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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 7 • Friday, February 27, 20flB
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fhe Republican Party does not reflect many of the principles of Christianity
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'hen James Madison wrote the First
Amendment, he vaguely set out to pro
tect the institutions of government and
religion from one another: “Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Though
constitutional scholars debate to this day the
question of what establishes religion and to what
degree, if any, government may prohibit its exer
cise, a letter written by Madison to Edward
Livingston in 1822 sheds some light on the
5-2/27 iitipii (iien. When government applies what he called “perfect separa-
ibetween the ecclesiastical and civil matters; religion and gov
ernment will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed
!ether.‘While this rings of Jefferson’s “wall of separation” anal-
y,religion remains a given in modern politics.
All contemporary presidents have been Protestant, with the
aception of Kennedy, who was Catholic. President Bush said he
Sieves he was called by God to become president, according to
USA Today, and has made it well known that he prays daily in
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Services !!|lce.He, like many Republicans, claims that his party is the only
dioice for Christians. This argument sells well due to the often-
mtvoiceof the religious right. But is the Republican Party
in tune with mainstream Christian values? Perhaps in rheto-
[ic,txiinot in policy.
Tkreisone issue that instantly surfaces when religion and
[olilicscollide. Abortion has been the Republican Party’s con-
Ksionto fundamentalist Christians for years, and for years
stians have been sold. According to Daniel Maguire,
pfessor of ethics in Marquette University’s theology depart-
mand president of the Religious Consultation on Population,
productive Health and Ethics, “The healthier Catholic and
tetanttraditions of social justice and concern for the poor
il for peace were swallowed up in what is called pelvic poli-
:s," or extreme Christian meditation on reproductive issues,
it the subsequent disregard for those truly in need — the poor,
taierv and sick.
The disparity between the stance of most Republicans and
bocratson abortion has been amplified by name-calling,
stemismand an overall lack of discourse between adherents and
opponents of choice. As Maguire points out in his book “Sacred
Oioices."both sides can agree there are too many abortions. But
which party has set out to end abortion in a realistic manner?
Unwanted pregnancy is the foremost cause of abortion. However,
many Republicans scorn organizations such as Planned Parenthood
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According to Maguire, “Poverty brings unwanted pregnancies,
in petty breeds chaos and despair and is not conducive to
riisticplanning in sexual or other areas of life.” The Republican
tsponse to this problem: Depart from progressive tax policies
wda regressive policy which gives a disproportionate boost to
ktop5percent of earners. Nothing says “love thy neighbor” like
kteasing the already vast gap between the wealthy and the poor,
contrast, the Democratic Party has had a solid record of helping
ier-and middle-income Americans since Franklin Roosevelt’s
(residency, proving government can be an instrument of good.
favor corporations over individuals, however, are at
iswithe principles of Christianity, and do not deserve the
ippoil of Christians.
Some sicknesses do not require divine power to be healed. The
U.S. government has the power to guarantee that the basic health
concerns of all Americans will be cared for. Yet, somewhere in his
divine inspirations, the president has found the motivation to place
tough new rules on Medicaid financing that will limit each state’s
ability to provide health care for millions of poor people, accord
ing to The New York Times. The compassion behind such a policy
is starkly pale next to the health care plan of presidential hopeful
John Kerry, which looks to expand health care to cover every
American child and 96 percent of the populace.
Republicans like to talk about family values, especially when
debating gay marriage, but it is hard to find substantial policy that
strengthens the average family. Judith Baer, a professor in the
Department of Political Science at Texas A&M, suggests in her
book “Women and the Law,” that the govemment could “subsidize
child care ... or make comprehensive health insurance available to
all citizens.” The question is which helps the family more — pre
venting gay couples from taking on the responsibilities of married
and family life, or fully funding programs such as Head Start,
which increases the educational readiness of young children in
low-income families, and the Children’s Health Insurance
Program, which extends health insurance to uninsured children?
Both programs have felt the strain of the Bush tax cuts.
According to The Washington Post, the unemployment rate
may have fallen slightly recently, but the reasons are not because
more people are finding jobs. Hiring is stagnant, stocks have fall
en and the dollar has tumbled. As indicated by the Department of
Labor, job growth has stalled and unemployment has fallen
because people gave up on looking for work. Parents will find it
increasingly difficult to keep families together when they lack
adequate forms of income. Furthermore, the Bush administration
has cut more than $8.5 billion in unemployment benefits. Even if
Republicans continue to claim that job loss under their watch is
somehow not their fault, there is still no excuse for cutting such
benefits during a time when they are needed most. It seems the
administration’s priorities are not in order, as a constitutional
amendment banning gay marriage does not fill the stomachs of
children whose parents have lost their jobs nor does it provide
them with shelter.
Bush often calls himself a “compassionate conservative,” a
phrase considered by many to be an oxymoron. After all, one
would not have to add the word “compassionate” in front of his
ideology unless this ideology was inherently void of compassion.
Bush and the Republican Party have misplaced their compassion.
The meek have been ignored, and the powerful championed. The
Republican agenda does not reflect Christian doctrine.
John David Blakley is a sophomore
political science major.
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Homosexual marriages ‘h
nothing to bring to the ta
to Feb. 26 mail call:
EL
Break!!
Ski Taos,
Costilla.
ImW of this whole gay thing.
Hieing homosexuals are failing to realize is that
tUnited States has no need for homosexuality (I
aid homosexuality, not homosexuals).
to be gay and live in the United States,
hn or Td|l3fsyoyr decision, but there is no reason that your
festyle should be encouraged by others recognizing
^relationship as a marriage.
The vast majority of heterosexual marriages lead to
n, which every society depends on to sur-
we, The government recognizes that and encour-
ftit. While it may not always be a fairy tale story
meveryfamily, it for the most part provides children
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jnchaseW # a well-rounded upbringing — that of a father and
er.
Homosexuality has nothing to bring to the table that
anything good for the country. In fact, homosexu-
be blamed for some not-so-good things,
a te specifically, the spread of the AIDS epidemic
igh sodomy.
le United States allows a man to marry the man
he loves, what's to stop a man from marrying a
'«e,ajob or a car that he loves? After all, they all
VRTMEftf ^the same chance of reproducing.
Gays will never talk badly about heterosexual mar-
age, because they know they depend on it. They
'wtheonly reason their alternative lifestyle is an
Ion is because everyone else is making up in
to where they're falling short. They know that if
aeyall moved to an island, they wouldn't last two
)IOS
lection
ourself.
:om
saerations.
Curtis Rogers
Class of2004
Haight pride week should be
^accepted as gay pride week
jie pot is calling the kettle black.
% is it that gay pride week is OK, and straight
Weweek is not? I've heard opinions that gay pride
is about inclusion, that it's about accepting
%exuals and not about excluding them, like
fee darn conservatives."
MAIL CALL
I could find no quote from the YCT explicitly saying
that gay people couldn't come out and support the
straight way of life. They were not excluded.
Homosexuals simply did not show up. How very
close-minded of them. Why are homosexuals not big
ots, since they cry bloody murder anytime someone
disagrees with them, and immediately calls them
“intolerant?”
In his mail call, Mr. Johnson defines tolerance as
"recognizing and respecting the beliefs and practices
of others." Tolerance has nothing to do with liking or
respecting something. I tolerate listening to a crying
baby on an airplane, and I tolerate listening to my
roommate's terrible music.
However, I don’t go praise the mother of the crying
baby for the baby's “resolve.” I don't have to
“respect" my roommate for his choice to listen to
music I hate. I just can't go over and punch the baby
or my roommate.
The YCT never did anything to harm the goals, aspi
rations or the cause of gay pride week here at Texas
A&M. All they did was promote a goal that directly
contradicts that of gay pride week. Its a free country,
isn't it?
Tolerate that.
Noah Johnson
Class of 2007
Homosexuals are ‘as much
bigots as anyone else’
Most people who oppose homosexuality are against
it because of religious beliefs, and if they vocalize
those beliefs, then they are condemned as intolerant
and hateful. Homosexuals are as much bigots as
anyone else.
They’re intolerant of religious beliefs.
Homosexuals are trying to force Christians and peo
ple of other faiths to accept their lifestyle against
their own beliefs. -
Even if gay marriages are made legal, true believ
ers will never accept what is wrong and sinful. Just
because the state justifies gay marriage, homosexu
als will never be justified in the eyes of true believ
ers or God.
James Mosher
Class of 2006
Proposed ban on gay marriage
must be opposed by students
All students at Texas A&M should oppose the pro
posed constitutional amendment that would ban gay
marriage. There is no amendment in the Constitution
for limiting individuals’ rights, and there should never
be one. Amendments to the Constitution were creat
ed to protect the people from the government and to
establish their rights, not to prevent them from
expressing the rights to which they are entitled as
Americans and human beings. To limit the rights of
any group is to open the door to the limitation of the
rights of all Americans.
Further, though difficult for some, it is time to real
ize that gays are not unlike us. They are not a differ
ent species. They are human just like you and I and
deserve every right that we do. I am engaged to be
married and I cannot imagine a more terrible world to
live in than one in which I could not marry the woman
I loved. Imagine yourself in the same place. Now
imagine that you can't fulfill your dream to marry the
one you love because it isn't socially accepted,
because it is banned by the one document created to
protect you.
Lastly, remember that being gay is not something
that you do, it is something that you are. People do
not stop or start being gay. They cannot choose to be
something that they are not and we should not force
them. That is why, if the president really supported
marriage in this country, as he insists, he would never
support this hateful measure.
Ryan Anderson
Class of 2003
Gay marriage wouldn’t lead to
other ‘ridiculous unions’
In response to Nicholas Davis' Feb. 26 column:
Mr. Davis, I would advise you to be very careful on
your slippery slope. I would hate to see you fall and
embarrass yourself. You say that by allowing gay mar
riages, logically we open the door for marriage to ani
mals and other “ridiculous unions."
First, it's nice that you group gay marriages in with
“ridiculous unions,” but even more disturbing is that
you somehow think that allowing one action neces
sarily allows other, unrelated actions.
Other actions can be addressed when and if they
come up in a judicial environment, but have no bear
ing on the current issue. Allowing gay marriages log
ically only allows one thing: gay marriages.
Marcus Dunn
Class of2006
Every single Vietnam veteran is
a hero, including John Kerry
In response to a Feb. 26 mail call:
How dare you, young man? You are free to criticize
Senator Kerry on his political record all you want, and
I would probably agree with you, but I don't know
where you get off questioning his service to this coun
try. The Silver Star is just barely below the
Congressional Medal of Honor, it isn't something you
get for having nicely shined shoes.
Yes, you were correct that many others went to
Vietnam and many others saw action, but you need to
realize that every single one of them were heroes. It's
hard enough to go through the stress of a deployment
and time in a combat zone, but those men and
women also had to endure the the added injury of the
disrespect of so many people back home.
I am really curious what it is that you have done for
your country that entitles you to trivialize the contri
butions of any one of our veterans. You show me your
Silver Star and your three Purple Hearts and I'll pay
for an ad in The Battalion to apologize to you.
Joseph Ferguson
Class of 2004
The Battalion encourages letters to the edi
tor. Letters must be 200 words or less and
include the author’s name, class and phone
number. The opinion editor reserves the right
to edit letters for length, style and accuracy.
Letters may be submitted in person at 014 Reed
McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters also
may be mailed to: 014 Reed McDonald, MS
1111, Texas A&M University, College Station,
TX 77843-1 111. Fax: (979) 845-2647
Email: mailcall@thebattalion.net.