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4A ♦ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2006 ilCcrustcm JBm% 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. C' * A 111 pHSwS" i ..A SHj.'.Z basaa 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.