Differences often spark hatred
S pend some time in
the MSC this after
noon. Some people
will be solemnly reading a
list of names. These
names belong to some of
the millions of innocent
victims of the Holocaust.
Most people under
stand and have compas
sion for the Jews. However, for many of
us decades removed from the experi
ence, it may be easy to reason that, yes,
the Holocaust was awful, but why can’t
the Jews get over it and go on?
I have just a small observation for
you — the Holocaust was not and is
not a Jewish problem. The Jews did
not perpetrate the destruction of mil
lions of people, they, among many oth
ers, were just the recipients of it.
No, the Holocaust is a Christian
problem.
How can I dare say that?
Think about it.
Adolf Hitler, raised in a Christian
background, did not personally pull
the trigger on millions of people. No, it
was the common soldier, mostly
brought up as Christians, who carried
out “The Final Solution.”
The Germans are some of the most
decent and honest people I have ever
met, yet 40 years ago their elected
leaders conducted a campaign of
genocide.
How could such a decent people al
low such indecent actions?
It could never happen here, right?
On a smaller scale, it already did.
On October 27, 1838, Governor
Liliburn W. Boggs of Missouri signed
an executive order calling for the “ex
termination or expulsion of Mormons
from the state of Missouri.” When
leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints applied to the
courts, they got nowhere.
When church leaders took their
pleas for-help to the president, Martin
Van Buren, he responded, “Gentlemen,
your cause is just, but I can do nothing
for you. If I take up for you I shall lose
the vote of Missouri.”
By the winter of
1838-1839, 12,000-
15,000 Morntons had
been forced from their
land and their homes by
the state militia.
Thousands were ei
ther murdered or died
from exposure, all in
the name of religion. The “Extermina
tion Order” was not rescinded until
June 25, 1976.
For almost 140 years it was legal to
kill Mormons within Missouri. How
could a group of decent Americans al
low such an indecent situation?
The Germans were able to rational
ize their abhorrent actions on the
grounds that the Jews were just sim
ply different. The 19th century Mis
sourians were able to rationalize their
actions the same way.
Whenever we emphasize the differ
ences among people we are setting the
stage for the same type of thing as
went on in Europe in the 1930s and
1940s.
Think about it, are your friendships
based on what you have in common or
on what you have different?
The Jews have the same set of
moral/ethical beliefs as Christians. Af
ter all, the Ten Commandments are
found in both the Jewish Torah and
the Christian Old Testament — not to
mention the Muslim Qu’uran.
Yet for centuries many Christians
have taken every opportunity to cre
ate their own little version of the
Holocaust.
The Crusades are a great example.
In an effort to free the Holy Land,
thousands of both Jews and Moslems
were massacred at the hands of men
wearing crosses. For some reason, the
remaining “infidels” had little motiva
tion to become Christians.
Now go ahead a few centuries to
Resurrection Week. Now I don’t be
lieve for one minute that the partici
pants would want to massacre any
one, but take a closer look at what
happened.
Near the MSC we had the opportu
nity watch a play commemorating the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The orga
nizers included a group of actors pre
tending to be Jews who screamed,
“crucify him!” This is almost like pro
viding other Christians with an excuse
to, if not hate, at least feel revulsion
towards the Jews.
I need to point out an important
fact concerning Resurrection week.
Most of the participants are gen
uinely good people who are trying to
do what they believe to be right. That,
however is the point.
All too often, being “right” gives
As a Christian, I recall that
Jesus, among others, taught
the overriding need to love
everyone — regardless of
their religion.
someone an excuse to feel a little bet
ter than those who are “wrong.”
How far are we from the Holocaust?
All it would take is for us to come to
believe that someone who is different
is not as good. It’s not a great leap
from there.
It can happen here.
As a Christian, I recall that Jesus,
among others, taught the overriding
need to love everyone — regardless of
their religion.
Love doesn’t mean tolerating sin,
but I’m not encouraging that.
I mean loving people in their differ
ences, but realizing that inside we are
all the same.
To those involved in Resurrection
Week: please consider this before next
year. More people respond to being re
spected for their differences rather
than reviled for them.
David Taylor is a senior
management major
■' I liope yon don’t mind, Jud^e Ito... Imt testifying at tlie
Simpson trial is the only v/xry I can i fet the Country to
pay attention to wiKit I have to say... M
The Battalion
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jay Robbins
Senior Managing
editor
Heather Winch
Managing editor
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Sterling Hayman
Opinion editor
Erin Hill
Asst, opinion editor
Editorial
Free Wheelin’
Students should make an effort to participate ;
in the Bike-to-Work program.
Tomorrow marks an opportunity
for Aggies and others to break the
“car habit” and participate in the
Bike-to-Work Day.
Last year, more than 1,100 bicy
clists participated in Bike-to-Work
Day. It was the largest first-time
Bike-to-Work ever in Texas.
This year, students should make
an effort to participate in the pro
gram and make it an even
larger success.
The Brazos Valley
Cyclist and a local
chapter of the Texas
Bicycle Coalition are
sponsoring this year’s
Bike-to-Work Day.
The event, they
hope, will encour
age students to
help the environ
ment by biking to
work or school. Cy
cling not only pro
vides better exercise,
bout also uses no fuel and produces
no harmful exhaust.
This program gives Aggies an op
portunity to take advantage of alter
native forms of transportation. Wayne
Bryan, owner of Aggieland Cycling
and Fitness, noted that College Sta
tion “tends to be a one-person-in-a-car
town, which is not efficient.”
Just because Earth Day has
passed doesn’t mean that citizens
no longer have a responsibility to
conserve energy and prevent pollu
tion. The Bike-to-Work program
gives all Aggies a chance to fulfill
that responsibility.
The program, in addition to help
ing the environment, offers several
other advantages. Throughout the
day, local merchants and
restaurant owners around
town are offering partici
pants various rewards for cy
cling as an alternative form of
transportation.
Also, biking to campus
will alleviate the park
ing problems that are
prevalent at Texas
A&M. Cyclist usu
ally aren’t forced
to play the fun-
filled “parking
game,” and they
can travel around
campus more quick
ly and efficiently.
However, those who chose to par
ticipate in the Bike-to-Work program
should be sure to follow all traffic
laws. The laws were established not
only for the safety of the cyclist, bqt
also for all those around them.
Bike-to-Work Day is an excellent
opportunity for students to recognize
the importance of alternative forms
of transportation, and Aggies should
help to make it a success.
I
MAIL
CALL
Hall's assessment of
Equity 2000 incorrect
In Zach Hall’s column on April 18,
and Steve Cunningham’s April 18 letter
to the editor, used a classic white soci
etal scare tactic when they labeled the
Access and equity 2000 Plan as an “out
come-based quota system,” most likely
without even reading the final proposal.
These two, ill-informed, propaganda
spreading individuals, concluded that in
achieving the plan’s objectives, TAMU
would begin hiring unqualified minority
faculty candidates and lower admission
standards for entering minority stu
dents. When did increasing minority
representation on this campus become
synonymous to hiring and accepting un
der/unqualified persons? Quite simply it
hasn’t. To many the suggestion that
standards must be lowered for TAMU
to become inclusive irradiates the type
of cancerous racist attitudes that are
perpetuated throughout this society.
Cunningham’s reference to prospec
tive minority faculty members, even
suggested that the University would, "...
either have to pay them more, and/or
otherwise choose them, without basis,
over equally qualified non-minority can
didates to disproportionally increase
their numbers.” Perhaps Cunningham
feels new positions should go to equally
qualified Euro-American candidates;
possibly because these positions have
been “grandfathered” to them.
Hall led many to believe that Equity
2000 does not subscribe to his belief in,
“... the old — and quickly fading — phi
losophy of working hard and striving for
the highest quality and standards of
achievement.” These individuals, and
those who bought into their political
rhetoric undoubtedly have reading com
prehension problems.
The facts are that this plan aims to
make this University less Euro-Ameri
can and more Inclusive-American. The
documentation that I read regarding
the Equity 200 Plan said nothing
about lowering minority admission
standards; nothing about slipping ad
ditional money under the table to at
tract and hire under/unqualified mi
nority Ph.Ds; nor did it mention any
thing about Hall’s old and quickly fad
ing philosophy. TAMU students, you
have been duped, and I encourage you
to not tolerate it. End of facts.
For these young men to draw these
non-factual conclusions confirms my be
lief that they are frightened by the
thought of losing their “inherited grand
fathered” right to preferential opportu
nities based solely on their status as
white men of this country. These
“grandfather” clauses were practiced in
the past and are still practiced in to
day’s “good old boy network.” Sorry, but
Hall and Cunningham were born, at
worst, one century too late for “grandfa
ther” clause preferences.
Michael Edwards
Ph.D candidate
We should all take
responsibility for Earth
What a gross distortion of Earth
Day! Zach Hall is uninformed of Earth
Day’s long term goals. I should be in
sulted by what he stated on April 25 in
“Activist overreact on Earth Day.” I re
alize as just another ultra conservative
Aggie, it is not “cool” for him to advo
cate environmental action.
Maybe Mr. Hall should consider ex
panding his education and taking some
ecology classes. Then, he might gain an
understanding of how the earth and
people are indeed interrelated. The
earth is not better off than a 100 years
ago ... people are.
The result is the breakdown and loss
of vitally important inhabitants. Why
do you think that there is a need for the
Endangered Species Act or the Clean
Water Act? There are legislation passed
in an attempt to right our wrongs. Con
sidering this “extremisf’views are real
istic ones.
Since he states that it is the right of
humans to exploit the earth, how is it
possible that he finds it irrational to
hold businesses responsible for abusing
their resources?
Excessive regulations are required
because it is impossible to hold only
some businesses accountable.
As far as putting humans before the
environment, has he considered that if
this occurred there would no longer be
an environment to protect? Do you en
joy drinking polluted water or breath
ing polluted air? I do not! The goal is to
get everyone involved little by little. If
one person begins recycling because of
Earth Day, then we have accomplished
something. So, I urge Mr. Hall and oth
ers who do not understand the concept
of Earth Day to get informed and get in
volved. We should all be as concerned
about the environment as “those envi
ronmental ” because we will ALL suffer
the consequences if we don’t.
Amy Burke
Class of ’95
Humans should be put
before environment
I would like to thank Zach Hall for
his column “Activists Overreact to earth
Day.” He has it totally right in his com
ment, “It is long overdue that we start
putting humans before the environ
ment.” In America we still have rape,
murder, children living in poverty and
discrimination. How many members of
these environmental groups visit the el
derly in nursing homes regularly. They
will tie themselves to a tree to prevent
it from being cut down while a ninety-
year-old lady is longing for someone to
talk to. I am not saying conservation
and recycling shouldn’t be an issue, just
not as big of one. In some parts of
America a black man will be discrimi
nated against no matter how many
whales are in the ocean. Although it is
good there are organizations there to
clean our Earth, they need to get their
priorities straight.
Shelia Boudreaux
Class of ’98
Taylor incorrect about
Shalala's comments
David Taylor’s April 20 column
refers to “numerous Congressmen, both
democrat and republican,” who serve in
Vietnam. It seems clear to me that if he
had meant to use the political party ref
erences as nouns, they would have been
plural; therefore, he must have been us
ing “Democrat” as an adjective—a prac
tice whose “dumbness” has been su
perbly addressed in the attached piece
by Russell Baker.
Incidentally, Secretary Shalala was
misquoted as having referred to “our
best and brightest sons.” The corrected
remark, subsequently reported by the
wire services —and buried in those
newspapers than ran it at all— referred
to “our best and brightests’ sons.” Her
point was that sons of high-ranking
politicians and Administration officials
—the people whom David Halberstam
characterized as “The Best and the
Brightest” in his book, by that title,
about the running of the war— general
ly avoided going to Vietnam. There
were, of course, some expectations, in
cluding Vice-President AI Gore Jr.
Those are minor quibbles. Overall,
the Batt is better, by three or four
quantum leaps, than the paper I edited
in 1968-69.
John W. Fuller
Class of ’69
• John W. Fuller was Editor in
chief of The Battalion from Fall of
’68 to Spring of ’69.