Newspaper Page Text
r Dt**mb*§ r 7, 1994
We Get Letters
P. 0. Box 1027 Athens, GA 30603
Dear Mr McCommortS:
I am responding to your editorial entitled *A Modest Proposal For the Poor/ though not in
any overly reoctive way. as you may have wished I'm more shocked by your lack of creativ
ity than anything else
Here's my modest proposal: In the future, in the interest of being precise, please refer to
those select irx*vK*x>ls who try to mix church and state as the Religious Right The Reli
gious Right may be Christians, but not all Christians are among the Religious Right
For those \Mx> didn't reod the article, the editor of Flagpole began by calling the recent
election a "triumph of the Republicans and the Christians * He then began to parody Swift's
'A Modest Proposal.* asserting by sarcastic implication that all members of these two
groups, at the very least, ore unreasonable and without compassion for their felow hu
man beings
That may be Republican doctrine (I wouldn't know), but it sure isn't Christian doctrine
Mr McCommons. why not take a pot 7 1 wouldn't ask you to do anything as unreasonable
as comparing the overwhelming number of Christians in the United States to the relatively
few card-carrying members of the NRA (though you seem to equate the two in your ar
ticle! Instead, take a poll of the number of people who cal themselves Christians Next, ask
them if they have a party affliction Its my guess that you would have an almost even split
between Democrats and Republicans
Furthermore, it's my belief as a Christian that Christ was quite a liberal (in contrast to the
establishment of the time!, ond that he came to free us from the law Though I feel that it is
God's \mI that enlightened Christian men ond women often take office at crucial moments
in history. I am not wilng to believe Christ ordinarily plays favorites in politics In fact. I think
he is largely washing his hands of secular government until the day he returns to establish
his perfect kingdom
That is not to say that God wishes us to have no government at al Our government, founded
by intelligent individuals, many of whom believed in God. has its basis in the Constitution,
which dearly separates church and state. I argue that our constitutional freedoms, espe
cially the First Amendment, have made us the great nation we are today We are truly a
God-blessed country, and part of that blessing, for me. involves being able to choose to
worship Christ (free wilt), rather than being forced to worship him, or worse, some other
god
However, the Religious Right would like very much to institute its version of God into the
government Newt Gingrich has alreody vowed to propose a constitutional amendment
that would require prayer in schools And that's just one part of a greater'vision* he has
Well, to sum it all up. here's to an uniformed, reactionary voting populous that allows
candidates ike him to take office Here's to overly liberal editors who point the world in
overly brood strokes And here's hoping that the state's god resembles your own
Eric Williamson
Dear Flagpole
D. L. Bennett’s letter (23 November), backlashing against the “constant raves”
the sci-fi surf band Man or Astro-Man? have received in these pages, is nght about
one thing. New stones and angles on the band, going beyond celebration of their
“gimmicks” and inside jokes, would be welcome That’s exactly why 1 contributed a
moderately serious interview with Birdstuff (MoA ?*s drummer) to Flagpole earlier this
year. Mine can’t have been one of the interviews Bennett was complaining about,
because it focused on their important music and not on their geeks from-space shuck
(OK, Little Debbu snack cakes may have been mentioned, but only in passing)
Wait — did 1 say “important music”? Yep. I’ll repeat what I’ve said before: Man or
Astro-Man ? are the most important instrumental rock band to come out of the South
east since the Dixie Dregs. They ’deserve* their rave reviews. The first show they
played in Athens was almo>: exactly as Bennett would have wished: little or no fan
fare, little or no advertising, without Twinkles. (The TV sets and other “gimmicks"
were there, but hey — pop culture is *all about gimmicks*.) It was news of their
inspired playing, spread by word of mourh (and yes, by word of impressed Flagpole
reviewers) that has won them the populanty that Bennett seems to resent.
A “gimmick"-free MoA? would hardly be Bennett’s “third-rate Ventures npoff
band”, even if they played only Ventures covers and sound-alike tunes MoA? would
be a *first*-rate Ventures npoff band (They put more life into their three or four
Ventures tunes than the Ventures themselves ever did.) But in fact they play few
covers these days. Their own material is original, catchy and non-formulaic. It would
be a shame for the band’s sense of humor to obscure their great music from the humor-
impaired
L. H. White
Dear Matthew*
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1 ,rcu Iation Manager
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