Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2006
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Where 'Dew' we draw the
line?
Would you believe there was a time
when Mountain Dew advertising
consisted mainly of a simple hill
billy holding a bottle?
Not anymore. Today, you have to: “Do the
Dew.” Now there are flashy commercials
using special effects and feats of daring
- millions of dollars spent all to sell a simple
soft drink.
My how times have changed. Marketers
have learned: If they want to sell a certain
kind of product or service, they better con
sider who their target audience is and tai-
lor their com
mercial/spot
or whatever to
that particular
group (i.e. age,
experience, et
cetera).
’ Today, we
have Tony
the Tiger,
the Pillsbury
Doughboy,
AFLAC
duck, talking
M&Ms, the
Arby’s Oven
Mitt and on
v
and on and on
the list goes
=- hundreds,
maybe thou
sands.
Every product imaginable - from baby
food to tractor trailer trucks - is sold, or at
least has had the waters tested, using “cute
or cuddly,” all the way up to “manly man.”
Our question: How long will it take for
this kind of mindset - it’s obviously reached
the Olympics sometime ago - to branch out
into other areas, oh say, our local city and/or
county officials and their meetings.
“Balderdash,” you say. “These meetings
are too important to turn into a circus.”
We would agree (some would argue they
already are, but that’s not our view).
But, if an e-mail that floated this way yes
terday has any truth to it - and a search of
the Internet could not confirm that it did
- there is already a mascot in one small
South Carolina town. He’s called Charlie
the Chamber Mouse and reportedly does his
“thing” during chamber meetings.
The premise is reportedly to get more
families to attend so maybe he takes the
children into another room and babysits or
entertains.
Anyway, if you think about it, it’s only a
half-baked idea. Want to sell an annexation
to the town people? Why not have some guy
dress up in a six-foot-tall baby costume.
Everybody likes babies.
Getting grief on rezoning? How about
having Timmy the Tissue soften the issue.
OK, we’re getting ridiculous now, we know,
but stranger things have happened.
After all, as Mountain Dew so aptly - sym
bolically - put it: In an age where technol
ogy has touched just about every corner of
the world and “all” of our lives, there are no
hillbillies anymore.
Letter to the Editor
Muslims should step up
The Pope recently “quoted” a centuries old statement
about Islam. This was not necessarily the Pope’s opinion,
but merely a quote.
Perhaps it was offensive, and
unwise, given today’s volatile climate.
This being said, the reaction of Muslim extremists
was predictable and typical of their mindset. Riots,
attacks on Christians, burning churches, and other
acts of violence, etc. The “moderate” Muslims, on the
few occasions when they condemn this kind of behav
ior, state that this is not in keeping with the Koran.
Muslims have demanded that the Pope apologize.
Some have even suggested that he should be beheaded.
On the contrary, I believe that if the Muslim world
See LETTER, page 6A
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
But, if an e-mail that
floated this way
yesterday has any truth
to it - and a search
of the Internet could
not confirm that it did
- there is already a
mascot in one small
South Carolina town.
He's called Charlie the
Chamber Mouse and
reportedly does his
"thing" during chamber
meetings.
Then we shall see face to face
I have said, many times, and writ
ten a few, that as an elected official
the three most difficult things with
which to deal are people’s garbage,
their pets and their children. Some
jest, much truth.
And, I believe the two most contro
versial about which to write are poli
tics and religion. Occasionally, I write
of politics.
Today, with much trepidation, it’s
mainly religion with some politics
thrown in.
Let me give you a test. A test of your
core religious beliefs. With how many
of the following statements do you
agree and to what extent?
■ Both the right and the left in
America have sometimes gone too far,
elevating transitory issues, when the
core message of the Gospel, and the
love of God for all people should take
priority.
■ The history of mankind began in
the Middle East and will end there.
The whole Bible is centered in the
Middle East.
■ God’s ways and means are veiled
from human eyes and wrapped in mys
tery. Sincere Christians can disagree
about the details of scripture and the
ology.
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Hnal thoughts on Muslim interviews
It is time for my annual migration
to the Georgia coast, commonly
known as God’s Country.
Admittedly, this event doesn’t com
pare in magnitude to the swallows
returning yearly to the mission at San
Juan Capistrano, but then the birds
don’t get to fill their tummies with
corn-fried shrimp from the exquisite
little Georgia Sea Grill on St. Simons
Island when they settle in. I do. Let
'em eat cake.
Before I go, here are some final
thoughts on the recent interviews with
the Muslims. Reaction from readers
was hot and heavy and fell into rough
ly three equal parts. About a third
found the columns helpful in trying to
understand Islam. Some even said the
comments were consistent with what
they had experienced themselves with
Muslims. Another third said they read
the columns but still would not trust
anything a Muslim told them and then
proceeded to lecture me on Islam, even
though none are Muslims. The final
third said I was (a) dumb as a rock, (b)
naive and/or (c) a disloyal American for
even engaging them in conversation in
the first place.
Of all the mail I received and it
was a lot only one response was
unsigned. I ignore anonymous mail
because if you don’t have the guts to
sign your name, I don’t have any inter
est in your opinion. So, this writer got
himself lathered up for nothing. Just a
friendly reminder for those of you who
write anonymous letters: Garbage in
... in the garbage.
One of the Muslim panelists, Jabril
OPINION
■ Parts of the Bible are figurative.
Not every single jot and title in the
Bible is from the Lord.
■ God loves everybody, all over
the world - Jews, Hindus, Islamics,
Buddhists, secular people, etc.
■ Politics is a secondary to the
Gospel, which transcends party lines
and, for believers, transcends earthly
reality itself.
■ We cannot discount religious faith
in politics, but faith is one factor - per
haps the most important, but still just
one - in the life of people, and is not
about churches or lobbies using the
name of God to win votes.
Well, with how much of “my” test -
these statements - do you agree? Would
it make a difference to you if you knew
that these were not necessarily my
beliefs, but those of Billy Graham? Yes,
Billy Graham!
“Oh, look! The first signs of Fa 11..."
Larry
Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whgb-law.com
Dick
Yarbrough
Columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
Alexander, says I misquoted him stat
ing he said he would fight for his coun
try against the Islamic cause. He says
that while he would shed blood for his
country, I misused the term “Islamic
cause.” Jabril says, “Islamic causes are
always positive causes.” Herein lies a
problem with which I have wrestled
since the interviews. The panelists
were in spite of what some readers
alleged very sincere in their views.
But they don’t seem to understand
that while they want us to take their
word that Islam is a religion of peace
and that they speak for the faith, the
bad guys say they speak for Islam
too. Who should we believe here? We
non-Muslims find ourselves dealing
with two conflicting messages, and our
future rests on being sure we are get
ting the correct one.
I will say it one more time: The
people who espouse an Islamic faith of
peace and brotherhood had better get
out of their cocoon and start speaking
out long and loud against violence and
terrorism. An occasional news release
or ad won’t cut it. Neither will visits
to synagogues and churches as
well intended as those may be. Until
jL% j|
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Want to read it for yourself? See
Jon Meacham’s article, “Pilgrim’s
Progress” in “Newsweek” entitled
“Billy Graham’s New Thinking on
Politics and the Bible” with the by-line,
“. . . Billy Graham shares what he’s
learned in reflecting on politics and
Scripture, old age and death, myster
ies and moderation”. You can get this
on-line by going to Newsweek.com, and
searching for “Billy Graham” in their
archives.
Some other interesting things from
the articles:
■ Graham said that he regretted not
studying and reading more.
■ He alluded to King David as a
model for him, in that David was a
flawed man who still “pleased God”.
■ His advice to a young evangelist
starting out: “Spend time praying and
reading the Bible.”
Frankly, I did pretty well on the
“Graham Test” - agreed with most of
what Graham said.
But, more than anything he said, I
agree with this: “Human beings on this
side of paradise can grasp only so much.
‘Now we see but a poor reflection as in
a mirror,’ Saint Paul wrote, ‘then we
shall see face to face’. Then believers
shall see. Not now, but then”.
moderate Muslims take to the streets
in large numbers demanding a stop to
the violence by radical Muslims, they
and their religion are going to continue
to be viewed with suspicion. My friends
on the panel didn’t seem to grasp how
mistrusted Islam is because of the
actions of the bad guys who claim to
be the true believers. Saying Islam is a
religion of peace isn’t enough. They are
going to have to take the fanatics head
on. And soon.
The good news is that the columns
may have engendered the beginnings
of an ongoing dialogue. Several read
ers indicated they want to know more
about Islam, and will make the effort
to reach out to Muslims. I hope they
do. The Muslims I met are good people
and seem as frustrated with the cur
rent craziness in the world as the rest
of us. Perhaps one day we will all dis
cover common ground.
Only one question remains from the
exercise: I wonder how many of the
mean-spirited rants I received came
from those claiming to be Christians. If
it was more than one and I strongly
suspect it was maybe this space
needs to be turned into a Bible study.
If my suspicions are correct, a lot of
Christians don’t practice what they
preach.
Okay, enough on that subject. Time
to move on. Now, if you will excuse me,
I believe I hear the siren call of corn
fried shrimp. Yum, yum.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net, P.O. Box
725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139, or
Web site: www.dickyarbrough.com.