tomin, "^s, SOftHf »? lls P r «feoj is| 3+. Com' ^CLE self ■p 'ter Bta, ^ Spedalisi; K lights/;. ' early!! ®04, firs! “ft, $250, Opinion The Battauon ■■ISIIIS Page 5 * Monday, July 12, 2004 Unpatriotic terry's past sympathies with U.S. enemies suggest he is unfit to he president English Bit ftits on-sfe] iTATE ™^th cm iro loan, 54, uard against the impostures of pretended patri- sm,†George Washington Ice warned. Patriotism is fined as a love and devo- |n to one’s country. But to e something, one must e an understanding of ATES what that thing is, its nature ubiease - at d its values. During an 14/os - election year, one should e paid. $45:|pk at the candidates—separately, not in a Imparison but in an evaluation that takes only it person into account. One must consider a ^Available c nc ^ ate s 11 ue character outside of the “photo- : o "moments that are staged to make him look arismatic, wholesome, passionate or “a man iis, Hoe Sol the people.†4 _ 1 Voters must put all that aside and ask them- iio~andtt selves if the candidate really is a patriot, whether except bethl can remain true to the principles that men like —-4J;orge Washington built a new nation upon and . . Tether he is truly an heir to the same. ,3utii. I®! A petition being circulated by The Federalist, > r Ashley, which claims to be “the most widely read e- 5bth tor jjumal in America,†considers John Kerry in tv cahssa this manner. It presents evidence however that Horry is not even eligible to hold his current position as senator. I According to The Federalist petition, which can be found at www.kerry-04.com, Kerry’s 1970 97K90&1 eeting in Paris with North Vietnamese Army rm3bthbo. (pmmunists violates the Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 104 part 904. The article ates that “any person who without proper ■thority, knowingly...communicates or corre- onds with or holds any intercourse with the ,emy, either directly or indirectly...shall suffer ath or such other punishment as a court-martial military commission may direct.†Such an infraction clearly violates the sworn of the United States against all enemies †and to “bear true faith and alle giance to the same.†Yet despite that fact, he was voted into the Senate, which The Federalist says is a position he is not legally entitled to hold. According to the 14th Amendment, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President... hav ing previously taken an oath... to support the Constitution of the United States, (who has) engaged Dfll +1:1 6411. king row >ugalnvUea ill Jacob at! 6. i ceded, « ; included, $340/mo, •. i csll (979lW '(979)57W Kerry took when he became a military otiicer, to “support and defend the Constitution r Ibd/lbadl but the most powerful form of support any human could give another is moral sup port—to grant him confirmation that the cause he is fighting for is just. But rather than giving such support to his fellow troops during the Vietnam war, Kerry was granting it to their enemy, in violation of military law. There are many other claims that draw to attention his repre hensible conduct during the Vietnam War, from accusing his fellow soldiers of horrible war crimes to tossing medals on the White House lawn to founding an organization that would later plot the assas sination of pro-war Congress-men dur ing that time. While these things are ilk discussed on such Hi Web sites as or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof." The words “given comfort†could take the form of giving supplies to a coun try that may help during a war, http://www.viet- namveteransagain- ^ stjohnkerry.com, there may be some who are skeptical of Web sites and even letters written by soldiers who fought beside him. For those who are skeptical or may dismiss his antics as being “in the past,†the sad truth is Kerry is still capable of such dishonorable acts— and is still performing them. On Feb. 8 the Tehran Times published an e- mail sent by the Kerry campaign promising that, as president, Kerry would try to restore relations “at risk†due to “the actions and attitudes†of the Bush administration. “Disappointment with the current U.S. leadership is widespread,†the e-mail said, “extending not just to the corridors of power and politics, but to the man and woman on the street as well.†The Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran was appalled. In its official response to Kerry, the committee wrote: “Senator, by sending such a message directly to the organs and megaphones of the dictatorial Islamic regime, you have given them credibility, comfort and embraced this odious theocracy. You have encouraged and embold ened a tyrannical regime to use this as propa ganda and declare ‘open season’ on the freedom fighters in Iran.†Given the facts, it would seem that The Federalist’s petition to remove Sen. Kerry from office is appropriate. Further, it would seem that Kerry does not even qualify as a presidential can didate, according to the Constitution. By violat ing his oath and the laws of military officers and statesmen, Kerry has proven himself a traitor. Though traitors are no longer given the fate of “a long rope and a short drop,†the least he deserves is to be removed from office and prohibited from ever occupying such posts. Kerry is anything but a patriot. Mike Walters is a senior psychology major. Graphic by Will Lloyd J/2ba house ; included, lyalmco* -i/2bth "dii eligious persecution in China :annot be tolerated by America MAIL CALL Women can find satisfaction at home Priorities must be reset for Life Sciences Center In response to Tori Foster's July 7 column: In response to a July 8 news story: new 3b4 CS, . Call 971 i -587-0351. n June 18, Jiang Zingxiu as arrested and 3®2>.fint to prison 3/mo. +113 for distributing llibles to people =ded, $32:j|] th e streets of «ded, 0flLI Mg province of uizhu in iuthwest ina, Zenit jews Service reported. | On July 5, it was reported that gxiu had been brutally killed ^ 3W Jhil e in prison. g f CU |*sl Jiang's mother-in-law, Tan 979-8201 lewei, was also arrested but later J^ryh^lfleased. She said that during the 774-7997L;stioning p rocess Jiang was mate ^jlpeatedly struck by the agents. !utl1 ' avi "|| According to Zenit, China only allows a limited number of Bibles ’Jdrm.adf be published and distributed each 4ar. Bibles are also banned from png sold in bookstores across the ation. Because of these religious iri 2_ restrictions, the crime that Jiang ™-9p4 M as charged with was “inciting Rife?"^social disorders.†3am2 |J In America, where a Bible is ^r 3 , placed in nearly every hotel room, i/vaik-ms and especially at Texas A&M, 3 |here students are known for Spreading their faith through [Jaflets, pamphlets, tracts and other angelization methods, the ought of being arrested for dis- buting or selling Bibles is absurd, ericans should be outraged by ws such as this. This is not an isolated action by |e Chinese government to maintain te controlled religions. In December 2003, Catholic 'orld News reported news of a inese Christian who was arrest- for posting information on a r eb site about the government’s Itackdown on underground Icliurches. Bishops of the underground tholic Church in China (the church loyal to Rome) have often ills airHcen targets of persecution. Zenit imports that in March, Bishop Wei Ingyi of the Diocese of Qiqihar as arrested at a tollbooth coming ck from an airport for allegedly veling illegally. He had been ested twice before and sen- nced to labor camps. open romp^j intern* i rt-Tin' 1 Jet ^ K/oni «:te(l. Representatives from the Vatican called this and similar arrests “obstinate persecution of bishops, priests and laity, the faithful of the universal Church†by the Chinese government. To legally practice religion in China, one must belong to an offi cial church that has been sanc tioned by the government. Thus, a person who is legally a Catholic belongs, at least on the surface, to the “patriotic†church and not the Church of Rome. Anyone with a basic knowledge of the history of Christianity knows that the distinguishing mark of the Roman Catholic Church, as compared to the various Protestant churches and the Eastern Orthodox Catholic churches, is the centrality of Rome and the authority of Pope. Any so-called Catholic church that is not under the authority of and loyal to the Bishop of Rome is not the Roman Catholic Church. China’s legal brand of Catholicism, though it may appear to be the Roman Catholic Church, amounts to nothing more than an feigned attempt a religious freedom. The Communist Party of the United States of America says on its Web site that “All socialist countries have substantial religious freedom. In China, Vietnam and Cuba, there are many religious institutions, many millions who worship freely, many churches that are growing.†However, when a government has a list of “approved,†as opposed to recognized, religions, when a gov ernment forbids the sale and limits the production of sacred religious texts, forces people to have to wor ship secretly in homes and aban doned buildings to avoid being arrested, forces the Pope to name bishops and cardinals secretly and where only God and a few select men know about it, there is no reli gious freedom. The people in countries that enjoy true freedom must speak out for the rest of humankind. Christians especially must help their fellow brethren in Christ. St. Paul described the followers of Jesus as the “Body of Christ†and wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, “And whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.†Persecution in China and other parts of the world affect the church worldwide. To ignore or be indiffer ent to these injustices is an injustice in itself. The average American need not become a human rights activist to make a difference. All men and women can show concern by writ- ing letters to their political representa tives, alerting them to the lack of religious freedoms in China and other countries and urging them to reex amine and possibly alter U.S. policy toward China. Christians and other religious people can and should pray for deliverance of those being persecuted. Also, when possible, one could protest by sim- ply refusing to buy Chinese products. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.†These are poignant words that one should never forget. If true peace is ever to be obtained, there must first be a concern for justice, for as long as injustice persists, true peace will never exist. The only thing more evil than an injustice itself is indifference to that injustice. The silence of Americans must end. Persecution in China and other parts of the world affect the church worldwide. To ig nore or be indiffer ent to these injus tices is an injustice in itself. Ms. Foster's article about womens' “moral dilemma†is both insulting to women and slanderous to men. First of all, she states that women have to choose between a satisfying life, a career, and an altruistic life .raising a family. This is a slap in the face to the many women who gave up promising careers, not because society forced them to, but because motherhood is what they wanted. My own mother feels insulted every time she hears someone suggest that, because she gave up a career in engineering to raise children, she is somehow less than she could have been. Furthermore, this article invokes a horribly unfair stereotype that men are lazy. It is true that many women do more housework in the evenings than their husbands. It is also true that many men stay at home mowing the lawn on Saturday while their wives are out spending their hard-earned pay- checks on a new pair of shoes. Finally, she suggests that any woman who wants a career can't even get mar ried. This is ridiculous. Many women are very satisfied in their marriages without ever having children. The truth is that life requires setting priorities and making choices. The more things you want to be successful at, the harder you are going to have to work. This applies to both men and women who want families. Cindy McReynolds Class of 2005 In the article on the Life Sciences Debate, I was quoted as saying “No one tells departments who to collaborate with.†I hope I said “No department tells their faculty who to collaborate with." The point I was trying to make is that I do not agree with those faculty who argue that the traditional depart mental structure of universities is an impediment to flexibility or collaborative interdisciplinary research. I should also note that no one I know opposes the Life Sciences Complex proj ect in the sense of opposing new facili ties for the Life Sciences. We all agree that TAMU needs much more than the one building currently proposed can sat isfy. While this argument can look very heated to an observer, it is important to realize that we all want excellence in the Life Sciences for the future of TAMU. We're just arguing about how priorities should be decided to use our limited resources to reach that shared goal. Jim Hu Associate Professor and Associate Head for Graduate Programs 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: 015 Reed McDonald, 1111 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-1 111. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebattal- ion.net FREPARFS FOR WS NEtT (COURT APPFAKAMCE,., Cody Sain is a junior philosophy major.