2
The Battalion
OPINION
Monday, October 16,1989
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Mail Call
Society should wake up
EDITOR:
I would like to congratulate Adam Mathieu on
one of the few intelligent columns I have read in
The Battalion in a long time.
I worked with a progressive political lobby in
Austin this summer, and several of my co-workers,
male and female, were homosexual. None of them
remained untouched by the homophobia that runs
rampant in this country.
Sue, who was 22 with a four year-old child, was
undergoing a legal battle with her parents over
custody. Her parents had found out about her
stable two-year homosexual relationship, by then
akin to a marriage, and considered it grounds for
“unfit motherhood.”
This ignorant and dangerous attitude even
exerted itself at Austin’s March for Gay and
Lesbian Rights, a monumental event which drew
20,000 people. Small groups of fundamentalists
could not resist showing up to thump Bibles, taunt
the marchers and hold up signs proclaiming, “You
don’t have to be gay!” It didn’t take long for me to
understand the dangers of being homosexual in
this country; I was only relieved that I didn’t have
to live with the prejudice daily, as they must.
In the 20 years since the Stonewall uprising, it
seems that not much has been gained concerning
acceptance of homosexuality in the United States.
Gays still cannot “come out” without the risk of
being fired or losing their insurance due to
misguided AIDS prejudice.
We rarely see homosexuals in positions of
authority; the only avowed homosexual in the U.S.
Congress, Rep. Barney Frank, was just recently
thrown to the wolves. Musicians such as Elton
John, K.D. Lang and Austin’s great Two Nice Girls
may provide some positive role models for
younger gays, but they cannot make up for the
absence of homosexuals on television, in the
mediator in the church.
The only arena in which I have seen any
numbers of avowed homosexuals allowed to
achieve important roles has been the progressive
political community, where gays and lesbians work
side by side with heterosexuals to secure civil rights
for everyone, women’s right to choose, their right
to a peaceful world and the right to freedom in
Central America and the Third World.
Many homosexuals have been quick to realize
that no one can be free when others are oppressed.
It’s high time that the rest of society wake up and
realize this also.
Melanie Shouse ’89
Pray for homosexuals
EDITOR:
I am writing in response to Mr. Mathieu’s article
concerning homosexuality. If I recall one of my
psychology classes correctly, homosexuality is
considered to be a deviant lifestyle. Mr. Mathieu,
how can you justify something that is so aversive to
the moral majority of society? Frankly, I found the
display table in the MSC being tended by the Gay
Students Association offensive. These particular
individuals do not need or deserve our respect in
my opinion. What they do need, however, is our
concern and prayers. Lastly, allowing two people
of the same sex to marry would be an abomination
in the eyes of God. If God had wanted homosexual
relationships he would have placed Adam and Biff
together, not Adam and Eve.
Kimberly Murrell ’91
Prejudice: individual’s right
EDITOR:
Adam Mathieu is to be applauded for his open-
minded thinking. Mr. Mathieu suggests in his.Oct.
10 article that we, as a society, need to end our
prejudice, respect homosexuals and willingly
accept their lifestyle. Mr. Mathieu condemns our
society for current and past discriminations.
However, he seems to have forgotten that in
America, we have the right to be prejudiced. The
law may say, “thou shall not discriminate,” but
prejudice is a personal freedom. I may have a
strong prejudice against t-sips but I don’t have the
right to be discriminatory toward them in terms of
hiring, firing, wages and such.
Therefore, since the American people have the
right to their own opinions, morals, religions, etc.,
we certainly have the right to be prejudiced against
homosexuality.
Furthermore, if the vast majority of Americans
feel so strongly that an action (such as dealing
drugs) is morally wrong, we have the right to pass
laws forbidding it. This, indeed, is the case
regarding homosexual behavior. Why are there
laws in Texas, other states and nations forbidding
homosexuality?
Mother Nature, for one, clearly indicates to us
that this is deviant behavior. History also points to
great civilizations, such as the Roman Empire, in
which moral decay was a significant factor in their
demise. God Almighty certainly leaves us no room
for doubt. Jesus taught us to love the wayward one,
but to hate the waywardness. Jesus was and is the
Great Physician. He can cure homosexual
tendencies!
Mr. Mathieu would surely agree that curing
AIDS, not accepting it, is the way to go. Likewise,
curing homosexuality, not accepting it, is the
correct course of action for a decent and moral so
ciety.
Notie Lansford
Graduate Student
Christianity denies humanity
EDITOR:
It is surely a sad day at Texas A&M when a
professor chooses to incriminate himself by
admitting to all he cannot think for himself and
must rely on the Bible to tell him what to believe
(“Offensive Attack on Values,” Oct. 13th.) Yes,
folks. Fundamentalist Christianity rears its ugly
head once again in our beloved Battalion.
It just never ceases to amaze me how a supposed
“savior” like Jesus can be turned into a slavemaster
by so many Christians. Is it some kind of sado
masochistic will of the interpreters of the Bible to
deny themselves not only a life free from guilt but
one of continual denial of one’s own humanity? It
is truly a shame that the most popular religion in
this country is one that tightens the grip on its
followers through the merciless imposition of the
guilt of being human. How easy it is for some
Christians to deny homosexuals their right to be
the way they are. After all, Christians do the same
thing when denying they lust or have premarital
sex.
Loris Salinas ’88
Discipline key to education
EDITOR:
More students like Editor Scot Walker should
cry out for better education. Unfortunately, Scot,
the “big hurdle,” as you say, is not money. We are,
and have been, spending more and more on
education — and getting less and less.
I would like to remind you that your generation
is the first that is getting less educated than your
predecessors, despite all the federal, state and local
money we pour into education. At the risk of
sounding like an old fossil, I must say that the root
cause of educational problems lies with the
attitudes of students, teachers and parents.
As a society, our values are tarnished, if not
corrupted. We want instant gratification. We are
becoming soft and flabby, in mind and spirit, as
well as body. We are not willing to discipline
ourselves and work hard enough to get well
educated. Life has become too easy for the average
American. Unlike the material things of life,
education cannot be served up on a silver platter.
It has to be earned.
The Japanese still know that. Aggies would do
well to take more time to make friends with our
foreign students — most of them are more
prepared to work at their education because they
come from cultures where life is not so easy.
Bill Klemm
Professor of Veterinary Medicine
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The edito
rial staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will
make every effort to maintain the authors intent. Each letter must be
signed and must include the classification, address and telephone num
ber of the writer.
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