Newspaper Page Text
OpEd
1 still believe in basic
goodness of people
I am not perfect! Never claimed
to be! I am not a perfect wife, per
fect mother, nor a perfect anything.
I sometimes make the wrong deci
sions at the wrong times and I am
often distressed because I might
have said something, sometime, and
unintentional to hurt a person’s feel
ings.
I have a hard time with any con
troversy. It makes me uncomfort
able to be around people who argue
or fuss too much, especially if they
are wanting me to be a part in their
disagreement. I do not like to be on
the receiving end of criticism unless
it is constructive, but I am always
willing to listen to another person’s
opinion even if mine is different,
because theirs could be better.
On rare occasions I have been
known to admit, even to my hus
band, that my opinion is not the
only one. I have even been known
to admit, softly, that he is perhaps
right in some of his assumptions
and decisions, but not on a regular
basis. After all these years of being
married to the same man, he would
get suspicious if I agreed with him
too often.
I do admit I enjoy the last word
in a discussion but I don’t always
get it. I have been known to be
quite adamant in my opinions con
cerning certain subjects, but hope
fully not overbearing. I like to be
right at least 90% of the time and
the other 10% is not too important
anyhow.
Now this is my story and I am
sticking to it! At least for a few
minutes. But like a lightening rod
out of no where comes a strong
feeling that some phrases have
passed through my ears at least a
million times. You know the ones
about doing unto others, and being
Rep. Mike Evans...from the Capitol
The General Assembly
adjourned sine die Friday, March 28
at midnight. After a session that
lasted almost two weeks longer than
normal, it was a welcome conclu
sion. In this final column of the
year, I will give you a recap of
Friday’s activities as well as a sum
mary of legislation approved by the
General Assembly during the 1997
term.
The Superior Court split
between Forsyth and Cherokee
counties was not approved this year.
None of the five additional judge
ships or our split that were recom
mended by the Judicial Council of
Georgia were acted upon this leg
islative session. House leaders cited
a lack of funds as the reason for not
acting upon the Judicial Council’s
recommendations.
Always a focal point of any leg
islative term, the budget passed after
much haggling between the House
and Senate. Educational facilities in
Forsyth County will receive a
tremendous boost from this plan.
For the 1998 fiscal year, $40,000
was allocated for Forsyth Central
High School’s home and family
management program. North
Forsyth High School will receive
$30,000 for child care occupation
courses and an additional SIOO,OOO
for agricultural science and techni
cal classes. The final outline also
includes a 6 percent pay increase for
school teachers and University
System support staff, $6 million for
expanding the HOPE Scholarship
Program to students who attain at
least a “B” average during their first
year of college and $1 million for
after school programs designed to
reduce juvenile delinquency and
teen pregnancy among middle
school pupils.
On the final day, the House
focused its attention upon reforming
the welfare system. Despite attempts
to dilute Gov. Zell Miller’s proposal,
the bill passed through the House
intact. Senate Bill 104 limits life
time benefits to four years for
United States citizens and to one
year for legal residents who are non
citizens. It requires any teen on wel
fare to maintain passing grades in
WF Julianne
Boling
- W'l Ww
kind to one another? Then I have to
rethink a few of my attitudes and
beliefs.
I suppose I am a dinosaur of
sorts. 1 still believe that men and
women are equal but I like pamper
ing more than being equal. I still
believe that most people are basi
cally honest and honorable, even
though some people make me won
der sometimes. I still think that a
lie, is a lie, is a lie, no matter who
tells it and that dishonest is dishon
est no matter how you cut it, sign it,
or say it.
I am one of those rare individu
als who believes that if you try to
do what is right most of the time
people will recognize that trait, but
many people do not know right
from wrong so they can’t identify
“right”. I believe in the basic
integrity of most people and I feel
especially fortunate to know many
people who are excellent examples
of honorable. I even recognize peo
ple whose integrity is impeccable.
When I see, hear, and witness
the opposite of my basic beliefs in
mankind, I wonder if I am too trust
ing and paive. I believe that most
people want to believe the same
way that I do but there are too many
people trying to change our minds.
Well, I may be too trusting, and I
may be naive, but I sort of like
believing in the basic goodness of
people!
school, and it calls for recipients to
sign a personal responsibility con
tract. If the contract is violated more
than twice, the person receiving
assistance could lose his or her eligi
bility for benefits. The plan also
denies cash to a woman who has a
child while on the dole or after 10
months of applying for aid. Other
provisions mandate that an able
bodied recipient must find work
within two years of entering the sys
tem or be enrolled in job training.
Along similar lines, the legisla
ture also approved a bill that over
hauls the state’s child support and
collection laws and calls for a
greater effort in establishing paterni
ty. Once identified, absent parents
would be required to provide sup
port for their child.
Remedying the problems of
Georgia’s welfare system was that
last significant step taken in a rela
tively busy term. During the course
of the session, the General
Assembly passed legislation aimed
at increasing the safety of our roads.
House Bill 681 provided a graduat
ed licensing program for teens, con
tained “zero tolerance” for underage
drinkers who drive, stiffened the
penalties for all DUI offenders and
linked an adolescent’s academic
record to their driving privileges.
Senate Bill 215 opened the nat
ural gas industry to competition by
allowing independent contractors to
solicit Georgians for service con
tracts. Currently, only two carriers
are allowed to supply gas in our
state. With more companies in the
field, the price we pay for this
resource should fall.
Georgia entered into a compact
with Florida and Alabama over the
Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and
Apalachicola-Chattahoochee river
basins. The two basins cover 38 per
cent of Georgia’s landmass and pro
vide water to 60 percent of state res
idents. Much conflict has arisen in
the tri-state area over the handling
of these water sources. The agree
ment attempts to resolve these dis
putes through a commission com
prised of one member from each
state (appointed by the state’s gover
nor) and one member who will rep-
Ethics & Religion
Lessons from Heaven’s Gate for the church
The aching question arising out
of America’s largest mass suicide
ironically known as “Heaven’s
Gate,” is why did they do it?
The video tapes left by these 39
strange androgynous people really
raise more questions than answers.
“We couldn’t be happier about
what we’re about to do,” said a
man in his 40s.
If they were happy to “shed the
containers” of their bodies, why
did two dozen of these cult mem
bers wait two decades to do so?
“And I look very, very forward
to this next major step of ours...
shedding these creatures ... moving
on to the next evolutionary level,”
said a balding, smiling man.
If they were moving on to a
new “evolutionary level” being
picked up by a UFO trailing
behind the Comet Hale-Bopp, why
kill themselves first? Why stuff a
$5 bill and quarters into a pocket
and pack a little bag as if going on
an overnight trip?
“I’ve been looking forward to
this for so long,” says a woman
laughing. “People in the world
who thought I’d completely lost
my marbles, they’re not right. I
couldn’t have made a better
choice.”
Nonsense. She had lost her
marbles. After all, she followed
Marshall Herff Applewhite who
SHIPPfromSA
wisdom holds that no Republican
can win statewide election without
a wide margin of victory in Cobb
County.
Barnes’ presence on the
Democratic ticket makes an over
whelming victory in Cobb less cer
tain for Republicans.
At age 49, Barnes also brings an
element of youth or at least mid
dle age -to the ripening leadership
of the state Democratic party.
If Howard wins the governor’s
BMike
Evans
resent the federal government.
Our state also joined the federal
Coastal Management Program. By
following its provisions, Georgia
will become eligible to receive fed
eral funds for coastal projects as
well as additional assistance with
the maintenance and management of
key projects within Georgia’s
coastal counties.
After the most heated debate of
the session, the General Assembly
approved a ban on partial-birth
abortions. In addition to prohibiting
the procedure, Senate Bill 357 man
dates that any doctor who performs
an abortion of this nature be charged
with a felony. Exceptions will be
made when the mother’s life is in
danger and no other option is avail
able to ensure her livelihood.
Initiatives for reducing and pre
venting crime in Georgia also
obtained the General Assembly’s
support. Senate Bill 105 requires
sheriff’s departments to maintain a
register of paroled sex offenders and
to notify their community when
such a person moves into the area.
Through the passage of House Bill
211, judges in the state will possess
the option of ordering male child
molesters to be chemically castrated
as a condition for parole or proba
tion.
Any bill introduced, but not
addressed this session, will be
returned to its committee of origin
and await the 1998 term.
I want to close by thanking the
Forsyth County News for granting
me a space each week to update my
constituents on the proceedings at
the Capitol. Every week I anticipate
writing this piece and hearing the
tremendous response it produces
from its readers. I look forward to
resuming my column next year
when the legislature reconvenes.
called himself “Do," a musical
note. He decided to commit sui
cide, and left this message: “Plant
Earth about to be recycled. Your
only chance to survive: Leave with
us.”
However, billions of us are sur
viving fine. He is not.
I find comments by experts on
the cults equally shocking.
J. Gordon Melton, editor of the
“Encyclopedia of America
Religions,” which treats cults with
the same respect accorded to
Roman Catholicism, tells TIME,
“In this case, they had a positive
motive, a great place to go. So
why hang around here?”
Positive motives by murderers
are not acceptable reasons to kill.
Nor are all faiths equally valid.
What great place did they go?
Yvonne McCurdy-Hill, 39, aban
doned five children including
infant twins, and then killed her
self. Is this not evil?
The great advances of Western
Civilization have been led by those
who accepted the Judeo-Christian
belief, revealed by God, that there
is objective truth, a clear right and
wrong.
We believe God created both
men and women in his image. The
drive for women’s equality is
based on Genesis 1:27 and
Galatians 3:28. The Hindu,
race, Barnes can wait eight years
and still be young enough to go for
governor.
If Howard loses to Bowers,
Barnes immediately becomes the
titular leader of the Democratic
Party, ready to run for governor in
2002. This presupposes, of course,
a Barnes victory in his bid for lieu
tenant governor.
Incidentally, leading Democrats
in the state House, including
Norman's
landing
Mark Your Calendar
“Tax Relief Tuesday” April 15, 1997
The First Annual Norman’s Landing Golf Classic
At The Polo Golf and Country Club
All Proceeds Benefit
OUnllwftMy
of Forsyth County
.. -etrtag ftr A«m at Saaw
NAME ,
COMPANY NAME_
ADDRESS
PHONE ( ) WORK PHONE ( ) :
'K I
CORPORATE SPONSOR $1200.00 -includes: 4 golfers; a sign at one tee and one alter
nate green; lunch and Company recognition in the
program; golf shirt, golf towel and golf balls for
each golfer.
HOLE SPONSOR SIIOO.OO -includes: 4 golfers; a sign at one tee and one
——— green; lunch and Company recognition in the pro-
gram; golf shirt, golf towel and golf balls for each
golfer.
HOLE SPONSOR ONLY $300.00 -includes: sign at one tee and one alternate green.
jsw
INDIVIDUAL GOLFER $200.00 -includes: lunch; golf shirt, golf towel and golf
balls.
bfiii
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE COURSE AND AFTER THE TOURNAMENT
J; t .
PARTICIPANTS
SHIRT
NAME SIZE HANDICAP
- ■■■■■■■ u ■ ■ ■!■■■ . I ■ 1,
■ ■ ”T
.. j
365 Peachtree Parkway • Cumming, Georgia 30131 • (770) 886-0100 • FAX (770) 886-0822
Make checks payable to: NORMAN’S LANDING CHARITY GOLF CLASSIC
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Sunday, April S, 1 SET -1
Buddhist and Muslim worlds treat
women badly.
Unfortunately, relativism has
been accepted by the leaders of
major mainline denominations.
The Rev. Todd Wetzel, Director of
Episcopalians United, says “The
mainline churches have undercut
the fundamental Christian belief
that God uniquely revealed him
self in Jesus Christ. A host of cler
gy now fill our pulpits who are
often skeptical, raised on biblical
criticism that undercuts authority
of Scripture, and have little confi
dence in the word they preach.
“In sowing a skeptical spirit of
their parishioners in the pews,
mainline churches have con
tributed to the rise of cults.”
If Christian churches do not
provide satisfactory answers on
ultimate questions, people leave,
dispirited. The Episcopal Church
has shrunk from a peak of 3.5 mil
lion members in 1965 to 2.4 mil
lion. In the same year, the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has
withered from 4.25 million to 2.45
million, and Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) plunged from
1.9 million to 1 million.
Rev. Parker Williamson, editor
of “The Presbyterian Layman,”
says that cults demonstrate “There
is a hunger for some spiritual con
nection. Because men cannot live
Majority Leader Larry Walker of
Perry and Appropriations Chairman
Terry Coleman of Eastman, encour
aged Barnes to switch races to help
protect Democratic officeholders
outside metro Atlanta. Barnes is
expected to have special appeal
among rural, conservative voters.
Gov. Zell Miller also has given
his blessing to the rearranged con
tests for governor and lieutenant
governor. “You’ve got more sense
JKh Mike
McManus
on bread alone, he has to search
for that which is not part of this
diet. There is also a hunger fey
authority. People are ready*ang
eager to give their lives away to a
person who strikes them as a per
son of authority."
But mainline churches "bqye
caved into the ideology (hat
debunked the sacred and changed
from the voice of revelation and
revealed truth” to an unbiblical
acceptance of some sexual sins. - y
However, there is hope (or
change within mainline churches.
Williamson and other conserv
ative Presbyterians recently won a
major victory when the nation’s
presbyteries voted 92-68 in favor
of an amendment to the church
constitution that the ordained cler
gy must “conform to the historic
confessional standards” such-as
“the requirement to live either in
fidelity within the covenant or
marriage of a man or woman or
chastity in singleness."
than I thought you had,” saifl the
current king of Georgia Democrats
when Barnes informed him of the
new ticket. Barnes ran against
Miller for governor in 1990.
Bill Shipp is editor of BUI
Shipp’s Georgia, a weekly newslet
ter on government and business. He
can be reached at P.O. Box 440755,
Kennesaw, Ga. 30144 or by calling
(770) 422-2543, le-
mail.bshipp@bellsouth.net.
PAGE 9A
