March 5,1991
OPINION
TJte^Lanc^ Page 3
Causewalk Litterers Being Cool
Vandalism Unexcused
To the Editor:
Since the war officially began, not
a single day has passed that I have not
heard both pro and anti-war argu
ments. I was personally against the
war in the Persian Gulf before it actu
ally began, but as I began to educate
myself about the situation in the
Middle East, I began to realize that the
decision to go to war was the correct
one. [But I realize that I am speaking
for myself— for what I believe. I am
but one voice.] And although I watched
the news through teary eyes the day
the war officially started, I knew that
I was not crying because we had gone
to war but because of the horrible in
justice that was taking place. It took
me a long time to come to this realiza
tion and believe me, I took my turn
with those protesting any war for any
cause. I believe they call them consci
entious objectors.
What I do not object to are people
expressing their opinions— it is a
constitutional right. Just at the begin
ning of February, I fired off an angry
letter to the editor of The Laurinburg
Exchangeafter reading a“StreetTalk”
column of February 6. The question
for the day asked local people what
they thought about the media cover-
age on the Persian Gulf War. Two
women who answered said they pre
ferred not to be constantly bombarded
by the news of the war. I then exer
cised my constitutional right to ex
press my opinion— publically. I
signed my name. I even hoped for a
response— some controversy. Any
thing but apathy.
What I object to are those who
claim to speak for the cause of peace
and yet are afraid to openly fight for
their cause. I refer, of course, to the
recent flux of, well, comments—
opinions, littering the Cause Walk as
of late. Yes, I think littering is the
perfect choice of words. Why? Be
cause people who cannot back a cause
openly, people who are afraid to ex
press their opinions in public, do noth
ing to support their cause, their un
signed opinions are worth garbage,
with a capital “G.”
I am glad to know that people on
campus are interested in the events
occurring in the Middle East, but I
wonder if these folks who continually
"decorate," for lack of a better word,
the causewalk truly understand why
we have gone to war. It is fine and
dandy to protest a war if you actually
understand why we have gone to war
and still object. But I think those people
who have contributed to the “decora
tion” of the causewalk are more inter
ested in “being cool” by protesting
war and advocating world peace,
which, given the nature of human
beings, seems next to impossible to
achieve. Don’t get me wrong, I am all
for peace but then again I am for a war
that is being fought against injustice.
If I have misinterpreted your motives
then please forgive me and God bless
you in your cause! B ut I think you will
find that there are more productive
ways to get across your message than
to litter the causewalk with UN
SIGNED anti-war messages. I am
going to close with a quote from col
umnist Phil Julian of the Jacksonville
Daily News (NC):
“Imagine the joy that instantly im
pales the spirits of the men and women
over there who are doing their best to
secure for a smaller country the same
freedom of speech you are exercising
in your protests.”
So try to keep that in mind the next
time that you “decide” to decorate the
causewalk.
Sincerely,
Heather Lyn Gup ton
To the Editor:
To The Causewalk Vandals:
Once again, you have seemingly
asserted your freedom of expression.
However, you have done so in an irre
sponsible manner— in a manner that
serves not to unite our community but
to divide. The cause walk is not an
acceptable forum for public presenta
tion of war protest. However, the
“wall,” the Lance, peace vigils and
open letters to the campus are. If you
are so dedicated to the truth of your
anti-war convictions, why are you so
ashamed to identify yourselves? If you
feel so strongly that you must “en
lighten” us all and convince us of the
truthfulness of your beliefs, then you
have obviously failed to convince
yourselves.
This campus is the property of
the College, and the willful vandal
ism of it is unexcusable and illegal.
Most students enjoy the beauty of
the campus and would rather not see
it defaced by such graffiti. Your
actions have accomplished nothing,
but to convince others of your own
irresponsibility as members of this
community. Without doubt, we are
all concerned about the war and its
tragedy; however, we must express
such concerns in appropriate forums.
Instead of spending your time and
efforts trying to convince us of war ’ s
tragedy, why not convince elected
officials who can make a change?
Sincerely,
Todd Spradlin
Religion Misunderstood
ITo the Editor:
Be Responsible for Methods of
Expression
To the Editor:
Yes folks, it is another letter con
cerning the causewalk. This one is a
little different though. I will not bring
into question the patriotism of those
involved. I am only concerned with
their method of expression. The cause
walk has been vandalized, plain and
simple. Those involved felt this ex
treme action was necessary due to the
extreme nature of the war. I support
your right to protest nonviolently in
whatever manner you choose, as I am
sure Ghandi or Martin Luther King Jr.
would. There is one stipulation though,
when your protests violate a law I feel
that you should admit your actions
and face the consequences, much as
the “sit-in” participants allowed them
selves to be arrested. This is the same
approach Ghandi and King advocated.
Unless the statutes have changed re
cently, 1 believe that vandalism is
considered a crime, so face up to your
actions.
They try to justify their actions
claiming that the paint they used is
non-toxic and water-soluble. Well
guess what, water soluble does not
mean that it is easy to clean up. Water
color paints are water soluble, but
once they dry they stain pretty good. It
is not impossible to remove, but it
cannot simply be hosed away. The
vandals claim that “we” know who
they are, so there is no real need to
reveal themselves. Forgive me for
being ignorant, but I do not know who
they are. I do not want the vandals
revealed so that others can ridicule
them. I only want the causewalk to be
cleaned up. If they choose to come by
night and anonymously clean it up,
fine. Otherwise I feel that every step
should be taken to find these people,
and see that they pay for their actions.
Some of you reading this probably
feel that I am being unfair to the pro
testors. Believe me, if pro-war pro
testors had vandalized the causewalk
my position would not change. Some
of you may feel that I am missing the
bigger issue, the war. True, concern
over an act of vandalism may seem
petty in light of the death and carnage
in the Middle East. So sue me for
being petty. I do not think about the
war a lot, but quite frankly I’m not
sure what my position on our involve
ment is. I only want a reasonalbly
clean causewalk once again, and for
those involved to take responsibility
for their actions.
Sincerely,
Chris Hock
Tactfully
Express Yourself
To the Editor:
Seeing all the various opinions and
comments related to the war all over
campus makes me very proud that we
are an open-minded enough commu
nity that individuals feel comfortable
in expressing their views. Although I
may not agree with and am often quite
upset by some of the things I see and
read, I still totally support the act of
expressing how one feels. However,
it saddens me greatly that we seem to
be moving in the direction of personal
accusations rather than focusing on
the issue - which is that there is a very
real war going on right this minute on
the other side of the world. It also
frustrates me that there is such a lack
of objective information coming out
of the U.S. media and government -
which leads to a lot of misconceptions
about people of cultures different than
our own as well as what is happening
on both sides in this situation (or maybe
there is no such thing as objective in
formation in a war . . .). I hope that
people will continue to publicly share
their feelings, thoughts and reactions
to the war, but that we do not degen
erate to the point of attacking individ
ual personalities and opinions.
In Peace,
Rebecca Green
I am distictly appalled at your most
Irecent article about Walter Hartlove. I
lhave defended witchcraft for 15 years
Ibecause it is a religion that deeply in-
jvolves my family. I am not a witch, but
jl have been here for four years and have
Ifelt that I lived in a community of
I understanding. I am not certain of this
lafter this article.
If Walter Hartlove called witches,
‘warlocks,” then he is using a Christian
Iterm against witches. If Heather Gup-
Iton is using the term,”warlocks,” she is
Iwrong. In either case this is a form of
lignorance so profound as to be insult-
ling. The word “warlock” stems from
the Anglo-Saxon word waerloga,
Imeaning a traitor or liar. The church
lused this word to describe witches
Ibecause they were not easily converted
Ito Christianity. Just because of this,
Christians prosecuted witches- any
[person can understand this as we think
jof Southern politics in the Sixties.
Where is Hartlove’s evidence that
[this silver was “hot?” I don’t under-
jstand why he is discrediting Wiccan
business as well as Wiccan religion,
|which he so charmingly calls a “cult.”
Where is the equalizing article about
Imy mother’s recent visit? This was
janother visit to aid Skip Clark’s class.
Ils Yvonne Frost not sensational
enough? I can understand certain limi-
Itations, such as space in the paper, but
I when the article was printed in the fall,
Ithere were a number of errors that could
have been corrected had Skip, myself,
or even the people the article was
written about were consulted to check
the facts. A person worshipping as a
witch is a Wiccan. Gavin Frost, the
high priest of the Church of Wicca,
is the Flamen. Yvonne Frost, in her
alternative role, is a Flamenca. A
male witch is not a warlock. This
word, especially, is used to inten
tionally insult anyone who is a witch
or is educated in this area.
I am more than sorry that I missed
Hartlove’s lectures. He must have
been very entertaining. I may even
know representatives of this group
through my parents’ influences, but
it is sadly left out of the article. There
are no groups associated with the
Church of Wicca that are “evil.”
I expect I will have to continue
writing these letters for the rest of
my life out of respect for my parents
and their lifelong undertakings. It is
astounding to me that after four years
at St. Andrews, three visits by my
parents and countless latenight talks,
that I have to be so insulted.
Not only has there been misinforma
tion presented, there is not even fair
play given. I am just stunned and ap
palled. How am I supposed to be
comfortable in this community when
people are calling my parents’ reli
gion evil and my father a warlock? I
not only have to hear this regularly,
I have to see it in newsprint. I don’t
know what to think.
Sincerely,
Jo Frost
Nobody Wins in War
To the Editor:
Dear deAnne S. McKinney, (and
anyone else this is relevant to)
I am sorry that you do not like to be
reminded that your brother or friends
may be killed. But regardless of
whether or not you think about it, it
can happen. I too, have a brother in the
Marine Corps and I think about him
everyday.
Maybe when we stop thinking only
ourselves and realize that every hu
man being in the Gulf has a family,
regardless of nationality, then we will
see that the only outcome of war is
death. Ignoring this fact stops noth
ing. I do not like think of my brothers
death either, but if he dies, will it be
for a just cause? Those who make
foreign policies are seldom called upon
to enforce these policies.
When we stop thinking of how the
war will affect us and realize that
innocent human beings, who have
nothing to do with oil or dictators or
whatever misinformed reason we
chose for liking or disliking this war,
are dying every hour of the day .Then
we will realize that we must leam to
communicate and solve our problems
without the aid of brute force. I sup
port the troops but I support humanity
more.
“Those who call the shots won’t be
among the dead and slain...and on
each end of the rifle
we are the same.”
Sincerely, Your Idealist Friend
Christopher Moyles
m
0-^
Thanks for the
Reminder
To the Editor:
A thank you
To whomever keeps decorating the
Cause Walk, I’d like to thank you for
reminding me that my brothers and
friends could be killed at any mo
ment. You are right! I do not think
about having a dead brother often
enough, God forbid that anyone try
and keep a grasp on something safe
and secure like life before the war. It
was totally insensitive of me, when
faced with the potential of his death,
not to think about it in a public manner
at all times. When 1 write my next
letter to him, I will remember to tell
him, “ I think of your death often and
have stopped my life because of it.”
Again thank you— for filling my Ufe
with even more pain.
Signed deAnne McKinney
A military brat and sister
Please support the families as well
as the troops.