Opinion
4A
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
My Voice
Forgiveness
is not
forgetting
“Forgiveness is not forgetting. Forgiveness is
freedom from hate.”
— Valarie Kaur
hold no hate for the Lighthouse Church, nor
any of its congregation. I suppose that means
I’ve forgiven them for their recent illegal,
unethical, misguided, and egregiously harmful
actions. Yet I’ve not forgotten. As I’ve made clear
a few times now, a simple apology would go far
in allowing the community and myself to forget
yet no such
repen-
tance has
ROGER
been forth-
BARNES
coming.
LA GRANDE
Regardless,
these ques-
tions of forgiving and forgetting are a personal
matter that exists only in one’s heart and mind.
Conversely, our justice system operates without
regard for the concept of forgiveness. When a
law is broken, the consequences for this action
are clearly prescribed and the idea that no man
nor entity is above the law is foundational to our
nation. This principle is not subject to questions
of whether or not someone believes in the partic-
ular law or doesn’t support the lawmakers who
enacted it, nor does a history of good deeds pre-
clude someone from being held responsible for
their acts.
No one yet has satisfactorily explained to me
how these principles shouldn’t hold true in this
case. The church leadership knew they were
breaking the law, as evidenced by their invoking a
statement from the president that churches should
be deemed “essential.” They were contacted at
least twice by law enforcement and agreed to
cease the activities, yet they simply continued and
apparently even escalated these activities. While
at the time the church seemed to proudly display
these actions on social media, once the community
was made aware of the transgressions these videos
were promptly deleted never to resurface.
The eager willingness of some to characterize
this series of events as a “mistake” betrays a bias
that I and many others in the community are quite
uncomfortable with. Do those advocating for leni-
ency in this case feel the same towards anyone
accused of any crime, or is this reserved only for
a certain class of the community? Perhaps I’m
just not informed of daily appearances in the local
courthouse where these same folks plea the court
for forgiveness of defendants facing judgment for
their actions. It’s possible I’m just not aware of a
universally applied legal theory where we don’t
prosecute crimes that happened “in the past.”
If there is indeed an informal statute of limita-
tions for prosecutions granted on the basis of prior
good deeds, I and many others would like to be
informed. You know, just in case.
My objections notwithstanding, it’s become
clear there is not much likelihood we will see any
charges fi led in this case. Too much time has now
passed, and I’ve also been made aware of a few
procedural challenges within the system, which
have stood in the way.
I would like to thank La Grande Chief of Police
Gary Bell and Union County District Attorney
Kelsie McDaniel for their candid conversations
and their patience with my rhetoric.
I sincerely hope this event is the only occasion I
will have to argue this subject in the pages of this
fi ne publication or anywhere else, as this will show
we as a community have fi nally understood that
facts and laws are immutable in the face of selfi sh
opinions.
I
About the Author
Roger Barnes has lived and worked and some-
times voiced his opinions in La Grande for 25 years.
He welcomes your comments and criticisms.
Write to us
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and phone number (for verifi cation purposes only). Email your let-
ters to news@lagrandeobserver.com or mail them to the address
below.
Letters
Any intelligent person would obey
governor’s order
How many lives have been put at risk because a few (as
quoted by The Observer) have not adhered to the gover-
nor’s executive order?
Whether you agree or disagree, the fact remains there
have been more than three months of advertising a policy
of “stay at home … wear a protective face covering,” so
any intelligent persons have been notifi ed as to why: It is to
protect others. Now some have thrown caution to the wind
and a larger number of our caregivers, doctors, nurses are
COVID-19 carriers.
I live at Grande Ronde Retirement Residence and am
at an age that I must rely on the many caregivers who are
willing to take a chance to care for us while they expose
themselves, for a small fee that does not come close to
compensating for illness or life.
No one would want to take responsibility for having to
share the blame for this unfortunate part of life.
It’s time to listen, and obey.
Marie Lester
Former Union County Commissioner
La Grande
Letter: Done with academic mud wrestling
Regarding Lyle Swartz’s letter published in the July 21
issue of The Observer, I was quite disappointed when Dr.
Swartz attempted to impugn my character.
I’ve known Professor Swartz for years. I was impressed
with his expertise in the visual and performing arts, and I
cannot recall him ever posting an unethical comment like
Dr. Tom Herrmann did.
I’m sorry he thinks my comment was a confusing
“stew,” which is how many folks misspell my name by
accident. My name is spelled Stuart, so his use of “stew”
was a cheap shot.
It’s not surprising that Dr. Swartz was confused as I
doubt he has any sophistication in the subject of physics,
which was the topic of my letter criticizing Dr. Herrmann’s
opinion piece. Unfortunately, it is common for a conserva-
tive ideologue to come to the defense of another ideologue
without understanding why the other is being criticized.
Had Professor Swartz understood the scientifi c meaning
of “tautology and specious data,” he would not have
attempted to impugn my character.
The fact that he found Dr. Badgley, Dr. Stephas and
Dr. Gilbert friendly does not mean those physicists would
have jumped into the academic mud wrestling with Dr.
Herrmann.
This is my last comment on the matter, as another tactic
of conservative ideologues is to attempt to distract their
nemeses from continuing with deleterious comments, and
I’m not playing that game with them any longer.
Professor Swartz should watch out for conservative
economists, both right and left, as they’re coming after his
PERS as we speak.
Stuart Croghan
La Grande
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Donald Trump: The White
House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washing-
ton, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1414; fax 202-
456-2461; to send comments, go to www.
whitehouse.gov/contact.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. offi ce:
313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building, U.S.
Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-
3753; fax 202-228-3997. Portland offi ce:
One World Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon
St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; 503-
326-3386; fax 503-326-2900. Pendleton
offi ce: 310 S.E. Second St. Suite 105,
Pendleton 97801; 541-278-1129; merkley.
senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. offi ce: 221
Dirksen Senate Offi ce Building, Washing-
ton, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202-
228-2717. La Grande offi ce: 105 Fir St., No.
210, La Grande, OR 97850; 541-962-7691;
fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd District):
D.C. offi ce: 2182 Rayburn Offi ce Building,
Washington, D.C., 20515, 202-225-6730;
fax 202-225-5774. La Grande offi ce: 1211
Washington Ave., La Grande, OR 97850;
541-624-2400, fax, 541-624-2402; walden.
house.gov.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State
Capitol, Salem, OR 97310; 503-378-3111;
www.governor.oregon.gov.
Oregon State Treasurer Tobias
Read: oregon.treasurer@ost.state.or.us;
350 Winter St. NE, Suite 100, Salem OR
97301-3896; 503-378-4000.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen F.
Rosenblum: Justice Building, Salem, OR
97301-4096; 503-378-4400.
State Sen. William S. Hansell (29th
District/Athena): Salem offi ce: 900
Court St. NE., S-423, Salem, OR 97301;
503-986-1729. Website: www.oregonleg-
islature.gov/ hansell. Email: sen.billhan-
sell@oregonlegislature. gov.
State Rep. Greg Barreto (58th
District/ Cove): Salem offi ce: 900 Court
St. NE., H-384, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-
1458. Website: www.oregonlegislature.
gov/barreto. Email: rep.gregbarreto@
oregonlegislature.gov.
State Rep. Greg Smith (57th Dis-
trict): Salem offi ce: 900 Court St. NE.,
H-482, Salem, OR, 97301; 503-986-1457.
Heppner offi ce: P.O. Box 219, Heppner,
OR 97836; 541-676-5154; Website: www.
oregonlegislature.gov/smithg. Email: rep.
gregsmith@oregonlegislature.gov.