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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1988)
Morality, farm crisis top today’s gripes The argument is futile, debate is hypocritical I would like to comment on an issue I rarely see mentioned in the editorial pages of the Daily Nebras kan: homosexuality. Oh sure, I’ve seen hundreds of letters dealing with pro-gay/lcsbian or anti-gay/lcsbian sentiments, but very rarely have I seen one deal with the issueofthe act of homosexuality. The fact of the matter is, depend ing on what set of moral values you choose to live by, you can either reject homosexuality as being im moral as viewed by Christian values or you can accept it as being “beauti ful” and “natural” as conceived by your persona! belief. However, if a person chooses Christian values, he or she shouldn’t judge people who choose the latter. That is God’s re sponsibility. On the other hand, if people choose to be homosexual, they shouldn’t try to impose their ucucisuiiu) pcupic wno nave cnoscn to live by Christian morals. The hypocrisy of the whole debate is w hat sickens me. On one side, you have people who claim to be Chris tians damning the individuals and not the act of homosexuality. Con versely, there are “enlightened, open-minded intellectuals” who dis miss anyone who docs not deem homosexuality acceptable as being “ignorant, closed-minded bigots.” Is that how one becomes one of the elite enlightened few, by dismissing any one who doesn’t agree with their “open-minded” views as “masses of asses”? Brilliant! And I’ve wasted all this money on college. As far as gay rights are concerned, what rights does sexual preference entitle one to? Wouldn’t it be in the area of personal privacy? If a female living in a dormitory doesn’t have to shower with a male who may be sexually attracted to her, then should another male be required to accept the same situation? But on the other hand, what does sexual preference have to do with a person being able to perform a civil or societal function? Rich Roberts senior engineering Don’t stop with gays; others should go, too Jon Dewsbury, what a great letter you wrote (Feb. 16). Thank you for “enlightening” us as to why people don’t like homosexuals. I, as a straight guy, also believe that those “immoral and unnatural” homosexu als should go back in the closet. The plain truth is that I would like lifea lot more if homosexuals would just dis appear. You know, like off the face of the earth. But Dewsbury, you stopped too early on your tirade against people that don’t conform but make normal guys, like you and me, uncomfort able. What about feminists? You know, nothing bugs me more than someone telling me I’m a sexist. Women! You let them out of the kitchen for a few minutes and they think they’re heads of the house. You can bet that my wife is going to know who wears the pants in my house. And don’t black people make you uncomfortable? Boy, do they ever make me squirm, l would lecl a lot better if they were all still on the plantation, where they belong. What was that uppity (black man’s) name? Martin Luther King? The plain truth is that the majority of white people will not tolerate blacks. So they should wise up and learn their place. Yeah, then life would be grand. Get rid of the (gays), (blacks) and (feminists), and we’d be back to the kind of America worth fighting for. This nation must be purified. I love my country because it’s the land of the free, and I won’t tolerate it being corrupted by those misfits. You and I, Dewsbury, we’re two of a kind. We can show people what America is really all about. Either all those weirdos can go back into their closets, or they can walk into some I’ve had made especially for them, based on the Auschwitz design. Scott Wilhite junior English Daily Nebraskan fails to paint whole picture This letter is in response to the edi torial on Initiative 300 (Daily Ne braskan, Feb. 18). 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You also get our es. .20.00/mo. fflZSZftZg Credit Cards Budget Plan . ffff. tOflMCr LetlS Accepted MALBAR VISION CENTERS 3200 “O” St. 475-1030 FREE CONTACT LENS CONSULTATIONS AVAILABLE - I -1 CHARTROOSE] _ CABOOSE ^77 Eat in or FAMOUS STEAK SAHDMCHB) Lincolns Own Carry Out or s Famous MC%Af r'nmAv ^ cfh O. “A” Cf “HOT PHILADELPHIA NEW Corner of 15th & O bt. steak sandwich" ^7^ We Proudly Support the Big Red Card (c-ca f^jj | 4/o-juio The onJy chartroose in Town _gWj Isle»i t*bW*Kt Kg j w1 Wfg?g?« i IPw i wiffigilyi < HUUjJU J -J a horrible monster stifling Nebraska’s economy. However, the writer fails to see the whole picture. The writer of the article seems to think that all family farmers should sell out to corporations for “high prices.” The editorial says, “Corpo rations could buy farmland that many farmers would like to sell at a high price.” However, nowhere in the ar ticle docs it mention that Nebraska is the only slate in a five-state area in which land values have increased over the last few years, with Initiative 300 in place. Corporations would be no more beneficial to Nebraska’s economy than the family farmer. Indeed, they would be worse. The family farmer uses his profits to build up his opera tion, which, in turn, helps build uphis community and slate. Most non family farm corporations would take their profits out of the state. This would severely damage the local and state economy. Contrary to the arliclc, a lamily farmer uses his resources more effi ciently than a large corporation. I have seen and read about several farm corporations, two in the area where I live. They buy up huge tracts of land, rape the land for short-term profit, then leave it a ruined waste land. The family farmer must get his livelihood from the land year after year; he conserves the land and uses it so that it will keep on producing long after he is gone. Technology docs not necessarily equal efficiency, cither. A totally computerized farm will not make the corn grow better, the calves gain faster or the sows have more pigs. Efficiency is not measured by num ber of head, number of acres or how much new equipment the farm has. It is measured by how low the death loss is, and how much food and fiber is produced per acre. Family farms usually have lower death losses and higher yield, while still conserving the land. Alternative crops arc not the cure all, either. If a farm can incorporate an alternative crop into their opera I tion, that’s great. However, not all operations arc suited for alternative crops. For many farms, the cost of getting virtually all new equipment needed for producing some of the alternative crops makes them impos sible to get into. Also, these wonder ful corporations would not necessar ily produce anything but the tradi tional crops, cither. On a different note, I’m all for ending subsidies, just as long as the United States stops importing wheat, corn, soybeans, ethanol, beef, pork, lamb and all other agricultural prod ucts that it exports. A change in farm policy must be accompanied by a change in trade policy. If this would happen, the surpluses of crops would take care of themselves. In closing, I would like to say that Nebraska’s economy is doing just as well, and probably better, than it would be if Initiative 3(X) were re pealed. Net farm income in 1987 was an all-time record high, and the prof its stayed in the state, land values are rising, aim nmic in a icmmg ui upu mism in the agriculture industry that has been missing for a long time. Family farmers arc starting to pay “high prices" for farmland, and for every farmer who is forced out of business, many more stay in business or get into the business. Not only arc a majority of University of Nebraska Lincoln students for Initiative 3(X), a majority of Nebraskans arc for it and have proved it twice. Most Nebras kans don’t want Nebraska owned by out-of-state corporations. They be lieve in Nebraska’s ability to survive on its own. Not everyone in this state is ready to see the family farmer go. If the family farmer goes, so does small-town Nebraska. The family farmer is adapting and changing to meet the times. He is not outdated and inefficient. He is very efficient, producing food for his family and 78 other people. Brent Boettcher freshman ag honors Base ideas on truth, not ‘faulty’ perceptions To some people, child molesta tion; killing pcopleof other religious, ethnic or racial groups; and making human sacrifices to man-made idols arc all normal, acceptable activities. The tendency to do these things is either part of their upbringing or else they were bom with these tendencies. The stupidity of these statements is obvious. Morality is not deter mined by what a person or group of persons accept as being OK. Nor is morality defined by what a person’s inherent tendencies are. Promoters of open acceptance of homosexuality cither tell us that homosexuality is genetic or that it is sodccply ingrained in the personality that it cannot be considered abnor mal. These statements are the logical equivalents of the one about accept ing child molesters. Note that I am not saying that these arc functionally equivalent (for example, not all hrvmr\cov 11o 1 c orn /'hilH nrmlnelnre/ sacrifices to idols), but rather that accepting both on the grounds identi fied above arc equally logical. Am l saying, then, that logically homosexuality is immoral? 1 am saying instead that logic and morality arc disjoint domains. Extending logic to define morality is not, excuse the expression, logical. To find what is and is not moral, we must turn to the spiritual realm (and I am not talking about ghosts or werewolves) since logic doesn’t have the tools for defining moral matters. I will not define what is moral and immoral. Those things arc already defined for us. For us to try to replace divine guidance with human logic is an insult to the One that created us. If we arc going to make statements about what is moral and immoral, we need to make sure that our statements correspond to the truth rather than our perceptions and our possibly faulty logic. 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