EDITORIAL
Tragic Texas drama
calls for sympathy
No one should have been surprised at the fierv ending
of the 51-day standoff in Waco. Texas, by religious fanat
i< David Korosh and his Branch Davidian followers.
It had become clear shortly after the standoff began
that Kuresh and company were not going to surrender.
The only question was when would the assembled law
enforcement agencies move in.
The next several months will see the FBI. ATF and
other agencies turned inside out in an attempt to under
stand what went wrong, both with th*> initial assault that
saw four ATF agents killed and with Monday's final
siege.
And until all of the facts are in. judgment should be
withheld. Armchair quarterbacking, always a favorite
American pastime, can serve no constructive purpose.
However, if history is
any indication, the
blame for the entire
incident will likely fall
on Koresh. Koresh lied
to FBI negotiators about
when he would surren
der. giving them sup
posed timetables but
refusing to follow
through when the time
It had become
clear shortly after
the standoff began
that Koresh and
company were not
going to surrender
at mo.
Furthermore, the FBI had reliable information that
Korosh was growing more violent every day and was
increasingly abusive to the children who were held cap
live in the group's compound.
korosh exhibited paranoia that was frighteningly rem
inistout of the last days of the Rev. |im Jones and his
People's Temple. Jones, along with about 900 follow
ers, committed suicide by drinking < vanide-!a< ed punch
after killing a California legislator who had flown to the
group's South American hideaway to investigate charges
of mistreatment
However, a primary difference in the two cases is that
(ones' followers apparently took their lives willingly,
whereas many of Koresh's followers seem to have tried
escaping shortly before the blaze.
At least nine people survived after fleeing the build
ing Investigators now believe others may have been shot
trying to floe the burning building. Some messiah
Most upsetting was the murder of the several children
within the compound, koresh could have taken steps
to protect the children in the compound but apparently
chose to sacrifice them instead. There have been reports
that the children wore herded into an upper floor of the
compound so they would burn, and presumably die.
more quickly. Other reports suggest the children may
have been poisoned before the fire so they wouldn 1 suf
fer
Whatever the final outcome of the myriad of upcom
ing investigations, our sympathy should remain extend
ed to the families of the victims, of the four dead ATF
agents and for those agents who spent the past two
months attempting to negotiate a no-win situation.
Pails
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COMMENTARY
Traditional does not mean moral
By Ron Schhttler
One tiling is clear lo me.
Biblical authority in west
ern culture arguing that
humans are divinelv authorized
to subdue the earth is suicidal
Suth a position is not only arro
gant. it is naive
It rejects the reality that
humans are |wrt of a vast and del
ii ate network of all life It sup
poses we have the wisdom and
responsibility lo decide what
aspects ol nature should or
should not be. and how they
should or should not exist. This
isn't working
The tntilier vs environment
problems in our part of the world
illustrate onlv one such narrow
|y self-serving but long-honored
tradition of short-sightedness
Now it collides with the chal
lenge of finding a workable out
look lor the future that respects
our inttH-conm* lion with all oth
er life
Western culture has system
atically fought to ignore and sup
press the reality that not every
one is, or even should he,
heterosexual Literature and si i
entifn evidence that suggest
homosexuality is nothing more
than a natural human variation
stu h as left-handedness are only
beginning to rei oive fair tre.it
ment
As wilh our perception of our
relationship to the nalural envi
ronment, collectively we are
iiegmmng to take note of a more
honest perception of reality
regarding human sexuality. This
is reflected in the homosexual
civil rights movement ol our
decade and the fair-minded pub
lit: policy it demands
It is a challenging and painful
cultural process. Many growing
processes are. They ask us to set
aside fondly held hut flawed per
spectives. Nothing strikes at the
core of our cultural self-percep
tion quite so deeply as questions
about the nature of sexual iden
tity.
And. generally speaking, west
ern culture has never handled
matters of sex in a very healthy
vftiy. Denial, guilt, shame and
[lower games are the stuff of coer
cion and authoritarian control,
not happiness
The gut-wrem hing process
many parents and families expe
rience when an adolescent or
adult child reveals his or her
homosexuality is not unlike the
anguish experienced of a Umber
dependent family that learns its
wav of life is about to end The
anger, the sense of loss, the need
to blame, the awful feeling the
world will never be the same, the
search for resolution; these are
universals in the pro* ess of grap
pling with fundamental chal
lenges and views about life
So whv have I tried to develop
this rather far-reaching analogy '
Because it is my firm belief that
our homosexual and bisexual
mothers and fathers, brothers and
sisters, friends, neighbors and
colleagues are as vital an ingre
dient in a healthy e< osysiein of
humankind as are heterosexuals
Our stubborn resistance toward
applet luting, nurturing and t oex
istmg ssilh our natural human
diversity is our ultimate chal
lenge This is true when dealing
with am of (tie value-laden
issues of rat e. gender, age or sex
ual orientation
As President Bill Clinton said
at the timber conference. "The
status quo is unacceptable
Whether learning to adapt to the
reality of our natural environ
mental diversity or our natural
human diversity, we must learn
to res|Mi t and nurture the whole
system The option is to contin
ue in .1 tragic, unnecessary battle
against ourselves
Our indis idual difforem.es are
not so irreconcilable However,
thev are abused In those w ho
know how to exploit different es
for (idlitii al anil jiersonal gain, or
who try to excuse vicious liehav
ior.
The only productive question
to ask is how we will learn to
make the most ol w ho and what
we are for the betterment of all.
Lofty idealism perhaps, but hope
dims spring oternal. Most of us
are lieginning to learn to talk to
each other.
The gay and lesbian civil rights
movement exists because of a
deeply rooted status quo that per
ceives homosexuals as somehow
unnatural, and therefore unfit
and illegible to partake in the
American promise of pursuing
life, liberty and happiness with
all the benefits and respect due
tax-paving, law-abiding citizens
This status quo is unfair and
unacceptable It should Is* no sur
prise that the cry for t liange is
sometimes strident.
Do we even fulls understand
what "natural” means' Is it nat
ural to misunderstand and
destroy tin* dive- itv of our
ecosystems' It makes no more
sense to misunderstand and
refuse to |K*nnit acknowledgment
of the full texture of our human
family.
Selectively applied distortions
ol biblical traditions parading as
morality have long permeated
western culture They have
always clashed with parallel tra
ditions advocating fairness and
reason. These distortions were
used to trv to keep the work ol
(ialileo from upsetting a view ol
life and the world. They are also
used to defend ways of life root
ed in the exploiting ol (ample and
land.
In that grand tradition, such
questionable value systems now
continue to deny homosexuals
the right to fully participate in
their own self-determination.
They deny access to public rit
uals such as dating and marriage
to create and celebrate relation
ships There are no notii.es in the
newspaper announcing inten
tions to spend lives together or
i eluhrations of silver anniver
saries lor homosexuals
Gas s and lesbians are denied
ai i ess to the support ol family
and community as they set out to
form personally relevant house
hold constructions. They are
loudly chastised for promiscuity
while explicitly and implicitly
inhibited in the eflort to build sta
ble relationships and • ontribute
to society
lust as yvith tin- problems
imtween timber interests and the
environment, as we strive to find
a way to preserve the liest uf both,
the challenge of finding equitable
solutions raised by acknowledg
ing sexual diversity will lie ham
mered out in the courts and in the
form of better public, policies.
As the timber industries are
learning, it is time to end old jus
tifications that ultimately serve
the interests of no one and ensure
mutual destruction We are learn
ing that the value of resources,
whether human or material, is
fundamentally tied to accepting
and respecting the full range of
their natural diversity.
We are also learning that tra
ditional values are not all good,
right, or even moral — simply by
virtue of being traditional.
Hon Schlittler is a douhle
mnjor in journalism and sociol
ogy at the University