Opinion
Wednesday, December 7,1994
Page 4
JeffZeleny
Kara Morrison.
Angie Brunkow.
Jeffrey Robb. ..
Rainbow Rowell
Mike Lewis....
James Mehsling
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
.Editor, 472-1766
.Opinion Page Editor
.Managing Editor
.Associate News Editor
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l.m i < >ki \i
Wish list
School prayer undermines freedom
With the inception of the GOP Congress in January, school
prayer will appear toward the top of Newt Gingrich’s New
Year’s resolution list.
Members of the “religious right” have deemed the nation’s
lack of Christianity one of the country’s biggest flaws. They
propose to make the country think more like themselves by
adding an amendment to the Constitution that would permit
voluntary school prayer.
Don’t let the proposal fool you. Everyone has the right to
l practice his or her own faith in this country. Columnist Mike
Royko of the Chicago Tribune parodied the attempt by Conser
vatives to pervert this notion in a column last month.
In his column, Royko prayed in a taxicab, a bar and a restau
rant without any problems. School children can pray in school as
well — without an amendment for permission.
■.» The real purpose of the amendment, then, is a push toward
mandatory school prayer, which is an entirely different subject.
Things such as teacher-led prayer and moments of silence in
public schools are thinly-veiled attempts at enforcing a state
religion. Teachers would be forced to answer students’ ques
tions about what and who they were praying to, and children of
non-Christian religions would be made to feel like deviants for
not participating.
One cartoon from the Dayton Daily News recently illustrated
this best. The cartoonist drew a classroom being led in prayer by
a teacher who prefacing the “worship” with: “... Now we’ll all
bow our heads, except for this Godless little heathen, Bobby,
who doesn’t believe in a just and merciful God.”
It is exactly because spirituality, and the individual’s right to
express that spirituality, is so important in the United States that
prayer codes are a bad idea.
This country was founded on principles of religious freedom
and a separation of church and state that ensures such freedom.
Even religious leaders (including United Methodists, Presby
terians, Baptists, Evangelical Lutherans, Seventh-Day
Adventists and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations)
warned a while ago that such an amendment would undermine
the people’s right to worship according to their own beliefs and
would secularize and trivialize prayer.
If Republicans want to improve education and make it more
tolerant, accepting and learning conducive — in effect, more
spiritual — they ought to see that time is not spent taking away
their religious freedom. Instead, it should be spent teaching the
contributions of all members of this society and instilling notions
of freedom.
I 'D! I < )kl \l 1*01 |<"S
Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1994 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the
university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent
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its students.
I I INK IN >i l( \
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Under the law
I was at work Sunday night,
and, as usual, an officer of the
law entered the store. I am paid to
be agreeable with the law while
on the clock, despite my hatred
for them and what they stand for.
I offer a few reasons:
He entered on his routine
“positive police contact,” as he
called it. Deputy Dan, as I’ll call
him, started a conversation and
then asked if I had heard about
the indictments in the Renteria
case.
Sure enough, as he spoke it, I
read it in the DN. Lincoln Police
Chief Tom Casady was to be
brought up on “official miscon
duct” charges, and his two
officers, Schellpeper and Wilke,
were to be charged with third
degree assault. For killing a man?
I dismissed his babble and
changed the subject to “what
exactly can I get away with”
questions. We got on the subject
of assaults. After some chatter, he
told me if a man were to spit in
my face, there was nothing I
could do legally. Striking the man
would put me at fault.
“Wow!” I thought, and then
proposed the situation of spitting
in an officer’s face. His response
was: “I’m sure we could find
something ... say, ‘tempting an
officer.’”
I wondered if I could tempt
him with a doughnut.
This is the rub of the whole
thing: When I questioned him
about assault cases that could
hypothetically happen, the issue
of accidental death came up.
Deputy Dan defined this as
manslaughter — the careless,
unintentional taking of another’s
life.
He stated that in cases in
which manslaughter, a felony, is
present, a person is likely to serve
seven or eight years. I looked at
the front page of the DN the next
day and saw third-degree assault.
In this day, third-degree assault is
a misdemeanor, which could be
punishable by community service.
Something is rotten.
. BretGottshall/DN
Why is it police get more
lenient treatment in relation to the
general public? Is it because they
have badges? Does having a
badge and a gun get you more
privileges than the American
Express card? Police are flesh,
just like the rest of us. They must
be treated equal to us savages,
no?
By the bloody fires in hell,
they had better be charged the
same as the rest of us would be.
Aaron Sandlin
sophomore
undeclared
End of silence
The Nebraska Women’s
Political Network commends the
Daily Nebraskan’s assessment of
the recent climate at the College
of Business Administration. We
second your public call for
openness.
I* As stated in the editorial
“Code of silence” (DN, Nov. 11,
1994), the Network became
involved in the situation at CBA
]at the request of women on
campus who found internal access
to due process blocked. Our
involvement was to speak with
and for those who felt silenced.
We have found that putting a
microphone to what is whispered
not only promotes more produc-,
tive discussion but challenges
those in power to show their best
face.
The Nebraska Women’s
Political Network is relatively
new and may need an introduc
tion. The Network is a statewide
organization formed to be a force
for legislation and public policy
that honors and, where necessary,
protects the work and the poten
tial and the rights of all women at
home, in the workplace and in the
courts. We have no governmental,
political or business ties. While
independence of the Network
makes organization and funding
difficult, it is also the basis for
our strength.
Independence is essential
because, in initiating change and
responding to issues that affect
women, the Network can and does
take risks that are impossible or
impolitic for individual women or
organizations to undertake alone.
We have found that an indepen
dent network of women willing to
take risk publicly can effectively
challenge those who operate
either from ignorance or from
isolated personal power bases.
Members of a university
community ought also to have
this independence. Ideally, the
university community, which
cherishes academic freedom,
would also be expected to demon
strate leadership in securing the
building blocks of every claim to
freedom — due process, yes;
equity, yes; and, more basically,
fairness and common courtesy. A
simple but tall order.
Generally, the University of
Nebraska is equal to these
expectations. When it or any
other state body falters, either in
stated policy or repeated practice,
we will notice. Publicly.
Sue Ellen Wall
Nebraska Women’s Political
Network
P.S. Write Back
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