in the fight for slaves to be counted as people, was quoted as saying, "There are in the South more open-minded moderates than appear on the surface. These persons are silent today because of fear of social, political and economic reprisals. God grant that the white moderates of the South will rise up courageously, without fear, and take up the leadership in this tense period of transition." We are in a tense period of transition right now. We have a pro-life president who is able to appoint up to three or four new pro-life Supreme Court justices during his reign of office. He stated that he will sign a bill to reverse Roe versus Wade if set before him. We need now more than ever before to let our voice be heard.
The life chain is a nonviolent demonstration. It is a way to show the number of people who are against abortion. This is not a political issue but a moral issue. Jill Stanek, a nurse at Christ Hospital in Illinois, took a stand against the live-birth abortions going on in that hospital. These are the verses the Lord gave her to fuel her conviction: Proverbs 24:11-12 (TLB), "Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don't stand back and let them die. Don't try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn't know about it. For God, who knows all hearts, knows yours and he knows you knew! And he will reward everyone according to his deeds." Isaiah 42:6-7 (TLB): "I the Lord have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will guard and support you. ... You shall also be a light to guide the nations unto me. You will open the eyes of the blind and release those who sit in prison, darkness and despair." These verses very much prove that this is a moral issue that we will stand before our Lord and savior to give account of what we did or didn't do about these mothers and their babies. He has called us to declare his righteousness to our communities.
When battles are long sometimes they can seem hopeless, but this is a winnable battle. Please join us as we stand for this righteous cause. Please don't be a silent supporter. This year let your stand be known to our communities.
Thank you for your time and consideration. We will be praying for you as you make your decision on this important matter. If you have any questions, please call Kosciusko County Right to Life at 267-4381.
In his service,
Pastor Don Horn
Faith Fellowship Members
Claypool
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