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EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
SamMcKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
_Our_
VIEW
Eliminate
the negative
Religious right is only
hurting GOP politics
Last week, we learned American voters
don’t enjoy being told they’re going to hell.
They don’t like to hear the country’s going
south with them, either.
Voters ousted many Republicans last week
because those messages have ruled the GOP’s
channels since President Ronald Reagan and
his “America is hunky-dory” message left
office, and the religious right claimed the party.
In the past decade - especially in the past
nine months of the Lewinsky affair-the GOP’s
message of fiscal conservatism has been pol
luted by an odd obsession with anti-sexuality
preaching and moral condemnation.
Many GOP leaders have devoted their wak
ing hours to telling the country it ails from a
general cultural decline, falling morality and a
lack of social control.
If the post-Reagan GOP is to thrive again,
its leaders must make the party’s message more
positive - and that means ousting the religious
right.
The religious right should create its own
party to disperse its radical message, and the
Republican Party should define itself away
from Christian moral preaching and toward the
party of fiscal conservatism and restraint.
Reagan’s brand of American morality
could suit die party just fine. He walked a rea
sonable line between politics and moral cul
ture. He pointed out moral heroes instead of
condemning immorality. He opposed abortion,
but he never attended an anti-abortion rally.
But more recent conservative politicians,
including Nebraska’s Jon Christensen, inextri
cably linked politics and morality.
Christensen, who was divorced just like
Reagan, couldn’t let off the moral preaching on
family values. He felt fine bragging that his
fiancee was a virgin, and voters rejected him.
Yet the Christensen message reflected the
mainstream conservative politicking of the
past few years. For instance, at a June 1997
conservative conference in Washington, speak
ers advocated a spiritual cure for homosexuali
ty*
Ken btarr wrote tnat Americans nave a right
to a “private family life.” He declared nonfam
ily private matters fair game and thus justified
his mass dispersal of immoral pom.
Combating abortion was added to the
Republican Party platform, although polls
showed more than half of Republican Party
members supported the procedure’s legality.
Many Republican candidates campaigned
as instruments to create a more moral America,
saying our society produces marriage-ending,
illegitimate child-producing, drug-using hooli
gan homosexual gang members on welfare.
The message is fitting for a radical third
party. It is not fitting for one of two mainstays
in American politics.
If the Republican Party cannot separate
itself from hellfire-and-damnation morality
preaching, its popularity will go down with the
country.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Fall 1998 Daily Nebraskan. They do
not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoin, its
employees, its student body or the
University of Nebraska Board of Regents.
A column is solely the opinion of its author.
The Board of Regents selves as publisher
of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Tne
UNL Putertions Board, established by
the regents, supervises the production
of the paper. According to policy sa by
theregents, responsibility for 1he editorial
content of the newspaper lies solely in
the hands of its student employees.
Litter Ptfcy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief
letters to the editor and guest columns,
but does not guarantee their publication.
The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to
edit or reject any material submitted.
Submitted material becomes property of
the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be
returned. Anonymous submissions win
not be published. Those who submit
letters must identify themselves by name,
year in school, major and/or group
affiliation, if any.
Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34
Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln,
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letters@unlinfo.unl.edu.
Mook’s
VIEW
. • " . -'Vr .... -1
DN
LETTERS
K-Statement
TRULY AMAZING! Yes, I am
shouting. Nebraska Cornhusker fans
are actually gauging the success of their
season based on whether the Big Red
can “upset” the Kansas State Wildcats -
a team NU hasn’t lost to since 1968.
Big Red fans are some of the best in
the country. However; it is evident that
the victors fcave been spoiled. How long
did it take Tom Osborne to get his first
championship - 20 years? Then when
he learned how to win it, NU won a
bazilhon games in a row and created he
most dominating football program in
history.
Now, NU has a little bump in he
road, and the folks are getting r^tless. If
here’s anything people should learn
from NU, it is that consistency breeds
success. The fans, administrators,
coaches and players understood this.
Now you see what it is like for so many
other programs throughout this country
to experience a little adversity because
hoe was a change.
K-State has learned from Nebraska.
- We have learned that it takes a great
commitment from all people, he fans,
the players, he coaches and the admin
istration, and guess what? We are
winning. It just so happens
that this year we were
unlucky enough to get ^0
I I
how beating the Midcats will restore
Husker honor. If you doubt this, think
how your reaction would have been had
the Big Red been undefeated Nov. 14.
A loss to the Wildcats would not
have been about restoring honor, so
what has changed? NU is a great foot
ball team that is dealing with chal
lenges; y’all have not lost any honor.
The game will be played on the field
and will be a great example of two of the
best teams in the country trying to
achieve the same thing - greatness. I
look forward to a great football game.
Good luck to the Big Red.
Jack Messer
Manhattan, Kan.
Scholarly substance
I have thus far steered clear of the
Peru State College debate, but the edito
rial in Monday’s DN “Time to say good
bye: Peru State is a waste of taxpayers’
dollars” really angered me. They say
$27 million is too
much to
spend on the school. Is it too much for
students at UNL? Peru State is not
worth increasingly less than taxpayers
should pay for:
In the state of Nebraska, school dis
tricts are constantly asking for and
receiving bonds from Nebraska taxpay
ers and for good reason. Schools are
worth the money. Why should smaller
schools be worth less just because they
don’t have a championship football
team?
Peru State’s campus is not failing to
meet the needs of its region. If this
school were not there, many local resi
dents would not be able to attend
school, and this includes my mom. She
lives and works in Falls City and drives
40 minutes to classes every day, carry
ing a full-time load. All she wants is the
bachelor’s degree she’s never had. This
is the same story for a lot of other non
traditional students who attend this
schoolWithout Peru State, manywould
not be able to attend a secondary school.
So the school is failing academical
ly too. This must mean that my mom’s
4.0 GPA she has maintained is worth
less. So all the time that she
MattHaney/DN
