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NEW YEAR WISHES Happy New Year Eugene and thanks for all that you are! A special thanks to the extremely hard-working folks who grow our local organic foods, to those battling to save our remaining old-growth forests, to the wonderful folks running the non-profits that help those in need, to those creating a new paradigm with sustainable options for all of our futures, to local business owners who believe in and are investing in the community, to the local artists who show us new possibilities, and to all who speak up with passion as local issues arise. I believe that what seems to make it so difficult to get anything done in Eugene is actually the same thing that makes Eugene so special in the first place: many, many caring people. Already swirling thoughts and wishes for the new year and beyond: • Continued revitalization and life in our downtown (people are what is needed downtown more than anything, together we can make it work). • Eugene as a grand city for the arts and the outdoors with riverfront parks connecting with walking trails to downtown, a passenger train over the scenic coastal range, then biking up and down the coast, as well as tourists catching the train from Florence to our fair city. • Lastly, I wish for more editorials with optimism, dreams of what is possible and fewer angry name-calling, judgmental letters. "Nothing happens unless first a dream." Tim Boyden, Eugene
WHY PLAY ALONG? Joshua Welch's "Separation Anxiety" (12/29) struck a nerve with this pan-infidel. Supposedly, Lane County is the "most un-churched county in the most un-churched state in the union." While this may simply mean that fewer people here attend formal services, it nevertheless is hard to believe that the Eugene/Springfield area is somehow under-represented in terms of skeptics, when Wikipedia claims the nationwide ratio is about 1/7. But you wouldn't know it according to the media, particularly around Dec. 25. Everywhere one turns, there's some story about "the miracle of Xmas", or, if one masochistically watches Fox News, "The War on Xmas." The Springfield News printed two pro-Xmas columns by Milt Cunningham, and a thunder-from-the-pulpit by Norm Fox, but my letter presenting a non-believer's point of view has yet to see the light (so to speak). Nor are "progressives" blameless here; KOPT's Nancy Stapp spent weeks all but insisting that, even if the occasion doesn't fit into one's personal belief system, one (celebration) still can — indeed, almost must — be shoe-horned in somehow, whether it be via Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, or one of the Celtic-based New Age mythos. And if one doesn't care to play along? Why, then one is a "Scrooge." Being a theist or an unbeliever has little to do with being an ethical, caring person. Indeed, I think physicist Stephen Weinberg put it best: "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." Bill Smee, Springfield
WHY SECRECY I guess that it is no surprise that for the last several days, right-wing talk show hosts such as Sean Hannity and Lars Larson have lauded George Bush for his recently exposed policy of spying on anyone, anytime, anywhere, devoid of congressional or judicial oversight. Many of their callers fall in lock step. One man stated "I ain't worried about the government listening to my calls 'cause I'm not doing anything wrong." This is followed by laughter and a quip by Larson about liberals holding hands with bin Laden. They might also get a good laugh studying the steady erosion of civil liberties in 1930s Germany. It has been widely publicized that G.W. had access to the FISA court, a near rubber-stamp agency, which could issue surveillance warrants expeditiously, even retroactively. Could it be that Bush avoided the easy and legal FISA protocol because the groups being spied on had nothing to do with threats to national security, and to expose this would reveal a grotesque abuse of power? Some possible targets: union groups, the Kerry campaign, Quaker peace activists, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, you name it. How will we ever know if there is absolute and unmonitored power to spy on American citizens? It amazes me that Larson and Hannity are so casually willing to give up civil liberties that tens of thousands of Americans have died to secure. If they want to be compliant bitches for an out-of-control executive branch hell bent on dictatorship, they can do that on their own time, but not at the expense of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Gerry Rempel, Eugene
SMOKING BRANCHES Today's botany lesson is specifically for Tonie Nathan (12/22 letters). What Tonie referred to as "tree branches" which partially concealed the naked body of a young woman on EW's Dec. 8 cover were actually just harvested marijuana plants (gasp!). "Notice the toothed, palmately compound, alternately arranged leaves," as I would say to my students. To ensure absolutely positive identification, however, one would need to dry a few leaves, light them and gently inhale the smoke. Definitely not the same smell — nor effect — of burning tree branches. Class dismissed. Whitey Lueck, Eugene
IT'S NOT FAIR The Oregon Center for Public Policy informs us that Oregon is now the ninth fastest growing state, with 91,000 new jobs created this last year. It seems that our higher minimum wage has spurred our economy rather than hindered it. It also means that we, in Oregon, have contributed more than others to the funds that pay for Social Security and Medicare. Is it fair that people in other states get the same COLA increase in their Social Security checks while they do not contribute as much in payroll taxes to the fund that pays these benefits? I'm told that 30 percent of the nation's workforce earns less than $8 an hour. That's a lot of lost payroll taxes that could be going into the Social Security and Medicare funding. Maybe raising the minimum wage across the country would solve the Social Security problem. Bob Cassidy, Eugene
EASTER IS NEXT Whew, that was close! America almost lost Christmas under the onslaught of the liberals and secular humanists and that "honor diversity" crap. But we stopped them. Whenever some smiling liberal would cheerfully greet me with, "Happy Holidays!" I would get right up in their face and loudly and forcefully say, "Don't you mean, Merry Christmas?" and hold their gaze (and their elbow, if need be) until they responded "Er, uh, yes, Merry Christmas!" I'll bet that got them thinking about the true meaning of Christmas. But we must remain vigilant. Easter is fast approaching and soon stores will be stocking Easter egg dyes in all the colors of the rainbow. And you know "rainbow" is just code for the radical homosexual agenda, right? Liberals can't dye their free-range organic brown eggs anyway, so why are they pushing these "multicultural" dyes on the youth of America? Douglas Hintz, Eugene
MEATY FACTS Today (12/26) marks the tragic anniversary of the world's worst natural disaster, when a giant tsunami extinguished the lives of nearly 200,000 people in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and other countries on the Indian Ocean. Yet, each year, seven times as many Americans die of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and other chronic killer diseases that have been linked conclusively with consumption of meat and dairy products. Meat consumption also dumps animal waste in our waterways, destroys wildlife habitats to grow animal feed, and tortures innocent animals in factory farms and slaughterhouses. Because of the many benefits it brings to us and our planet, let's make a New Year's resolution to replace meat and dairy products in our diet with wholesome, delicious vegetables, fresh fruits, and whole grains. With every supermarket featuring a large variety of these foods, as well a rich assortment of soy-based veggie burgers, soy dogs, deli slices, ready-to-eat frozen dinners, and soy milk and ice cream, it's got to be the easiest resolution we'll ever keep. Edward Newland, Eugene
BAD EXAMPLES Joshua Welch's article in your Dec. 29 issue was thought provoking. While I couldn't agree more that morality is not the sole property of any religion, his attack on Christianity misses the point. In addition, to suggest that Eric Rudolph or Timothy McVeigh could be representative of Christians is no better than using Osama bin Laden as the poster child for Muslims. Both couldn't be further from the truth. Instead, in both circumstances, these are examples of people who are acting in complete opposition to the faith they espouse. To simply claim yourself to be a Christian, or any other faith, without following its most important and basic precepts is to mislabel yourself. After putting forward a clear and sensible argument — that the decisions of governments should be based on what is right and moral, he goes on to attack Christianity and Christians rather than specifically suggesting on what basis one determines what is, indeed, right and moral. Once he does make a rather objective suggestion at the end of his article, he fails to understand that what he suggests are just the sort of criteria that a true Christian would use. Further, he suggests that Christians' belief in the Bible and in God are "absurd." Again, this statement could then be used as a blanket indictment against the religious texts and beliefs of any of the world's religions. Certainly Mr. Welch doesn't mean to suggest that all religions and their followers are mindless automatons walking in lock-step with overly conservative politicians, or that they haven't carefully considered their beliefs. What Mr. Welch fails to understand is that religion is about far more than politics alone. Of the greatest problems our society faces in this troubled day and age, certainly intolerance, misunderstanding and blame-placing must be close to the top of the list. Instead of looking for the good in one another, of looking for common ground and of creating coalitions to further the important things we so often agree about, Welch's article seeks to continue the sad and profitless attempt to brand religion, particularly Christianity, as the root of the world's evil. Jake Gariepy, Eugene
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