OPINION
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Can J.C. be made P.C.?
Debate over Jesus
~n this day and age of
political correctness,
the First Amendment
las become the ultimate
battleground. Organized
religion has found itself in
the cross hairs of PC war
riors in their battle for sep
aration of church and state.
While some of the ar-
Euments set forth by the advocates of political
correctness have merit, most are totally absurd.
The latest battleground between PC pundits and
common sense is in Marshfield, Wis. It is no
shock that the line in the snow has been drawn
on something sublimely ridiculous.
Marshfield has had a statue of Jesus Christ in
Praschak Wayside Park since 1959. The statue
stood without incident until two years ago when
the Madison, Wis. based group Freedom from
Religion Foundation sued the town. The foun
dation demanded the town tear down the statue,
claiming that its presence in a public place was
an oppressive symbol that coerced people into
believing in Christianity. The town, not wanting
to destroy a local landmark, allowed a private
group to buy the statue and the land around it.
With the assistance of groups such as Ruther
ford Institute, American Center for Law and
Justice (ACLJ) and the Liberty Counsel the
town was able to prove that the sale of the land
was perfectly legal. Since it was on private land,
the argument continued, the statue was then pro
tected by freedom of speech, also in the First
Amendment. The case was thrown out of U.S.
District Court in April 1999.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation is
now suing the city again. Still claiming that the
statue is coercive, they are demanding that the
city put a wall around the statue in order to ob
struct viewing of the statue. Once again, they
are claiming that the city — or in this case the
private group that owns the statue — is still vio
lating the First Amendment’s separation of
church and state, in spite of the fact that the stat
ue is on private ground.
statue in Wisconsin park escalates political correctness to ludicrous levels
If the foundation actually thinks it can win
this case with such an argument, they should
fire their lawyers. The First Amendment's “Es
tablishment Clause” merely states that the gov
ernment is not supposed to advocate or discrim
inate against any organized religion in any way.
In Lemon v. Kurtzman, the Supreme Court
elaborated on what is and is not allowable.
Since the statue does not “foster an excessive
government entanglement with religion,” their
case has no legal merit. Yet, they continue to
moan and complain. Why? The answer is simple.
Under the auspices of political correctness,
groups such as Freedom from Religion Founda
tion are able to pursue personal vendettas. For
40 years.this statue stood without complaint but
suddenly became a symbol of religious oppres
sion in 1998.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation is ac
cusing the city of Marshfield of trying to control
how people think. In truth, their actions are an
implicit accusation that the public does not know
what is good for itself. In other words, groups
such as the Freedom from Religion Foundation are
the ones guilty of thought control.
For four decades, no single person had ever
complained to the city about the coercive nature
of the Jesus statue. It had not been seen as a po
litical tool in order to steal the minds of the
masses. Then, out of the blue, the foundation
and its president, Anne Nicole Gay lor, ride to
the rescue to save the people from themselves.
Why the people of Marshfield — or anyone,
for that matter — required rescuing is still a
question. Is the American public too dumb to
know what is good for it?
The logic used by the foundation would
seem to lead to that conclusion. Not only does
this corrupted state of political correctness al
low' for a small group of people to dictate the
course of society’s debate, it allows them to
grind their own personal axes.
ACLJ chief counsel, Jay'Sekoluw was quot
ed by the Christian Persecution Report as saying
that the removal of the statue “is not neutrality
toward religion. It is hostility.” Such hostility to
ward religion under the guise of political cor
rectness is not new. Other absurd suits in
clude the suing of a minor league baseball
team for having a discount night once a
month for people who brought pro
grams from their local church or tem
ple to the game and attempts to bar
high school students from praying on
school grounds an hour before classes
started.
Once upon a time, political correct
ness was used as a tool to weed out
true problems in society. It
has since devolved into
a forum for
small groups of people to attempt to force their
ideas on the rest of society.
It is unfortunate that what could have been a
benefit to American society has become such a
farce. The next time the Freedom from Religion
Foundation starts whining about Marshfield,
Wis. being a supporter of oppression, it ought to
look in the mirror. A close examination will
show that they, and people like them, have be
come a greater threat to the First Amendment
than those they rail against.
Mark Passwaters is a senior
electrical engineering major.
GABRIEL REUNES/Tm: Battalion
Fox show degenerates marriage institute, highlights society’s woes
A t first, it sounded like the plot
from an old episode of “News
Radio” — something only Jim
my James could have cooked up. Girl
meets multimillionaire for the first time,
multimillionaire proposes to girl, multi
millionaire and girl live happily ever af
ter (the annulment.)
But the truth is stranger than this fic
tion. Fox Network’s recent broadcast of
“Wlio Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire” proved just how
low television broadcasting — and society in general —
has sunk.
After a two-hour pageant which paraded women in
bathing suits and wedding gowns before the ogling eyes of a
filthy (rich) man, the special culminated in the legally bind
ing marriage of Darva Conger to Rick Rockwell.
The show was the first time the newlyweds had met, and
judging from the latest news reports, it was the last time they
were seen together smiling.
Just a week after her “wedding,” Conger publicly admit
ted she made a mistake and now wants to get an annulment.
On their honeymoon Caribbean cruise, Conger says she
barely spoke to her groom. According to the 34-year-old
nurse, Rockwell was just not the sort of person “I would or
dinarily have even a friendly relationship with.”
But of course, nothing was ordinary’ about this “mar
riage.” Thank goodness. The Conger-Rockwell wedding was
a profoundly disturbing event that one can only hope will,
like their marital bliss, be a short-lived phenomenon.
The fact that the union was a horrible perversion of
what marriage should be al
most goes without saying.
For different and equally
valid reasons, both liberal
feminists and conservative
family advocates have de
nounced the show as de
plorable. “Who Wants to
Marry a Multimillionaire”
portrayed women as objects
for sale and weddings as
cheap spectacles.
But marriage should not
be a business venture or a
flight of fancy. Brides and
grooms should not be learning
each other’s names as they
walk down the aisle (or onto
the sound stage). Men should
not be able to take wives for test drives, and women should
not pick husbands for their investment portfolios — both ex
pecting an annulment or divorce if a friendship does not ensue.
But while much ado has been made about the show’s
commercialization of marriage, it is not too late to hope that
most people take their vows a little more seriously than the
likes of Rick Rockwell and
Darva Conger do.
Of course, it is beyond dis
pute that the institution of
marriage is in dire straits in
modern society. After all, the
Website taking requests to be
on the show was so over
whelmed by applicants that it
crashed after the premier.
And these days, when cou
ples say “I do,” it is becoming
more justifiable to honestly
ask, “Is that your final an
swer?”
But the special’s incredi
bly high ratings are not neces
sarily evidence the viewers
condoned the ceremony. In
truth, the mere fact there were wedding dresses on the show
probably guaranteed the interest of anyone with estrogen,
while the mere fact there were swimsuits probably got the at-
tention of a fair amount of men, 1
Nevertheless, the surprise popularity of the show did say
something revealing about American society. The show was
the most grotesque example to date of a growing genre of
television shows that includes broadcasting gems such as
“Change of Fleart,” “The Real World,” “Blind Date” and a
litany of'trashy talk shows.
The appeal of these runaway TV juggernauts is in the
way they force people to make major, life-changing deci- ' .
sions in front of live studio audiences.
But is this what television has come to? Do people spend
so much time in front of the tube that their connection with
the outside world comes through distorted “real-life” dra
mas? And in a larger sense, has television bred such a cynical
skepticism about “Andy Griffith” TV families that artificially
created relationship shows have become the popular fare?
Unfortunately, “Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire”
has suggested these possibilities. There must be trouble in
Mayberry.
Caleb McDaniel is a
junior history* major.
Clinton’s proposal for funding one side of
Colombian conflict a bad idea
T he Clinton
Adminis
tration is
pushing for a new
drug war strategy
that would in
clude a $1.6 bil
lion aid package
to help the
Colombian gov
ernment fight cocaine production in
their country.
The money will purchase 30
Blackhawk and 33 Huey helicopters,
as well as pay for anti-narcotics train
ing. After all, it seems logical that the
best way to keep drugs out of the
United States is to cut off the supply
at the source.
However, supporters of this pro
posal seem ignorant to the current sit
uation in Colombia and the possibil
ity that the money will further fuel
their civil war, which is associated
"ith drug trafficking and human
fights abuses. The situation is ex
tremely complicated and too risky
for the United States to intercede
unprepared.
Far-right paramilitaries, con-
'inced that their government cannot
contain the insurgent Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC),
have been accused of severe human
rights abuses in their battle against
the guerrillas.
The FARC, on the other hand, oc
cupy a large portion of the Colombian
countryside and fund their revolution
mostly through drug trafficking.
Before committing any money to
Colombia, supporters of this aid pack
age need to
understand
the implica
tions of such
an act. Drug
production
may decrease,
but the war
between para
militaries and
guerrillas that
the Colom
bian govern
ment is trying to control will reach new
heights.
Recently, the Colombian govern
ment held peace talks with the guer
rillas, which consequently has kept
the paramilitaries at bay. These talks
are shaky at best, and U.S. involve
ment will inadvertently escalate the
war there.
By equipping the government with
attack helicopters, the guerrillas will
have no choice but to step up their own
arsenal to maintain a balance as they
attempt to iron out a peace bargain.
In short, the U.S. cannot give aid to
Colombia without choosing a side in
their civil war.
Even if Americans choose the “cor
rect” side, and advance the drug war in
Colombia, it will be at the expense of
the Colom
bian people
whose land
will be rav
aged by
guerrillas re
turning to
war.
That is
only the be
ginning of
the bad news
because the United States is not likely
to watch a $1.6 billion investment go
up in smoke. Once the United States
commits the money, the nation is also
indirectly committing troops that may
be necessary to aid a Colombian mili
tary that for decades has been unable
to crush the FARC.
Clinton’s aid package is flirtation
with an international crisis. The risk of
getting involved in another nation’s
domestic war needs to be avoided at
all costs. Vietnam serves as a painful
reminder of this lesson.
The only voice of concern so far
lias been made by Human Rights
Watch, urging the Clinton administra
tion to make sure money does not go
to military units that support tyranni
cal paramilitary groups. It is absurd
to suggest that a clear line can be
drawn between the right and far-right
in Colombia.
While the Human Rights Watch
plea has good intentions, they should
realize that U.S. aid can escalate the
Colombian situation to war, leading to
a rise in human rights violations. Re
gardless of how many conditions are
placed on the aid, the risks outweigh
the benefits.
It is disheartening that the Clinton
administration can be so naive as to
believe that money will end the drug
trade between Colombia and the
United States.
Before promising any aid to the
Colombian government, the Clinton
administration needs to stop and con
sider the consequences.
Mariano Castillo is a sophomore
international studies major.
The risk of getting
involved in another
nation's domestic
war needs to be
avoided at all costs.
MAIL CALL
“D” grade system
change beneficial
In response to Melissa Bed sole’s
Feb. 22 column.
Bedsole needs to find out the
true facts before she attempts to
print a story. When discussing the
recent change in the Grapevine-
Collyville grading system to elimi
nate the letter grade “D,”
Bedsole states that the only
reason for this change is that
“the school district is trying to
improve the chances for football
player Cody Spencer to receive a
scholarship to a division 1
school.” This is not true.
The change in the grading sys
tem was made for all current and
future students. In addition, sign
ing day for scholarships had al
ready passed by the time the
grading system was changed.
Grapevine-Collyville school dis
trict is one of the rare schools
left in the state that had the let
ter “D” in their system. Kids
were losing scholarships due to
the fact that at other schools a
70-74 is considered a “C" but at
Grapevine it is recorded as a “D.”
One thing Bedsole needs to
understand is that Spencer is a
typical 17 year-old high school
boy that has one thing on his
mind, football.
Quite a few high school play- .
ers just get by in their grades in
order to stay eligible, but in col
lege they find out that they have
to step it up a notch.
Bedsole also states that
“Spencer is being set up for fail
ure.” Statistics have proven that
a great number of high school
boys do not excel in their grades
in high school but do very well in
college.
I think this will be true in
Spencer’s case as well. He will
see that it takes hard work and
discipline to make it in college -
and he will persevere in spite of '
his critics.
Travis Mayer
Class of ‘99
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