Tuesday
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Protecting a
sacred past
T
Ihe Taliban, well into the
third year of rule in most
of Afghanistan, have
JL shown that they intend to
extend a brand of Islamic law over
their land which makes Iran’s law
look permissive in comparison.
All women are forbidden to work
outside the home and must wear
the body-concealing chadoor. Mu
sic, television and the arts have all
but disappeared. The death penal
ty is mandated for many actions
that in most other countries would
be considered innocuous — try
flying a kite or going without a
beard there sometime. Now, the
Taliban are turning their attention
to the destruction of their own her
itage. Hundreds of Buddhist-era
statues are going to be destroyed as
an affront to the Taliban’s brand of
Islam. Among these is the world’s
tallest representation of a standing
Buddha, at 175 feet tall. This de
struction should be stopped. .
This would not be the first or
even the 101st time that religious
art has been destroyed or damaged
due to a conflicting belief. In the
Book of Genesis, no sooner does
Moses leave Mount Sinai with the
Ten Commandments than he or- •
ders the destruction of a statue of
the calf-god Apsis and the slaugh
ter of all who worshiped it. Groups
of Greek vandals, angered at a god
represented in statues in Athens,
chipped off the penises on said
statues. Emperor Constantine loot
ed the temples of Jupiter and other
traditional Roman gods and
dragged their statues through the
streets of Rome. Napoleon Bona
parte allowed his troops to use the
famous Egyptian Sphinx for ar
tillery practice.
The Taliban have only proffered
one argument for why the statues
must be destroyed. Under their
strict reading of Sharia law, repre
sentations of human beings are for
bidden. It is this same rationale
that has imposed strict punish
ments on photography and for
bade TV.
A second, mostly unspoken rea
son for the destruction, is the fact
that the statues were carved in
adoration and worship of the Bud
dha, whom the Taliban consider a
“false god.” Under most funda
mentalist systems, so-called “false
gods” of other belief systems are
mocked and treated with scorn
and derision by followers of the
fundamentalist sect.
We have seen this in America,
where Pat Robinson has denigrat
ed Jews, Buddhists and other be
lief systems that he believes deny
Jesus. To the Taliban’s credit, how
ever, they appear to be letting the
small Buddhist and Hindu com
munities continue worshipping
with little harassment, and a small
Jewish synagogue in Kabul,
manned by a lone rabbi, has been
allowed to stay open. This does
not abrogate their seeming hostili
ty to statues the Hindus and Bud
dhist hold dear.
On the other hand, there are nu
merous arguments to be made for
preserving these works of art. First
and foremost is that these statues
are historical artifacts, some dating
back as far as the 6th century AD.
Historical treasures and antiqui
ties are, or should be, protected by
international law. They are a link
to the past in Afghanistan, provid
ing a glimpse of how the country
functioned before the upheavals
that began in 1979, with the Soviet
Union’s invasion.
Furthermore, some of these stat
ues are human achievements in
and of themselves. Two of the
pieces being destroyed by Tal
iban weapons are Buddha stat
ues carved into a mountainside
in the 5th century. The
amount of back-breaking la
bor involved in creating
these two unique pieces in
an era long before modern *
excavation tools, such as
those used on Mount
Rushmore, should by it
self be a case for preser
vation.
Finally, Buddhists,
who do not share the
ban on graven images
that the Taliban up
hold, feel that these
statues are sacred
relics to them, im
ages of devotion to
their Buddha. To de
stroy them is to de
stroy something in
side of every Afghan
Buddhist, and those
around the world.
We, unfortunately,
cannot prevent the
Taliban from taking
this action. But they
have to know, in no un
certain terms, that the
world has taken note of
their actions, and that
they disapprove and abhor
the destruction of ancient
works of art. These statues
belong in a museum, not on a
bonfire.
Pat Payne is a columnist for the Oregon
Daily Emerald. His views do not necessari
ly represent those of the Emerald. He can
be reached at Macross_SD@hotmail.com.
Bryan Dixon Emerald
Letters to the editor
Don’t hog the poster space
As a coordinator for the Cultural Forum, I
dread the ASUO campaign season for the
sole fact that all our wonderful candidates
feel the need to cover other student groups’
posters with their campaign poster. If the
candidates really did care about the well-be
ing of the students and the student groups
that represent the students, they would real
ize that event promotion is costly and re
quires a lot of effort.
It is so discouraging to walk past the in
formational kiosk no more than three hours
after I put up my posters only to find them
covered by three copies of the same cam
paign poster. If they really cared about stu
dents, these candidates would show some
respect to what we non-political, student
serving groups commit ourselves to.
If these candidates really cared about the
students, they’d have the integrity to see be
yond the popularity contest of the elections
and actually show some respect for the peo
ple they claim they to serve. I wish all these
candidates would quit wasting paper and
quit forcing student groups to spend money
we don’t have to re-poster for our events.
Steven Sawada
Cultural Forum regional music coordinator
senior
journalism
Bailey explains differences
Many people have said that the platform of
Nilda and Joy is very similar to that of Jeff and
I. While we may agree on some issues, such as
renters’ rights (the need for a housing code in
Eugene), keeping tuition down and diversity,
there are also many differences between us.
There are six key issues that we have talked
about time and again that I have failed to hear
Nilda and Joy talk about.
• Jeff and I want to make sure that we retain
all of our student athletic tickets.
• We want to increase incidental fee aware
ness by informing the student body on how
much they pay and where it goes, so they can
make more informed decisions.
• We want to begin mending relations with
the University Administration, Greek Life,
student groups, the Eugene Police Depart
ment and University Housing.
• Jeff and 1 want to make sure that everyone,
has the opportunity to voice his or her opinion
on decisions that will affect them, so we will
make an effort to be more available to the stu
dent body via bi-weekly town hall meetings.
• We want increased Greek voice in the
ASUO office and will look into recreating the
position of Greek Advocate.
• Finally, we want to make sure the ASUO
represents all of the student body. We will try
to create an office that represents students
from across the political spectrum. '
Vote for Bailey and Oliver on Duck Web!
Eric Bailey
ASUO presidential candidate
sophomore
undeclared
President commended
for Insurgent statement
University of Oregon President Dave
Frohnmayer is to be commended for his
strong statement (“Campus paper used bad
judgment,” ODE, Feb. 28) condemning the
December issue of the Insurgent, with its de
scription of illegal action — including arson
— in connection with animal research and its
listing of names and addresses of University
of Oregon faculty members.
As, f)rp5id{?ptj.rptrppipyqr,put ft,
gent “in effect created risk that put these indi
viduals’ safety and the safety of their families
in peril.” He deserves the strong backing of
University faculty, students, alumni and oth
er supporters.
An important question is whether the In
surgent will continue to receive a University
subsidy through the programs of the ASUO.
Whether President Frohnmayer has admin
istrative discretion over this is something I
don’t know. In any case, it would be a mat
ter of good judgment for the ASUO to
promptly end the subsidy.
As President Frohnmayer says, such a
publication cannot avoid censure by cloak
ing itself in the First Amendment. By the
same token, it should not expect subsidy
from University funds. Whether that sub
sidy comes in the form of mandatory stu
dent fees, state appropriation or tuition is
not the issue. This would be true at any
time, but especially now as the Oregon Uni
versity System, of which the University is a
part, urgently seeks increased state funding
to maintain programs and avoid tuition in
creases.
Michael Kellman
professor
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