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OpEd
Remember the
joys of the season
As the season of Christmas
begins to approach and we get
caught up in the millions cf obliga
tions and commitments, we hear
these words over and over: “I
remember when Christmas was not
so commercial!” Perhaps, the
phrase you will hear more often
this year will be “everything costs
so much”. Or you may say, “I can
not believe everything that is avail
able for children to put on their
lists.”
■
Not like all people in my gener
ation, I am aware of the Barney
fashions, Pocahontas, Power
Rangers, and other “latest in enter
tairiftfifcnt” toys. I am aware of the
computerized games, videos, and
even some for young adults. So, I
am not as surprised with lists.
However, the number of toys that
most children already have makes
me ask an even more important
question: “Where are you going to
put another sleigh full of toys and
Saint Nicholas too!”
I like to recall Christmas Past
when there was a doll for the girls,
cowboy boots and a six gun for the
boys, oranges, nuts, and a bucket
of hard candy. It may surprise most
children today if they received this
little amount, but to us, these gifts
were so special we cherished them
for months after Christmas passed.
There was no trips to Walmart and
K-Mart a few days later to pur
chase a “surprise if you are good”.
After a few moments of
Christmas Past when memories of
special times with family, special
events of new babies in the family
and the selection of or making a
special gift is recalled, we hurry
along to Christmas Present. This
brings up a very important ques
tion too. What will be important to
you this year? Will it be the num
LETTERS from 12A
ty Uyit exists in every home in
Forsyth County? In the home a real
event could be stumbled upon if
Mom»s and Dad’s door has no lock
on it# Oh! What a moral threat! I
think# our Commissioners should
require locks on these doors, don’t
you?
What a sad story! Every life form
has'some way of multiplying itself.
Animals have sex to reproduce them
selves. Humans have sex to, do the
same; but also to relieve stress, to
expitss and satisfy the emotions of
care-and of being cared for, etc.
Human sexuality contrasts with
aniinal sexualities in that it is natu
rally -a private act. However, the
inclination to be curious about our
basit-anatomical differences begins
at afrearly age. It is obvious that
children are interested in how they
areiflade and what their distinctive
anatomy means for their future.
This moral fear of the effect of
adaks’ behavior upon our children is
mis-placed. It can create morbidity in
children. Their curiosity is their
health and a moral inhibition that
forbids its natural development is
harmful to them.
What gives us the greatest con
trol over our sexual instincts? An
honest and on-going confrontation
with and intellectual grasp of who
we are, of course! Our library should
contain all kinds of ideas and infor
mation. This availability gives us the
potential to get acquainted with our
selvesand to obtain some psycholog
ical immunity against a morbid out
look.
I thought we elected commis
sioned to handle the county’s busi
ness.-Do we need them as moral dic
tators?
Bill Callaway
Cumming, Ga.
/ 7 '
Writer supports
county’s library stand
DEAR EDITOR,
It is the opinion of this ordinary
citizen of Forsyth County that it is
£Julianne
Boling
ber of gifts you have to buy? Will
it be the number of ‘affairs’ you
have to attend? Will it be the shop
ping that you must do and the
number of people on your list?
Will your question be: ‘how much
more can 1 put on my credit card?”
December is a rash, rush, rush
month. It is filled with events that
will make your life special and
meaningful. There are concerts by
the Cumming Chorale, special
music presentations in churches
that are yours just for attending,
programs at schools, live nativity
scenes and pageants, and parties to
celebrate the season. Your only
question should be “where do I go
from here”. The choices are yours
and the spirit of the season begins
this week. Don’t miss out.
So, there is Christmas Past,
Christmas Present, and Christmas
Future, and all should concern us.
The past is gone but well worth
remembering for special times,
special people, and special reasons.
Christmas Present is here and we
will be called upon to do the extras
to make family and friends happy
and let them know their efforts to
provide music, dramas, and gifts
are appreciated and that we enjoy
them. And remember Christmas
Future by making the present one
special for you and everyone you
love just in case this is the one we
want to recall as “the best one we
have ever had!”
time that we step back and take a
look at our county and some of our
so called problems. It is my opinion
that there is a sophistication race
going on in our county.
First, we have many new people
moving into our county because they
think it is a good place to live, but
they must prove to the local people
how sophisticated they are by sup
porting all the issues that go contrary
to the principals that make our coun
ty a good place to live.
Secondly, some of our local citi
zens, in an effort to prove that they
are just as sophisticated as the new
comers, are joining in on the criti
cism of our elected officials and our
church people’s support of decency.
To name a few, Mr. Phill Bettis, Mr.
Walker Bramblett, Mr. Lynwood
Jordan, and Mr. Bob White, all of
whom cry censorship when we
attempt to keep our library material
decent for our children to use.
It is my opinion that if the writers
of our constitution had known how
the First Amendment would have
been abused and twisted to protect
everything from nudity to pornogra
phy as a freedom of expression, they
would have omitted it.
Our county commissioners are on
the hotseat now for having tried to
correct this situation. I have from
time to time been critical of the com
missioners on some of their deci
sions, but on this issue I wish to
extend my support and appreciation
for standing up to a very liberal press
and to Mr. Bob White’s Friends of
the Library, which consist of approx
imately .005% of the citizens of
Forsyth County.
If we happen to lose our associa
tion with Gwinnett County Libraries,
we, according to them, will lose
600,000 books and materials and
have only 100,000 plus left, but if I
have the proper information,
Gwinnett has nine branches which, if
you use simple math, comes to
approximately 66,000 per branch as
compared to 100,000 plus. That
doesn’t sound like much of a loss to
me.
Ethics & Reliqion
The pre-eminent Rabbi Schindler retires
Rabbi Alexander Schindler, 70,
President of the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations for 22
years, retires next week. Henry
Kissinger calls him “a preeminent
figure of conscience and leader
ship.”
As the outspoken leader of
“Reform” Judaism, Schindler
foiged unprecedented answers for a
painful problem the rapidly
growing rate of Jews marrying
Gentiles. Since 1985, Jews are as
likely to marry non-Jews as Jews.
Christmas trees will be in two
thirds of intermarried homes; 90
percent of their children will inter
marry.
In 1978, Schindler said, “We
have one of two choices. We can
do what our forebears did read
them out of the Jewish fold,
mourning them. Or we can try to
bring them back into the communi
ty in hope the non-Jewish partner
will convert to Judaism, or to make
sure the children will be reared as
Jews. We chose the latter.”
He also changed a 2,000 year
rule declaring one Jewish only if
one’s mother is Jewish. If the
father is Jewish, but the mother is
not, the child had to be converted
to be a Jew! “That doesn’t make
any sense. Both should have equal
weight.” Schindler argued.
Both steps were hotly contest
SHIPPfrom 12A
onto Sam Nunn’s seat. Cleland is
the only Democrat daring enough
so far to offer for the Senate in
1996.
—The city of Atlanta for Billy
Payne and the 1996 Olympics.
Without the Games and all that
will come with them, the capital’s
outlook would be bleak.
—The Georgia lottery and
thousands of HOPE scholars for
the millions of suckers who keep
playing the impossible odds. Their
dreams of getting something for
nearly nothing keep the numbers
games going and tuition paid for
students in colleges and trade
Our tax dollars have built and
paid for our library, and I feel we
should have control of it without any
help or interference from outside. It
is time that we, the people, get
involved with the affairs in our coun
ty, encourage our elected officials if
you approve of their actions, and yell
like the splinter groups do if you dis
approve.
Clay Jones
Cumming, Ga.
Print the photos
in question
DEAR EDITOR,
Your editorial insisting that chil
dren of any age should be able to see
anything the Library Board deems
worthy of being in the library causes
me to wonder why you don’t just go
ahead and publish the pictures that
our commissioners find so objection
able. You describe the pictures as
being “what some call ‘sexually
explicit”, which implies to me that
most people would not agree that
they are sexually explicit. Please
publish them so that we all can
decide for ourselves whether or not
our commissioners are being unrea
sonable. If you do not, then please
explain to all of us why you will not
print them.
Censorship occurs when a gov
ernment does not allow the distribu
tion of certain materials. No one has
banned any of these materials.
Anyone can go into a book store and
purchase them. However, when tax
payers money is spent, the taxpayers
do have a right to say how it is spent.
What is so wrong with having an
adults only room? I ask you not to
censor these pictures, but print them
so we can decide whether they
should be available to children.
I wonder if the Romans had these
debates while their empire was
decaying from within? Think about
it.
P. K. Totten
Gainesville, Ga.
ed. Neither halted the trend of
intermarriage. But Reform syna
gogues gained so many mixed fam
ilies that more than a tenth of them
now are 30+ percent intermarried.
And UAHC congregations
soared from 400 to nearly 900 dur
ing Schindler’s tenure, making it
Judaism’s fastest-growing branch.
He has been less successful in
contesting Israel’s refusal to allow
Reform (or Conservative) rabbis
marry, divorce, convert or bury
Jews without the participation of
an orthodox rabbi. Only 5 percent
of Israelis are religious Zionists
and 8 percent ultra Orthodox yet
they wield disproportionate power
in the Knesset.
In the wake of the assassination
of Yitzhak Rabin by a religious
zealot, why doesn’t the Labor Party
want to encourage the growth of
moderate/liberal Jewish syna
gogues? Needing Orthodox votes
in the Knesset, Peres agreed not to
change the status quo.
However, UAHC has created 25
Reform congregations in Israel, 10
of which are run by Israeli-born
rabbis, trained at a Reform semi
nary. A Religious Action Center
has won a few modest cases at the
Israeli Supreme Court. A founda
tion exists for future growth.
Schindler denounced Rabin’s
policy to “break bones” of
schools across the state.
—State Chief Justice Bob
Benham for his good friends in the
Georgia Bar. They have raised
more than SIOO,OOO for his re
election campaign an unheard
of sum for a judicial race.
—Linda Schrenko for the state
Board of Education. The
appointive board’s spendthrift
THE FORSYTH COUNTY BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS’ LIBRARY ISSUE
There may be some misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the Forsyth
County Board of Commissioners’ issue with the Library Board.
* * i
The issue is the library system that insists on open
access by children to photographs of nude people
engaged in various sex acts, as in the book,
WOMAN’S BODY.
The Board of Commissioners is convinced that most Forsyth County Citizens do
not want sexually explicit photographs freely available to children in the Forsyth
County Library.
After months of consideration and discussion, the Library Board continues
to insist that the book, WOMAN’S BODY, be openly available to children in
the Forsyth County Library.
The Board of Commissioners’ issue IS NOT :
- Censorship in the sense of removing books from the Library
or restricting adult use of books in the Library.
(The United States Constitution does not guarantee access by children to all published
materials.)
- A desire by the Board to split the Forsyth County Library
from the Gwinnett-Forsyth Regional Library system.
(The recent action by the Gwinnett County Library Board to sever its relationship with the
Forsyth County Library was reportedly based on rationale (studies?), supposediy
showing an imbalance of funding between Gwinnett County and Forsyth County. The
Forsyth County Board of Commissioners has never seen those studies. Nor was the
Forsyth County Board of Commissioners told of the imbalance before the Gwinnett
Library Board kicked the Forsyth County Library out of the long standing
Gwinnett-Forsyth Regional Library systenj. As of November 17,1995, the Forsyth
County Board of Commissioners had still not been officially notified of the funding
imbalance nor seen the studies to prove it.)
- Criticism of the Forsyth County Library staff, facility,
operations or service to the community.
(The Board of Commissioners is proud of the Library and recognizes the Library and its
services to the community to be excellent.)
OorMftli (bounty J3oarA Of Oonunisiioneri
Paid for by The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners.
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, Novambar 26,1«5
Palestinians during the intifada, but
later praised his “tremendous trans
formation” into seeking peace at
great personal risk.
Son of a Yiddish poet who wor
shiped in Munich’s first synagogue
to be firebombed by the Nazis,
Schindler came to the U.S. at age
12. At 18 he enlisted in the U. S.
Army as a ski trooper, earning the
Purple Heart and Bronze Star for
wounds and bravery.
Beloved for his warmth and
oratorical skills, Schindler says the
driving power of his life has been
“ahavat yisrael,” a love for all fel
low Jews except Israel’s “tri
umphalists” who “presume to
know whose prayers are and are
not acceptable,” extremists “who
still deify land over life and sanc
tion the murder of peacemakers.”
He argues that Jewishness
should be defined “not as exclusive
but as exemplary, not as closed but
open, not as rejecting but as all
embracing and compassionate. A
land whose bloody paths trace back
to the barbed-wire fences of
Auschwitz, should not erect
barbed-wire boundaries of its own”
in ruling over Palestinians.
His most profound criticism is
that “We Reform Jews are entirely
too lax in our practices. Having
expense accounts have made
school Supt. Schrenko’s stumbling
performance in public office look
splendid by comparison.
—Environmentalists for the
Garden Club of Georgia, which
has fought vigorously and some
times alone to stop the visual pol
lution along our highways.
McManus
- 3
asserted our automony, insisting on
our right to choose, too many
choose nothing at all.”
Schindler rejects a Judaism that
is “minimalism, a legacy
bequeathed only to children, a for
mal affiliation” by Jews who attend
services only on High Holy Days.
Rather, he sees his faith as “an
actual life path” transformed by the
synagogue, “the regenerative soil
of Jewish life...where heaven and
earth kiss.”
In his final speech, he will urge
Jews to “make patience and humili
ty your first spiritual discipline, for
it was not with a literate, Jewish
proud people that God made a
covenant at Sinai. It was with
freed slaves, addicts of the flesh
pots of Egypt, too frightened to
receive God’s message directly,
‘lest we die.’”
Jews should order a tape or
transcript (212 249-0100).
—Georgia citizens for Sam
Nunn. He has been a model U.S.
senator.
Bill Shipp is editor of Bill. ■
Shipp’s Georgia, a weekly
newsletter on government and
business. He can be reached at.fi
O. Box 440755, Kennesaw, GA
30144 or by calling (770) 422-
2543.
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