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Letters to the Editor Policy

No One Understands Me!

Oh, great! Now I have two people at the Transcript who can’t seem to understand what I write. I did not intend, as you said in your "Editor’s Note," "to discredit (Transcript) policy to correct errors, or allow opinion to be expressed." This is your newspaper and you can run it the way you see fit.

What I wrote was that Mr. Amadio was not telling the truth when he wrote something he claims I said. Mr. Amadio was not expressing an opinion when he wrote that the members of the Susquehanna County Economic Development Board, "said it was okay to fire Justin Taylor." He was writing something which was not true.

I repeat, Mr. Amadio (and now Editor Ficarro) will always have the last word no matter what I write. Evidence of that is your "Editor’s Note" after my letter, something which many newspapers do not do because it provides the opportunity to criticize anybody who disagrees with the paper. It actually censors opinion, but the Transcript is your newspaper and you can do as you please.

I am sorry you could not print my reply to being criticized by Mr. Amadio, in the next edition because I missed your Friday "Letter to the Editor" deadline by a few hours. Since your paper comes out Wednesday it doesn’t give those of us who draw your ire, a lot of time to make that noon deadline on Friday, but you have every right to set a deadline.

I will be happy to take lessons in journalistic integrity from anyone. You are perfectly within your right to give me the same courtesy to run my business the way I see fit.

I guess since you somehow classify me as one of the "chosen few" I can expect to be your target.

Sincerely,

John P. Kameen

Susquehanna County Economic Development Board member

ANOTHER EDITOR’S NOTE: Dearest John: Please, get it straight. I have not understood what you write, or say, for quite some time now. But, at least I allow you to say it.

An Intriguing Proposition

Last week a correspondent mused about politicians living their faith, which would mean that they’d use their positions to enforce Christian doctrine. She seems to think that it would be some sort of panacea for us. Well, let’s take a look at what would happen if we did as she suggests.

Keep in mind that the Ten Commandments are merely one part of the Mosaic Code, which consists of 613 injunctions. There is no way to justify picking and choosing, enforcing some and ignoring others, and Jesus himself said not one jot or tittle of it would pass away. So such arcane rules as banning shellfish and blended fabrics would need to be enforced as well.

But really living Christianity through force (which after all is an intrinsic aspect of government) gets a lot more serious than that.

It would require: killing everyone who worships any god other than Yahweh. Like the more than a million Hindu Americans, and the unknown number of pagans. Killing anyone who does anything on the Sabbath besides pray. (And, Scripturally the Sabbath is Saturday!) Stoning adulterers. Also a rapist and his victim, if it occurs in town and she fails to cry out. If she’s an unbetrothed virgin, she must marry her rapist! So it is written!

These are just a few examples. There’s much more. Christianity through force of law would mean a bloodbath, but hey, at least we’d be wiping out sin! It would also mean bringing back slavery; since nowhere in the Bible is slavery condemned, it clearly must be God’s will. But ironically, abortion – the particular obsession of last week’s correspondent – is not specifically banned. The closest the Bible comes is a reference to miscarriage as the result of assault, in which case a fine is prescribed. Hardly consistent with her "Abortion is Murder" theory. And note that since many Christian sects do not oppose abortion, her proposed remedy is useless here.

Contrary to last week’s correspondent, I say our Founders got it right when they separated church and state and gave us secular government. This frees us to make up our own minds about religion, and protects us from religion becoming a tyrannical force, which (history) amply demonstrates what happens when it seizes the levers of government. I need only point to the famous time when leaders lived their faith: it was called the Dark Ages. A more recent example is the Puritan colonies in early America, which hung Quakers. It’s sad that the spiritual descendants of the Puritans have learned nothing from history.

I understand that last week’s correspondent and others are frustrated by other people’s sexual morals. I suggest that rather than worrying about how other people are living their lives they find something helpful to do. Expecting the government to run other people’s lives for them is not only a violation of their rights, it’s a proven danger. Must we relearn old lessons the hard way?

Sincerely,

Stephen Van Eck

Rushville, PA

It Was A Success

On behalf of the American Heart Association and our senior project, we would like to thank everyone who took part in Hoops for Heart. We would especially like to thank the following people, all of whom participated in the three-on-three tournament: Troy Taylor, Christy Glidden, Hanna Price, Justin Lee, Cody Scepaniak, Jeff Williams, Anthony Wayman, Justin Westbrook, Zach Wignall, Frank Schmidt, Brian Brady, Sean Lawson, C. J. Felter, Jay Patel, Danny Downton, Stephanie Ficarro, Samantha Schmidt, Casey Glidden, Dusty Barton, Dan Gall, Julian Anderjuar, Brent Keyes, Kirk Fallon, Craig Soden, Katie DeWitt, Kirstie Kemerrer, Kim Frechen, Kristy Pavelski, Heather Stone, Beth Kubus, Ernie Taylor, Sean Wolf, Curtis Carpenter, Morgan Burke, Holly Terpstra, Tony Beamer, John Bixby, Bob Reddon, Erik Hines, Kevin Lee, Adam Schiffer, Brent Soden, Brian Buzzell, Joe Barnes, Jessica Williams, Mike Bransky, Dylan DeNike, Kyle Carpenter, Steve Holmes, Mr. Gerchman, Mr. Lisowski, Mr. Lee, Mr. Keyes, Mrs. Chervanka, and Tom Ballard. Hoops for Heart took place on Friday, March 12, in Susquehanna High School.

We would also like to congratulate Brent Keyes, Kirk Fallon, Craig Soden, Kevin Lee, Brent Soden, and Mr. Lee for winning the tournament. All teams did a phenomenal job!

Thank you, again for making Hoops for Heart a success. You helped us raise $335 for the American Heart Association, which doubled last year’s success.

Sincerely,

Bethanie Kubus, Liz Rowe, Bridgette Stone, Genny Gulley, and Alexis Wheeler

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY
Letters To The Editor MUST BE SIGNED. They MUST INCLUDE a phone number for "daytime" contact. Letters MUST BE CONFIRMED VERBALLY with the author, before printing. At that time you may request to withhold your name. Letters should be as concise as possible, to keep both Readers' and Editors' interest alike. Your opinions are important to us, but you must follow these guidelines to help assure their publishing.

Thank you, Susquehanna County Transcript

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