VIEWPOINTS
EDITORIALS OPINIONS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Proposed Colorado law
steals tax-exempt rule
■ OUR OPINION: f *ompt
status is important to
humanitarian and religious
organizations
Ongon, ever the referen
dum state. will probably be
winching Colorado as it goes
through the process o(
putting a controversial mi
dative on their November
ballot. II passed. the law
would hurl infinitely more
people than it would help
The proposed initiative
would eliminate prac tically
all property lax exemptions
for churches and non profit
organizations.
Non profit schools and
universities, groups that
provide housing for prison
ers. the elderly, the home
less, the disabled and
orphan* would all still ho
exempt from properly taxes.
The initiative specifically
targets the tax-exempt status
of churches, synagogues and
mosques, a variety of non
profit organizations, reli
gious retreats, many
hospitals and health-care
facilities, fraternal organiza
tions and even soup
kitchens.
If the initiative becomes
law in Colorado (or Oregon),
churches supported by
smaller communities might
bo forced to close their
doors and soup kitchens
could tie (inane tally
pinched out of existence.
The now law might deny
that last ray of hope for
thousands of needy people
who would no longef have
access to that one hot meal
every week Places of wor
ship. long considered by
people of faith to lie havens
from a hostile world, would
no longer have any guaran
tees as to how long they
would Ih* around.
Colorado officials ealeu*
into Ih« amendment would
add approximately S3 bit*
Hon worth of lanrf and
building* to the *tat«'» tax*
able base, resulting in nearly
J70 million in new property
tax revenue*
Those figures sound sub
slantial, but one initiative
opponent cruncher! the
numbers and found that
Colorado Springs home
owners would only save a
whopping $44 per year on a
$110,000 house
Clearly, the benefit does
not outweigh the possible
harm such a law would
inflict on different organisa
tions
No matter what a person
believes in (or doesn't
believe in), gathering togeth
er to express faith is an
intrinsic American right —
one that provides many
with a sense of community
and fellowship.
Removing the tax-exempt
status for churches and
other nonprofit organiza
tions would be an infringe
ment on that right. The law
would cross the invisible
line that separates religion
and government. Without
this line, government intru
sion would ire the norm
instead of the exception.
Colorado's initiative,
though sinister, does raise
some interesting arguments.
Existing laws need to tie
tweaker! to discourage
unscrupulous religious lead
ers (mm raking in money
hand over fist and buying
lavish homes and cars. In
many instances these false
profits are allowed to wal
low in the lap of luxury
largely because they are tax
exempt Remember the
Bhagwan Shree-Rafneesh?
Despite thews cases of
abuse, Colorado's proposed
amendment would not be a
good law for anyone.
I Or.
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Please don’t shoot me; I’m just horny
Violence it at American at cherry pie
~~Hubert Gerald Brawn
Set and violence Two of Aimnti'i
favorite pastime* — berth in act and in
argument about them Or more sporifi
tally, arguing about whtcii one it worse
for little fane and Johnny and for mm totv a* a
whole And far too often doing berth at the same
lima
So why do we spend so muc h lima debating
•a* and riolwtuf Who know*’ In my humble
opinion, only one of them is worth considering
Which one* Hmmm ... lot's see
is nif^ai in menu
instants)*. tan cause enormous
•mount* of «mot tonal and
physic al street, and can load to
ana or more participant* and
<ng up either being dead or in a
Riant world of hurt — and
tlist's just having *i In Missis
sippi lSorry. I couldn't resist
it I
Violence It painful and gen
orally an all around unpleasant
especlam » Sat. cm the cither
OPINION
m*na. i* usually cpiiie Mifoyaute ami is perhaps
the must wonderful «speirtenca two people can
share If you have ihe two confused or think that
tho two go great together, you're one sick indi
vidual
If you are, just calmly put the newspaper
down and then listen to the voices in your head
that tell you to load up the of 12-gauge and go
pay a visit to thoee antichrist* in the Pentagon
who are sending subliminal messages through
\fr/mse Place in an attempt to control what
brain you still have
If you're not confused. I‘m assuming that you
are a well-enough adjusted individual to keep
reading
So why is it. then, that everyone gets their
panties in a bunch every time someone shows a
little skin but couldn'i really am less if a dozen
people get perforated by gunfire?
Whv is il that presidential candidate (and Mr.
Warm Fuzzy himself) Bob Dole blasts violent
films he's never seen (Trim Romance and Statur
al Barn Killer* ) and then praises the film True
Urn starring Mr Violence. Ah-nuld
Schwarzenegger, for its "strong family values"?
In a side note. Amie ulso starred in a little
film about 10 years ago, in which he took out 17
officers of the peace, called The Terminator
Interestingly enough, when musical artist lce*T
wrote a song on the same subject entitled "Cop
Killer." Sen. Dole wanted to nail Ice-T's ass to
the wall.
perhaps b T should donate more to the
Kepuhlic an (vartv ami re.Vr !<» Newtie Gingrich
a* "our leader." like Amie does. Maybe (hen Ice
T can gH the family values seal of approval on
all his albums instead of a Parental Advisory
sticker However, I digress.
The big question: "Is sex worse for you than
violence?"
The Moral Majority, religious right, and the
ever vigilant Bible -thumpers certainly think so
Sex is laid; sex is evil; sex is the devil's foul
temptation Violence? Hall, that's why we had
the Crusades and the Inquisition Work out that
sexual frustration in purer way*. Kill a little: go
entry! God don’t care if you knock off a couple
of non believers But if you start to enjoy copu
lation. yer gonna burn boy! Oh. OK Yeah. I’m
going to believe this front a bunch of repressed
Puritans.
Then there’s the argument that sex incites or
causes violence You know something? They’re
right
Every time I see a naked woman I just want to
go postal and take out a couple dozen yahoos
just like m» The world would Uj a safer plat e
Sex doesn't cause violence Repressed sexual
frustration and people who are genuinely
tweaked in the head to begin with cause vio
lence
If sex ia so detrimental, then why is violent*
so appealing? People want to live out vicarious
ly what they can’t or won’t allow themselves to
do Action flicks are big money That’s why
idiots like Van Damme and Stallone are paid so
much to he tough guys. Men want to be them
and women want to be with them The actor*
probably wish they were as t ool as the charac
ter* they portray.
What’s frightening, however, is how deseruu
tired we are becoming to violence A scene out
of Pulp Ftction illustrates this quite well
Toward the end of the film, the two main char
acters. hit men. accidentally shoot a kid in the
face in a car. My initial reaction was shock, but
the scene was played up for laughs (sounds so k
in retrospect!, and soon the theater was filled
with nervous laughter from both me and other*
I didn’t notice how bizarre thi* reaction was
until the second time l saw the film During that
scene, I looked at a friend who was looking at
the screen in horror. Here a kid loaf his life, and
people were laughing It was sickening
This isn't meant to be a moral tirade on Amer
ican culture or on "good family values.” Rather,
it is to get you to think about where your values
come from, what defines them, and whether or
not you could change them if you wished to.
Too much sex in our live* is not necessarily a
bad thing, but too much violence may be.
/esse / Hohrvr Clancy, a senior ma/onng in bio
chemistry, it a columnist for the Emerald E-mail
fbclancyUgladstone uoregon.edu