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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 2006
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans
Managing Editor Editor Emeritus
The story of a minor league umpire who went on
a rampage Sunday - fortunately, taking it out
on the baseball field and limiting it to mostly
screaming and kicking - provides yet one of many
examples around us that stress is a big player in the
society we live in today.
While we’re not experts in that area, there are plenty
out there who are.
A search on the web can turn up dozens of sites with
plenty of valuable information.
As a minimum, it’s a good idea to know your body
and know some warning signs.
Physical symptoms can range from lack of sleep to
high blood pressure to migraines. Emotional signs could
be anything from nervousness to irritability to a feeling
everything is out of your control.
Why should you worry about stress - realizing that
worrying about •
stress is also
stressful in itself?
Because, studies
have shown that
long-term fail
ure to “manage”
stress can lead
to obesity, heart
disease, cancer,
depression and
the list goes on
and on.
Don’t he a slave
to stress. Educate
vourself. If you’re
looking for a good
place to start, go
to www.helpguide.
org/mental/strss_signs or ask your doctor.
We’ve got enough people out there going off the deep
end as a result of stress. We don’t need anyone from
Houston County adding to the mix.
To use the example provided by the minor league
umpire, stay off the grass and stay on the basepaths.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Passing of great public servant
Henry Andel brings sadness
It is with sadness that I read about the passing of
Henry Andel. He was a great public servant and served
the citizens of Houston County in a very professional
and friendly manner on the Tax Assessors Board. Most
readers are probably not aware that he was also a good
friend to the outdoorsmen of Houston County and cen
tral Georgia. He previously owned much of the property
that will become the Houston County Public fishing area
when the lake is completed, and hopefully the site will
continue to be developed into a state park.lt is in large
part due to the vision for the future and generiosity
of Andel that the public fishing area and state park is
becoming a reality and for this we should be very thank
ful .1 am sure that there will be a special place for him at
the Lord ‘s fishing hole.
John Trussell, Warner Robins
Georgians should push representatives
for extension to the Voting Rights Act
It’s important for Georgians to tell their representatives
to vote for the extension to the Voting Rights Act. Rep.
Lynn Westmoreland from Newnan wants to change Section
5 of the VRA for all the wrong reasons. Yet Republican
Chairman James Sensenbrenner of Pennyslvania of the
U.S. House committee concerned with its extension held
committee hearings that proved the VRA needs to be
extended without changes. Senator Cecil Staten’s bill
proves the need for no change in Section 5 of the VRA.
Westmoreland ignores Staten’s Voter I.D. Bill which is
a clever way to exclude hundreds of thousands of poor
and elderly citizens from being able to vote in July. Voter
fraud has been negligent in recent times and is more
likely in absentee ballots where requirements to prove
who you are have been purposely weakened. It’s all been
such a mess that we have received negative publicity
nationally.nationwide.
Frank W. Gadbois, Warner Robins
WORTH REPEATING jfIHHHHi
“Be it for the defense, or be it for the assertion of a
nation’s liberty, I look upon the sword as a sacred weapon
.... Abhor and stigmatize the sword? No, no, my lord, for
at its blow a giant nation sprang from the waters of the
Atlantic and by its redeeming magic, and in the quivering
of its crimson light, the fettered Colony became a daring
free Republic-prosperous, limitless and invincible.”
Thomas Francis Meagher, 1823-1867
Irish Founder of the Irish News and Co-Founder of
the Irish Confederation
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
Physical symptoms
can range from lack
of sleep to high blood
pressure to migraines.
Emotional signs could be
anything from nervous
ness to irritability to a
feeling everything is out
of your control.
We need a Declaration of Dependence
On July 4, we cel
ebrate once more
the framing of our
American Declaration of
Independence.
For our liberties as a
country, this document
holds great worth. And if
we consider its lines very
closely we can also recog
nize the virtue from an
eternal perspective, for
while it severed relationship
with England, there is clear
reference to the part God
plays in our affairs.
In the first paragraph, the
laws of God are mentioned.
In the second paragraph,
the endowments of the
Creator are mentioned.
The last paragraph states:
“And for the support of
this declaration, with a
firm reliance on the protec
tion of Divine providence,
we mutually pledge to
each other our lives, our
fortunes, and our sacred
X f /oVcVsv
Background behind Inner Change decision
Recently, I noticed a
compelling Federal
District Court opin
ion. It highlights some
problems with prison over
crowding and the lack of
appropriate treatment pro
grams for those amenable
to being re-socialized.
I will discuss this case in
two parts - this week, we
look at some background
issues.
The name of this case
is Americans United for
Separation of Church and
State vs. Prison Fellowship
Ministries.
It was decided just a few
weeks ago by the Hon.
Robert W. Pratt, Chief
Judge, So. District of lowa.
He confronted a com
plex situation, balancing
religious freedom rights
against lowa’s legitimate
goal of using a religious
institution’s program for
rehabilitation of inmates
The institution, “Prison
Ministries” is the brain
child of Charles “Chuck”
Colson, a former counselor
to Richard Nixon through
the Watergate debacle. A
national (Washington,
D.C. based), Evangelical
Christian (Southern
Baptist), non-profit, it pros
elytizes in the prison sys
tems, primarily in the West
and Southwest.
It operates through
an alter-ego program,
“Inner Change Freedom
Initiative” (“InnerChange”),
promoting a strict, literal,
Daniel Gatlyn
Columnist x
honor.”
A large percentage of
Americans hold fast to the
“independent implications”
of the Declaration and
spend a lifetime considering
rights and individual abili
ties to sustain all moments
with minimal recognition
of who “holds tomorrow” in
his hands.
A “Declaration of
Dependence” based upon
holy scripture would bring
JUMP INTO SUMMER READING!
Jim Rockefeller ,
Columnist
ajr@rockefellerlawcenter.com
—
and disciplined approach to
mold inmate populations
into productive members
of society; its mandate is to
promote “biblical standards
of justice in the criminal
justice system.”
When Inner Change
entered into a contractual
relationship with the lowa
Department of Corrections,
the legal question presented
was whether or not the use
of the State funds support
ing a proselytizing program
for personal change violated
the Establishment Clause of
the Constitution.
In turning to
Inner Change, lowan offi
cials were faced with the
typical budgetary con
straints in the modern
penal system.
The facility involved was
actually a new one, with
limited resources - evidence
was introduced at trial
causing Judge Pratt to find
that it was, essentially, a
“half-baked” facility, for
lack of a better description.
Because of these lack
us back to the “safety
zone”.
Consider the following:
“I am the vine, ye are the
branches. He that abideth
in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much
fruit: for without me, you
can do nothing.” (John
15:5).
A Declaration of
Dependence would, first of
all, be exclamatory.
Such a concise statement
of physical and financial
resources, the Warden
found himself with a large
prison population and very
little ability to provide the
prisoners with rehabilita
tion services and programs,
some of which were man
dated by law.
The solution to these bud
getary constraints was pro
vided by Inner Change.
It appears indisputable
that the Warden had very
little real options in trying
to institute a rehabilitation
program at this facility;
however, Judge Pratt found
that the provider proposal
was written so that only
Inner Change could provide
for the services contracted.
The end result was that
approximately $200,000 per
year (from the inmate “tele
phone fund” for fees earned
from inmate use of phones)
and another SIOO,OOO (from
the state’s “Tobacco Trust”
fund settlement) paid for
Inner Change to operate
prison programs running
from Anger Management
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
would give notice to all
parties where we stand. It
would also announce our
intentions of following a
Biblical course.
Secondly, such a declara
tion would be expedient.
It is proper, right, ethical
and necessary. It is to our
advantage to reaffirm faith
in someone other than the
finite abilities of humanity.
It would posture America
back in the arena of wis
dom, the only profitable
path.
Lastly, it speaks of excel
lence. God, by his Word,
and his Spirit, has called us
to “excellence.” We are not
to be a third-rate citizen.
We are called to lead the
pack, set the pace, present
the example. We should
be the role models for the
world, not those who pur
sue immorality, self-suffi
ciency and permissiveness.
We are the branches, and as
to Substance Abuse to reli
gious services.
The contract essentially
prevented any other pro
vider from competing with
Inner Change, with respect
to inmate and out-mate
treatment.
Americans United for
Separation of Church and
State, a national group
devoted to protecting its
vision of the “wall” or bar
rier between church and
state, sued the State and
Inner Change on behalf of a
group of inmates, to either
stop funding and/or provide
funding for similar secular
treatment and/or for other
faiths to be incorporated
into the Inner Change pro
gram.
According to the evi
dence introduced at trial,
Inner Change was, at a
minimum, hostile (if not
down-right discriminatory)
towards other organized
religious faiths, including,
but not limited to Roman
Catholicism, Lutheranism,
Judaism, Islam, and Native
Americans.
Next week, we will learn
how Judge Pratt resolved
this tangled legal conflict.
Warner Robins attorney
Jim Rockefeller is the for
mer Chief Assistant District
Attorney for Houston
County, and a former
Florida State Attorney.
Owner of Rockefeller Law
Center, Jim has been in
private practice since 2000.
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