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Wednesday, March 19, 1975
University Daily Kansan
KANSAN
Editorials, columns and letters published on this page reflect only the opinions of the writers.
Biblical balderdash
The ability to adapt to changing realities is essential if we are to avoid living like damn fools. Far too many people haven't been keeping up with the tremendous changes that have gone on around them. Many people are actively resisting change and that has led to economic security or because change threatens long cherished belief systems.
Recently, opponents of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) have been campaigning to get the Kansas legislature to rescind its ratification of that amendment. Certainly, if opponents of the amendment have serious criticisms to offer, they may have to offerUnfortunately, many ERA opponents have based their criticisms on naive beliefs about the Bible.
In some circles, the Bible is still seriously thought of as "The Good Book." Many still think Bible study is the cure for the ills of humanity.
Certainly the Bible contains some wisdom, just as most other books do. However, the Bible also contains a lot of primitive nonsense. Unfortunately, many people don't have the perspective to separate the wisdom from the nonsense. In the hands of these people, the Bible becomes a vicious and cruel weapon.
An exhaustive study would certainly reveal that "The Good Book" has promoted as much misery as it has good.
For example, countless women have suffered because Exodus 22:18 commands that so-called witches shall be put to death. Many Bible thumper们 have fought the use of anesthetics during childbirth than Genesis 3:16 says, so sorrow then shalt bring forth children."
A narrow Biblical view of sex continues to promote hell on earth for many heterosexuals and homosexuals. Many Christians justified slavery by quoting St. Paul, "You be obedient to your masters."
Throughout history, free thinkers such as Bruno and Gallileo have been
persecuted because the world they observed and wrote about wasn't the world of their catechism.
Clearly, the tone of the Bible often invites the persecution of people for their differences. Moreover, the Bible's dogmatism discourages an objective, thorough search for relevant facts outside the Bible upon which to base independent moral judgments.
Surely the people who call the Bible "The Good Book" haven't read Joshua 10:40 or 1 Samuel 18:27 or 2 Samuel 16:21-23.
People who have read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and who still believe "The Good Book" doesn't contradict itself countless times must be victims of a curious form of rationalization. The Bible is full of contradictions that these people have long labored to harmonize. For example, how does one harmonize "Thou shall not kill" with the many divinely inspired blood-baths?
The fallibility of the Bible is quite evident when one studies how it was assembled. The New Testament was canonized in the fourth century when a group of churchmen voted on which of many books should be considered divinely inspired and which should be rejected.
Curiously, one prominent churchman advocated four gospels because there were four seasons, winds and four corners of the earth.
Nevertheless, many people continue to preach their back-to-the-Bible sermons as if the Bible were the most incisive book ever written on how we should live. It may have been 1,000 years ago, but I can think of dozens of more useful books today.
The Bible was one of the great verbal symbols around which western civilization built itself. Now that we are entering the age of scientific observations, the Bibles serve a very little use. In the hands of naive people, the Bible serves only to impede the maturation of humanity.
Steven Lewis
By STEPHEN BUSER Contributing Writer
When will we ever learn?
The only real lesson that has been learned from Wategate is that crime actually does pay. Just ask John Dean III who has been making $3,500 an appearance before college by beating him with his criminal involvement in the Wategate Affair.
One doesn't have to be a 'convicted felon, however, to
receive financial benefits from the greatest scandal since Teapot Dome. Sam Dash, former chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, and his plans to write a book. Washington Post reportheroes Carl Berrstein and Bob Woodward are working on a sequel to "All the President's Men," and theodore White will become the ninth Bronx rebalance later this Spring.
IN ADDITION TO' TO this financial benefit of Watergate, it appears that our country has been severely affected by political corruption. Scanning recent newspapers one can see that political corruption hasn't ended with usaken to it. It was limited to the activity in Washington.
Most recently, former Gov. Tom Hall of Oklahoma was convicted of extortion and bribery. Last week, State Sen. Donald Swinarski of Illinois pleaded guilty to charges of tax fraud. A few weeks ago Rep. William Clark of Minnesota pleaded guilty to charges of violating campaign election laws. The FBI is investigating Rep. William Clay of Missouri for assorted offenses related to malfaissance in office. Numerous local government
officials in East St. Louis, Ill., have been charged with various abuses of political office. Surely this list could be extended if all state and local government politics were considered.
It is disappointing that Watergate hasn't produced more than a few heroes for the American public to idolize and a few villains to ridicule. Sam Ervin, Archibald Cox, Leon Jaworski and John McCain all have once expected the favorites to still refuse to believe that Nixon is a crook. On the other side we have John Mitchell, John Ehrichman and numerous other villains whom
Daniel Schorr and company condemned on a nightly basis for a whole year.
Now that it is all over, where do we go from here? We already know what enterprises capitalists such as Dean, Bernstein and others plan to use in disgraceful affair: make money from it. We know that the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who voted to impeach Nixon managed to office last fall for their efforts, the news media have nearly patted their backs to death for the great work they did while
covering Watergate. We know that a few states have passed campaign reform legislation to curtail changes of mini-Watergates. Anything more? Apparently not.
It may be a while before another President attempts to deceive the American people as to cause him to lose case and pericious corruption, political offices at all levels of government will remain with us always. This has been the newspaper headlines before, during, and after Nixon told America, "I am not a crook."
The moral lessons that might
have been learned from the Watergate fiasco have seemingly been discarded by them Rather than abide by ethical standards of conduct, many of our elected officials choose to take their chances of getting convicted of a crime goes on with incessant political corruption as Americans kid themselves, thinking that the sins of Watergate ended when the House is demolished. How very naive we are.
The adage that history repeats itself is one of the most painful characteristics of politics.
" YOU OWN TO SEE THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY "
White Knight awaits the crusade
Editor's note: Although the 1976 election is 20 months away, politicking for the Presidency is in full swing. Many of the
Readers respond
Anti-ERA forces should stay home
To the Editor:
After reading the story, "Former Beauty Queen Blasts ERA," in the March 6 Kansan, I learned that Ms. ERA perhaps draws your attention to a rather perplexing situation. This situation concerns the amount of publicity that both Ms. ERA and Kansan have in Journal World are giving Debbie Barnes Miles and her group as they crusade through the state trying to rescind the Rights Amendment in Kansas.
I RESENT THIS publicity because it has thus far ignored the hundreds of women and men in the state who support ERA and have supported it since its inception. This story went on to state that, during the course of the rally, and in the true spirit of the movement, the group refused to answer or acknowledge questions that were contrary to the position of her group.
discussing affairs of the state such as the ERA.
ACCORDING TO THE KANSAN, Miles opposes the ERA because, among other things, she believes that it is important to give American family unit (she believes that this unit is very important in our nation), and that she believes, "The man must play the dominant role in her life that she maintains that her position is the Bible, I, for one, would immediately challenge this reasoning for several reasons. FIRST, STATISTICS show that there were many diverse in this country in 1974 (without ERA), therefore one wonders whether the family unit is indeed thriving at the present time, or that it indeed is that important in our country. We do not mind that not everyone in our country reads the same Bible, nor is our society governed by the doctrines or dogmas of any one church or religious philosophy. In fact, one of the government has always been separation of the church and state. Therefore, one questions the use of Biblical quotations in
Finally, because Miles believes that men should play the dominant role in society and women should play it perhaps she should stay home in the future and assume her "woman's role," and leave politics and publicity to responsible, interested and competent women may not choose to live in a male dominated society, but rather would choose to work for and live in a world where women as well as men choose their own lives into a role by accident of birth.
Abortion
Kathy Cogburn Lawrence Graduate Student
To the Editor:
The most astonishing thing about abortion is some statistics that your editors and readers have failed to reveal. As reported by Stephen Buser, in 1974 there were approximately 900,000 abortions in the United States. What he failed to report was that there were only about 2 per cent of natural births in the country during that same year. These 900,000 abortions represent approximately 25 per cent of the new life for the U.S. in 1974.
Although abortion has been legal only a few years, the social and economic ramifications of these statistics are astounding. To begin with, 15 years from now this 25 per cent increase in employment for labor force leadership and scientific and technical experts.
Another missing link in your debate is your refusal to admit to the fetal life. It is a medically and scientifically proven fact
that new life exists in the female womb at the moment of conception. Whether or not this life should be considered human is a matter of definition. However, these beings have very human characteristics. After only a few months of being on a head, arms, legs, eyes, nervous system and lungs. In the eighth week, cranial activity can be observed through an EEG. Fingers and toes are complete even with fingerprints. At the 16th week the fingers and toes are bales and exhales aminic fluid,ucks thumbs,grasps with hands, swims,kicks and turns sommersails.
Already there are reports that the country's social security system is an adequate working class. In addition, we are taking a 3 to 1 chance that none of these beings Washington or Einsteinas.
After the 20th week the fetus is over one foot in length and weights one pound or more. He can even survive certain kinds of abortion and has a 10 per cent chance of maturing.
The Supreme Court has ruled, 7 to 2, that women have the right to govern their own bodies in these matters. But do they have the right to order the death of an infant or to abort? An unwanted child means a child whose genetic parents don't want him. It doesn't mean he isn't wanted. Must he die in order to facilitate the birth of an irresponsible woman? After the 20th week, children born prematurely by normal means receive full medical care when ever survival is deemed possible; children born by abortion are considered something tantamount to Hitlerian discrimination.
As a final point, I remark that prematal life has no legal rights in our society. In fact, the abortionist opinion is that early pregnancy is a physical state of the woman, and has nothing to do with a second life. Any life, whether it be animal, fish or fetus certainly has the right to live. The only argument for abortion is that the woman's right to govern her own body is greater.
new life as the most precious life. After all, new life has a full lifetime of potential contribution to humanity. A new life is not just for the children behind her, and part of her potential contribution to society is embedded in the child she is carrying. Thus on one side we have 900,000 babies with a total fertility rate of another side we have 900,000 women with only half a lifetime of potential. Statistically speaking, babies are better educated and more productive than their parents
In closing, I note that I am not opposed to birth control. Each couple certainly has the right to be free from it in these matters. However, after conception, a third life is involved and his right to live supercedes all other rights. He will not be part of family planning.
A pregnant woman, whatever her status in life, should be respected for the life that she carries. The fact that today, women are not protected by social pressure to abort their children indicates a major social problem. Any woman who carries her child full term, deserves the respect and admiration of society. A pregnancy is not something to put up. Rather it is something to relieve it is to relieve love.
Historically speaking, mankind has always revered
Patrick W. Murphy Lecturer in mathematics
potential and announced candidates are unknown to most voters. This is the first in a series of analyses of these candidates. The caricatures accompanying the analyses were drawn by Kansan staff artist Ken Westphal.
No solution
Everyone must realize of now that the solution to the problem of crime is a complex and perplexing issue that can be solved only with concrete actions, not with empty rhetoric. Hopefully, someone on the campus police force has a beer grasped the compromises of the Theft Prevention Act, who said, "If anyone knew what to do about it, we wouldn't have the problem."
Steven Barry Lawrence Senior
By STEVEN LEWIS Contributing Writer
"I bled for causes;" I had voted Democratic in every
To the Editor:
Ronald Reagan hasn't always been "the Rembrandt of American Conservation," as Sen. James Buckley, C-N.Y., recently described him. He was known for cording to Reagan's autobiography, he was a "nearhopeless hemiliphical liberal."
KANSAN analysis
election. I was blindly and busily using every organization I could find that would guarantee to save the world."
Reagan even campaigned for the Gahanagan Douglas in her unsuccessful bid to reclaim Richard Nixon in 1960. Soon, however, he was defeated by the political
Since 1952 Reagan has supported every Republican nominee for president, and in
In 1965 a group of California businessmen formed "The Friends of Ronald Reagan," a club whose goal was to elect Reagan governor of California. With the aid of such celebrities as Walt Disney and John Wayne, Reagan moved from host of TV's Death Valley Days to present The New York Times editorially criticized Reagan's campaign as "an intrusion of television and show business values into serious politics."
REAGAN HAS BECOME the sweetheart of ideology pure Republicans. Reagan's views include continued American worldwide military dominance, renewed American military involvement in Southeast Asia and other regions, involvement in the daily lives of Americans, especially businessmen.
After eight years as governor of California, Reagan is now a private citizen. But he hasn't been forgotten.
1962 he officially switched to the Republican party.
Reagan advocates fiscal responsibility on the part of the nation's legislators. He blames federal deficit spending for our double-digit inflation. He wants us to spend more on social programs.
Reagan was an economic major in college and he otter
ridicules liberal economist John Kenneth Gibraltar as "living proof that economics remains an inexact science." Nevertheless, Reagan's economics seems long on evangelistic fervor and short on facts and carefully derived inferences.
If Reagan's economics were more factual than ideological, he would have a more economic sense. He might come to understand that the major inflationary influence of his administration has been military spending.
REAGAN IS AN ardent supporter of the Pentagon and its "keeping up with the Russians" policies. Here Ronald Reagan reveals himself as someone who believes beliefs haven't kept up with the changed military realities of the nuclear age.
Reagan advocates that we send all aid necessary to prevent the takeover of Communist forces in Southeast Asia. The United States should believe in the so-called domino theory. Mistakes of idealists are
apparently hard for him to perceive and even more difficult for him to admit.
Of course, anyone who speaks and writes as much as Reagan is bound to offer some worthwhile suggestions. Accordingly, Reagan has suggested some serious reforms of federal bureaucracy and spending. But for the most part, he will not fortunate reaction to some liberalists who have no more understanding of the world than Reagan.
REAGAN IS 64 and his chances for the Presidency in '78 appear slim. His best hope lies in a decision by President Ford not to run. Reagan knows what he must do, practical. He seems resolved to help purify the Republican party of its Rockefeller wing. Reagan will continue to write his newspaper column, tape his radio program and lecture to students. He will appear. In other words, he will be around just in case his country wants him in '76.
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