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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 1989)
OPINION L_ 3 1 Thursday, October 19,1989 Mail Call Don’t lose out on life EDITOR: Yes, Ags! — It happens on our campus! After each and every home football game! You can count on it! — Our Emergency Medical Service Team will be called to save the life of someone who drank himself or herself into an acute alcoholic stupor while celebrating a victory (or a defeat)! We like to think such foolish behavior afflicts only the fans of our opponents. How I wish that were so! Sadly even Aggies fall victim to this folly. Recently, in separate incidents, our EMS team literally saved the lives of two young women from our campus, who had consumed too much alcohol too fast. In each case the lady was semi-comatose and in danger of choking to death on her own vomitus. The able men and women of our EMS kept this from happening and delivered each woman safely to the emergency room of one of our local hospitals for definitive medical treatment. Fortunately, each young lady recovered completely. In each case a blood alcohol level was drawn in the emergency room of the hospital and determined to be in the very high anesthetic range. A blood level of this magnitude is cause for serious concern because the anesthetic dose for alcohol is very near the lethal dose. Put another way, the margin of safety between passing out and dying from an overdose is very slim. The message: It is best to limit your consumption of alcohol. If you must drink, sip your drink very slowly. When you feel the first effects, stop drinking. Be sure NOT to drink to the point of passing out! NEVER, no matter how heavy the social pressure, chug-a-lug a large drink of any alcoholic beverage! Don’t let a friend do it either! Remember: You are needed to yell for the next Aggie victory. Kenneth R. Dirks, M.D. Director of the Beutel Health Center Morality on the decline EDITOR: I believe we all need to consider a very important fact before anyone begins to declare this country is ready to embrace homosexuality and all it implies. It’s important to understand that homosexual lobbyists are trying very hard to bring about a complete re-evaluation of ideals. Their objective is that, in the very near future, the average parent will actually feel go&cP&bout taking their son Biff to pick up his date Tom and drive them safely to the high school prom. As long as Tom comes from a good family and is not too old for Biff, of course. This is the final test of social acceptance and this is what they want. Mr. Mathieu’s suggestion that we are ready for this kind of degenerate behavior indicates to me he has not thought this whole thing through carefully enough. I can just about see the present day romance unfold at the prom: The two benevolent teachers chaperoning the dance making approving gestures and remarks like, “They make such a nice couple,” as the two well-groomed boys dance by making innocent displays of affection. Is this the acceptance we have so wisely determined we are due for? I think not! I would also like to clarify the confusion concerning our right to prevent adult homosexuals from marrying and displaying their romance publicly. It is a very common basic right, which also happens to prevent adult heterosexuals from marrying in groups. For example, one man to more than one woman. If you think this wouldn’t happen in this day and age, think again. I am talking about our inalienable right to uphold a good moral standard through use of the law. Yes, sir. It is deeply disturbing to read The Battlion and get the impression that one of our columnists apparently has a problem with the practice of upholding the remnents of a sense of morality, as well as a problem with simple deductive reasoning. You see, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that as long as this country remains predominantly Christian, homosexuality will not be socially accepted, much less respected. No matter how many laws they manage to pass and how much media coverage they buy, homosexual behavior is shameful. Ricardo Rios ’79 Treat all students equally EDITOR: It is certainly gratifying to learn from the Oct. 13 issue of The Battalion that L. M. Smith, the Christian professor, is in his closet praying for homosexuals. While he is about it, perhaps he should pray for some understanding of what the Bible in fact says and how to distinguish its message from his own prejudices. None of the languages of the Bible has a word for “homosexual.” Neither Hebrew nor Arabic has the word today. The only place in the Hebrew Bible that homosexual acts, per se, are mentioned is in Leviticus. Leviticus 18:22, for example, literally reads, “You shall not sleep the sleep of a woman with a man.” For well over a thousand years, Jewish scholars have debated exactly what that passage and others like it prohibit. (Cf. Talmud, Sanhedrin 7.4.53A and Maimonides’ commentary in the Code 5.1.14). Whatever the act was, it was a “toevah” — abomination — which has to do with ritual impurity, not inherent evil. If Professor Smith is serious about all the abominations in the Hebrew Bible, then we know that he does not eat shellfish (Lev. 11:10) or touch his wife when she is having her menstrual period (Lev. 18:19) or exact any form of interest from his countrymen (Nehemiah 2:7). This last abomination would mean that Professor Smith must have avoided certain academic fields that take the collection of interest for granted, such as accounting. As for the infamous Sodom incident, Ezekiel 16 lists the sins of the Sodomites: no sex of any kind is mentioned, but they are singled out for failing to “strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy.” That Jesus held the same opinion is clear from his remarks, as reported in Matthew 10. If we take Ezekiel and Jesus at their word, former Secretary of the Interior James Watt is a Sodomite because he ripped off more than $400,000 from HUD funds designated to help the poor. It is interesting that Professor Smith condemned neither him nor that other famous Sodomite, Ronald Reagan, for activities that Jesus clearly condemned. Does Professor Smith fare any better on his home ground, the New Testament? There are two Greek words (in I Cor. 6:9 and I Tim. 1:10) that have been translated “homosexual.” “Malakos” means licentious, weak or wanting in self control. “Arsenokoitai” refers to male prostitutes. The only remaining passage is Rom. 1:26-27, a complex passage where Paul condemns: a) the Gentiles for their infidelity, b) lust in general, and c) heterosexual men who have “left” or “abandoned” their usual heterosexual practices and engaged in lustful sex with other men. What is clear is that none of these texts can be used to condemn a monogamous homosexual couple. What other evidence does Professor Smith use to persuade us that homosexuals are terrible people? He refers to a “confidential poll of traditional psychiatrists” who think that homosexuality is pathological. Given the overwhelming evidence and the official position of the American Psychological Association, I can understand why these “traditionalists” (a codeword for fundamentalist Christians?) wish to remain anonymous. They have sacrificed science for their ideology of choice. Nevertheless, it is a shame they don’t have the courage of their convictions. Finally, in his cheapest shot of all, Professor Smith calls up the tragedy of AIDS and he claims that homosexuality is virtually synonymous with pedophilia. Can he be unaware that heterosexuals also get AIDS, that infants are born with AIDS and that the vast majority of child molesters are heterosexuals? Perhaps after he learns these facts, he will write a letter condemning heterosexuality as well. It has been my honor to have been faculty adviser of the Gay Student Services for almost 10 years. During most of that time, gay Aggies been treated as second-class citizens who could not even get a meeting room on campus. But gay Aggies have also worked hard during those years to improve their lives at Texas A&M. The results can be seen on pages 5 and 34 of the 1989-90 University Regulations, which indicate the University’s commitment to treating all of its students equally, regardless of their sexual orientation. We can now tell all the Professor Smiths to find some other scapegoat. Gay Aggies are no longer second-class Aggies, nor will they accept the abuse of ideologues and bigots. Larry Hickman Philosophy Embarrassing ignorance EDITOR: All I can say about Adam Mathieu’s artcle in last Tuesday’s Battalion is wow! Kudos to him for stepping back and taking a rational, intelligent look at homosexuality; it was an excellent article. Unfortunately, I think there will be a great many knee-jerks who will write in to The Batt about the “crime,” “decadence” and “sin” of homosexuality, without taking the time to think about the fact that gay men and women are people too! Well I for one applaud Mathieu, and I think it’s about time someone took a chance and tried to educate the ignorant, prejudiced masses. I have many gay friends, and I’m constantly amazed and disgusted by the callous way they’re treated by heterosexuals, whether inadvertantly or deliberately. I stood by in shock once as an acquaintance from class told a good friend of mine all about how he could spot “those disgusting faggots” a mile off. The ironic thing is that the man he was talking to was gay. Funny how he’d known my friend as “a really nice guy” for overy a year, yet never realized he was one of (gasp!) “those disgusting faggots.” Poor, ignorant man. Simply because you don’t agree with or like lifestyles that differ from your own does not give you the right to try to dictate others lives or treat them as less human. If it bothers you, fine; don’t hang around and don’t watch it. But at least have the courtesy to grant everyone the right to live his life the way he sees fit. A little tolerance and understanding goes a long way. Meredith Denton ’89 Comedy Commandos cool EDITOR: I would like to thank everyone at Texas A&M for attending the Coors Light Comedy Commando Show in Rudder Auditorium. As a college performer, I have never seen a sell-out performance with so much spirit. I wish to thank everyone involved in making this event a success. My only regret is that I did not tape a live album there. It would be “solid gold.” Thanks again and please drink responsibly! David Naster Coors Light Comedy Commando 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 author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the classification, address and telephone num ber of the writer. don't let your business bomb. Call 845-0569 to advertise The Battalion Meadowbrook cotton oxford cloth dress shirt, shown. 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