Jordan River Forum

Wrong time for criticism This letter is in response to Duncan Teater's Sept. 24 column, "Searching for the right words." The Founding Fathers of our nation gave us a gift, which at the time was revolutionary. It set us apart from all the other oppressed nations in the world. The gift of free speech from our Founding Fathers to us has become an unalienable right. That right must be protected above all others. But there are times when one must curtail emotion in order to preserve a longer lasting calm. The hearts of the dead from the Sept. 11 attacks have barely stopped beating, and already Mr. Teater has decided it is time to lay criticism on our president. This must have been exactly what the terrorists wanted when they attacked us. Congratulations, Mr. Teater, you have given them exactly what they wanted.

GAP should be allowed to come to campus I participated with Genocide Awareness Project when they protested at the University of Cincinnati, and would like to offer my opinion to the campus. First, I can say that I don't completely understand the use of the trucks, and personally don't support it. Driving trucks around the city can only annoy, and does not allow for the dialogue that people need after they view such traumatic pictures. But I do support the GAP display. When people are angry with the display, they can come up and vent their anger, discuss it with those who support it, discuss the issue with others around them. The images, while graphic, are real pictures of real abortions, and allow the public to better understand what abortion does. The images are graphic. But they are no more graphic than the truth. They are as appalling and shocking as the famous picture of "Gordon," the African American slave with horrible scars puffing out of his back. The image was widely distributed by Abolitionists attempting to shock open the eyes of the public so it could face the disgustingly inhumane consequences of slavery. The images of aborted children that GAP displays has the same effect; it moves people. It knocks people off the fence of apathy. After seeing the display, and discussing the issue, many people will finally form an opinion on the issue. And, from my experience at the University of Cincinatti, I saw that GAP did anger a lot of people, but that can only be expected when the issue is so controversiall. But I personally talked to many people on both sides of the abortion debate, and they agreed that the GAP display encouraged an amount of dialogue that was both beneficial and rare. The point is, dialogue on the issue was more than I had ever experienced. Dialogue is good. I also felt that GAP did not waver on the issue of violence: they were expressly against it. In order to help out, I had to sign a waiver promising that I wouldn't provoke anyone or react with any action that is violent in any way. I was only allowed to talk to people when they wanted to talk, and that's what the display did: it got people talking. Greg Cunningham was insistent that he didn't want us to be civilly disobedient, but to use these images to open a dialogue amongst the people of the college campus. Images burning in our minds By Saturday, 300 firefighters had perished trying to rescue the thousands of innocent people in the World Trade Center. The courage and greatness of soul of those people is unimaginable, when they knowingly entered the fray, and never returned to their families. Who knows for certain what the U.S. government will do to retaliate? One thing is certain: video images of popular resentment in other countries should not be used to fan the flames of hatred against all the people of those nations. Just as the 200-plus reports of anti-Muslim harassment in the United States do not characterize the American people or the American government, the anger of some mobs in the streets against American foreign policies should not be used to justify misguided "revenge" against those nations. These are difficult times. God bless and protect the loved ones of your readers. Salaam (peace) to all of you. May we all be free from hatred, oppression and fear.