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Groups fight
to revise culture
Statewide meetings are being planned by the American
Civil Liberities Union to alert Oregonians on what the
organization calls threats to civil liberties in Congress. "The
threat to civil liberties is greater today than it has been in
decades," said ACLU’s national director Ira Glasser. As
great as the threat to civil liberties is a concerted effort by
fundamental religious groups to reevafuate and change the
very essence of this heterogeneous culture
Fundamentalist groups from the conservative camp are
attempting to revise the rights of each individual in this
society. They are circumventing and attacking the Constitu
tion on all-too-many fronts — all in an effort to dictate to the
society as a whole how it should live and believe
The news media and more moderate political groups are
underestimating the dangers of the fundamentalist revision
of society. It requires only a cursory glance at recent news to
see that fundamentalist groups are active across the nation.
In Austin, Texas a group nearly succeeded with a city
ordinance that supported housing discrimination because of
sexual orientation. Only the voters, by a substantial margin,
prevented the proposal becoming law. That the group
managed to have this repressive ordinance even on the
ballot encourages other groups in other cities.
The most vehement forces in the abortion controversy
are from the fundamentalist enclave They are part of the
legislative battle over a woman's right to control her body
The fundamentalists have long been in the public librar
ies demanding certain books be restricted or banned
outright. They have been encouraged by school libraries
bowing to their pressure and taking certain books and
periodicals off the shelves. While it is true some material is
not suitable for school libraries — some titles attacked rank
as important works of literature.
Book clubs have resorted to a rating system similar to
motion pictures. Possibly the X rating for sexual matter in
books is the result of pressure
There is the recent situation in Eugene and Springfield
with adult bookstores. Much of the overreaction of the
District Attorney and local police was fueled by the fun
damentalist group behind the protest against the Springfield
book store
The public schools have been the scene of bitter fights
over prayer. The fundamentalist groups are now redefining
curriculum intent on throwing sex education back to the age
of superstition. They are in the courts attempting to legislate
what theory — or theories — of evolution will be taught.
Fundamentalist groups are setting up their own colleges
and universities and restricting entrance to those of accep
table racial background and creed Only last week the IRS
ruled that Bob Jones University was qualified for a tax
exemption even though they had a policy of racism. Public
outcry caused Pres. Ronald Reagan to order the ruling
reversed. It waits resolution.
While fundamental religious groups aren’t bad in them
selves — rather, fundamentalist groups are some of the
strongest fibers woven into the fabric of American culture It
is only when these groups outstep their bounds and dictate
their specific ideology for all people that they become other
than benign.
These are pessimistic times and the optimism of the
fundamentalists is to be applauded The belief in an ultimate
good triumphing over evil is essential to the mettle of a
culture. However, ideological good is a concept that can
become an ultimate evil when dictated for all according to
the narrow strictures of one vision.
The fundamentalists are strong — and their actions must
be questioned again and again. If no one questions their
intent it raises the spectre of a society of regimented people,
who think as they are told, and believe in the beliefs in
structed them, who feel as they are ordered to feel, and live in
gray concordance with the static doctrine of a legislated
morality
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letters
‘Blacks’?
For many years I have been
irked by the designation
"black" applied to Americans
varying in skin color from lighter
than Sammy Davis Jr to darker
than Huddy Ledbetter, and I am
delighted to find Cort Fernald
putting the (to me) offensive
word in quotation marks
What’s wrong with “black"?
1. Few Africans are so dark
skinned as to be properly called
"black "
2 Few Afro-Americans are
"pure-blooded" Africans Most
of our "blacks’ are one-quarter,
one-half, or three-quarters
"white "
3 To call a person "black"
because she or he is one-half or
one-fourth or one-eighth
African means that blackness is
for better or worse, more potent
than whiteness It is to pay re
spect to the Old South in which
only pure whites were con
sidered real human beings hav
ing rights But, intellectually, it is
just as easy to consider black
ness positive as negative (I
think no one should consider
his or her skin color an indica
tion of superiority or inferiority )
Actually, the reason for the
nationwide use of "black" for
off-white is the anti-whiteism of
militant “blacks" and the fear
on the part of the media of of
fending them, plus the fear of
seeming non-liberal or narrow
minded
The only perfect term for de
scribing skin color is "brown”;
but Africans aren't the only
brown people People aren't
white or black or red One term
that could be used practically is
"colored " After all, there is the
National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People
(to which I belong).
We might use "Afros” as dis
tinguished from Anglos,
Chicanos. Cubans, etc
Laurence Hawking
Poland debate
Regarding the preference of
the Reagan Administration for
the stick over the carrot toward
Poland as unconstructive I went
with moderate expectations to
last Wednesday s symposium
on land All along it has been my
hope that exchanges of opinion
taking place at universities
would be dedicated to honest
fact finding rather than to pas
sions However, the innumera
ble discussion on Iran dominat
ed as they were by intolerant
faithful undermined such hope
The debate on Poland uprooted
it further
I expected to find on one side
Jozef Fizman as a representa
tive of Give-The-Communists
Hell-At-Every-Opport unity
School, and the ubiquitous Al
Szymansky on the other, with a
moderate in between I was not
prepared for Szymansky and an
amiable lawyer, obviously more
competent on the party line than
on Poland, to gang up on the
third participant
In conclusion I'd like to say, I
marvel at Szymansky's unique
ability to sandbag listeners ig
norance of history (as most
students are) and to confuse
those who should know better
with far-out statement that the
Communists had taken over
Czechsolovakia by free
elections Their coup d'Etat of
1948 is as much part of Al's
unmentionables as is Katyn,
Soviet betrayal of the Warsaw
uprising, and anything else
which makes the Soviet appear
as capable of great brutality
A.E Brvttauer
Porn: yes
There seems to be a
consensus by some that por
nography, or 'obscene
materials,'' should be banned
As a student of the University, I
feel outraged that a group of
people want to prevent me from
buying what I want Yes. I mean
pornography I am not happy
that someone is trying to push
their morals on me I am
especially angry at the
harrassment of the local book
stores and the contention that
pornography is dangerous to
people In a way. they're right
Some people come in contact
with pornography, go crazy,
and decide that other people
shouldn't come in contact with
pornography
Since there are so many
people standing up for their
rights to abolish pornography.
I'm standing up for my right to
buy, posess and read it In other
words, I give my full-fledged
"chickenshit approval” (as
Suzy Downs calls it) I reserve
the right to read or buy any
obscene material available If
anybody sees a reason why I
shouldn't, they are free to come
to me and talk about it This is
more civilized than raiding
bookstores, harassing book
store owners and customers,
name-calling, vandalism, and
Bible-quoting (Incidentally,
Bible-quoting doesn't work with
people who don't believe the
Bible).
I feel secure enough about my
life that I feel no need to control
what you read Please don't try
to control what I read It will only
make me mad D„MM.Wood
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