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Dally Ncbrcsksn
Thursday, September ZOt 1C34
fSi i ' : ' ' - . ' ' ; Letiero i
f trM I . ; " - ' '
Actions; not Ternaries, create uproar
In his article, "History proves
Reagan right cn religious issue,"
(Sept. 18), Jim Rogers overlooks
the real issue in the continuing
debate on the proper role of reli
gion in politics by analyzing the
problem in the pure abstract.
Rogers wants to tell his readers
why Reagan's brew of politics and
religion i3 "right." To that end he
marshals the characteristic in
gredient of hi3 editorials "sem
inal works" by Harvard law pro
fessors to explain that religion
is the necessary and natural pro
duct of thinking Briefly, the argu
ment runs like this: If you breathe,
you're religious; if you're a politi
cian and also breathe, you are
nonetheless religious.
I grant Rogers this philosophi
cal argument. Inasmuch as one's
overarching principles of right
conduct pervade the whole per
son, one's religion and politics
are, theoretically at least, inter
woven and inseparable. Most
people would probably concede
this argument. So why are so
many outraged at Reagan's "reli
gion and politics" remark? Rogers
answers that the "popular Amer
ican mind" is shallow in this busi
ness of philosophy. Enlighten
non-"modern thinkers" he rea
sons, and they will "correctly
understand" that Reagan's re
mark is "patently true."
Rogers' conclusion that philo
sophical ignorance precipitated
the public outrage misses the
point. For even if all Americans
agreed that politics and religion
are inherently related, it does not
follow that all would also agree
that therefore the government
should not strive, artificially and
unnaturally if necessary, to sep
arate the two. Indeed the Consti
tution demands the very separa
tion which, following Rogers'
argument, is a philosophical fic
tion. Reagan's remark did not cause
the editorial and public Cap about
separation of church and state.
Who cares what Reagan, the actor-turned-philosopher,
says or phil
osophizes about the natural rela
tionship between politics and
religion? The public outrage,
though focuses on his works, is in
reality directed at his actions
concerted, consistent actions to
breach the constitutionally man
dated barrier between church and
state.
In the past two years of his
administration, Reagan has sup
ported the following actions which
the public perceives to breach the
church-state barrier:
Constitutional amendment
allowing voluntary prayer in pub
lic schools.
Tuition tas credits to par
ents of children attending pri
vate, religious and non-relfgious
schools.
Bob Jones University's suit
against the IRS, in which the mil
itantly fundamentalist school
sought to retain its tax-exempt
status in spite cf its racially dis
criminatory policies.
Constitutional amendment
prohibiting abortion. (Reagan's
primary argument for the amend
ment is a religious one).
It is no solace to the American
people that Rogers can buttress
Reagan's actions with philosophi
cal words. This time the people
are neither interested in, nor out
raged by, the President's words.
They are looking at the deeds of
"Mr. Teflon," and by-golly, some
thing is sticking.
John C. Anderson
First Year Law Student
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Indians...
BRUCE
SPRINGSTEEN
BORN IN THE US.A.
including:
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Bobby Jean
JULIO IGLESIAS
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including:
All Of You (Duet with Diana Ross')
To All The Girls I've Loved teforo
(Duet with Willie Nelson)
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Ccr.ttr.scd frco 4
"Why?" Beane replied.
"Doesn't he have an awful tem
per?" the woman asked. The
answer is no, but I wouldn't blame
him if he developed ons.
Stopping Indian stereotypes
begins with you, and you, and yes,
you with the coffte. Be sensitive.
Think before you speak. Before
you call an Indian's child a
papoose, think again. Just call
them babies. If you're not part of
the solution, you're part of the
problem.
Speaking of problems, that
brings me to your quizzes. Allow
me to give you the real answers. 1.
I give you $20 then take it back.
What am I? I'm &jerk. 2. You sit
rigidly still with your legs crossed
and your arms folded. What are
you doing? Look in the mirror,
you're sitting on the floor looking
pretty silly. 3. One little, two lit
tle...? I never heard of that son.?
And if you want to pzzs this
you never heard of it either. 4.
Who discovered America? Who
(youthirk?Viikmbistod3d,
there were more than a million of
them already here.
My advice? Don't accept Indian
stereotypes. Maybe you could take
a cue from Adam Nordwal!, a
California college professor from
the Ojibway tribe. In 1 873 he Hew
to Italy, got off the plane and
said, "I claim this land in the
name of the American Indian."
Poetic justice.
! U
If
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