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May 14 , 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels Pro-war talk, cloaked in religion, rankles By Jill Iles Talent Watching the "positive" changes to the Daily Tidings over the past couple of weeks, I have been concerned, and not only because of the small print of community events. I have noticed more and more letters and guest forums that espouse America's brutal military actions in the world and claim "God" as the co-pilot. The Nov. 26 commentary, "Letter to American Soldiers in Iraq," by Dennis Prager requires immediate response. He uses his "credentials" of "talk show host" and "commentator" as proof of his superior awareness of the fragility of civilization. Using these "credentials" he proceeds to posit that if people do not agree with the war in Iraq, they are not only unpatriotic but also ungodly. He speaks of "monumental evils" and "historic missions" with a zeal that would steal the thunder from an inquisition. He makes claims that "the world is not a good place" and that neither are the United Nations. He embraces a cavalier attitude toward those are not "chosen," which includes just about everyone except those that agree with him, and relegates to them the events of Auschwitz, Communism and terrorist acts. He tells us that Libya and Syria are evil. He claims that Americans have believed from the "founding" that the mission is to better the world. Tell that to the Cherokee. He threatens barbarism if we "lose this war." This war is barbaric and supports the "kill and take what you want" mentality. This article is self-righteous, arrogant, reactionary screed from a person who likes to talk a lot and claims to believe in God, yet is not sure if God is good; who questions all the worlds' peoples' ability to discern right and wrong except for his and George Bush's. My letter to the American soldiers is damp with tears, filled with grief for their loss of life and their families' deep pain. I tell them we pray daily for their safe and immediate return. We pray that this impossible situation, to kill or be killed in a strange land, comes to an immediate end. We pray that they not lose their humanity as they see the horror of other families being killed and shattered. We believe that love and acceptance of all people, no matter which loving god they pray to, is the joy of this earthly existence. Jill Iles is a longtime political activist who is supporting Dennis Kucinich for President. Editor blew it by not editing Prager By Woody McGinnis, MD Ashland I read the Tidings carefully for its content. The editor apparently overlooked the concluding paragraph of a Dennis Prager commentary article on November 26 about the war in Iraq. The last paragraph clearly described the war as "God's work". Had the editor read it for what it said, I think he surely would have deleted that last statement: 1) in the interest of elevated political discourse and, 2) out of respect for differing religious views. Dennis Prager has the right to think and say, privately and publicly, that his political policy is God's policy. Trouble is, virtually any political view, including the unseemliest ones, can be rationalized by invoking God. Hitler did it. The KKK does it. So does bin Laden. Its the lowest rhetorical trick in the book, and persons who oppose the war should not use the argument, either. It cheapens the discourse, and is a barrier to rational dialogue, which nurtures democracy. Invoking God to justify a political position engenders division and hatred in the community, because it implies that the individual using the argument is somehow in better touch with God, or has a better God, than those who disagree. No, our country is founded on the principle of religious equality, and editors reasonably should edit-out religious justifications for policy, as they do, for example, racist ones. Please do the right thing--admit your mistake and try not to repeat it. Editorial board weighs in Why Prager? Why not? The purpose of any daily newspaper's opinion page is to represent a variety of viewpoints in facilitating public debate. While editorials written by the newspaper espouse positions on certain topics, the majority of the page is to give others a chance to comment on the news of the day. Generally speaking, the criteria for our syndicated commentators chosen is that they are well-written and thoughtful. In selecting our lineup we tried to favor a majority of writers who would align politically with our largest body of readers. Molly Ivins, Roger Simon and Susan Estrich fit that designation. However, we also try to represent a minority viewpoint. We do so to raise the level of debate from simply parroting the majority viewpoint and to represent the minority of our readers who would not align with the typical majority. Mr. McGinnis suggests we made a mistake by running Mr. Prager's opinion. He states that "out of respect for differing religious views" we should delete items of Mr. Prager's opinion we find questionable. We stand by our original intent, allowing a forum for both Mr. Prager's views, and for those who dissent, like Mr. McGinnis and Ms. Iles rebuttal. In this way, we believe we are truly representing all views. Mr. McGinnis urges us to "do the right thing," "admit our mistake," and "try not to repeat it." We assert that not only did we do the right thing, but not repeating it will allow the dogma of such a demand to ruin the very nature of a diverse and thoughtful opinion page. Eds note: While we typically reserve the editorial page for the reader's last word on a topic, we felt the value of the discussion warranted this special pro/con section. We asked Mr. McGinnis if he would be willing to have his letter used in this format, to which he gracious agreed. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams