TO THE EDITOR
(paraphrasing): no benefits would accrue
from further growth in the nation’s popula-
tion, and that stabilization would contribute
greatly to our ability to solve national prob-
lems.
This was presented almost 32 years and
90 million people ago, as issues of scale and
complexity continue to assault and com-
pound national quality of life. The nation’s
struggle for adequate housing is just one
symptom among many.
Foremost in my mind is the tremendous
“dilution in democracy” that has unfolded
over our time. It would now take 8,700 mem-
bers of the U.S. House to give back the
“value” that existed for each constituent of
the founding republic. You can do the math.
Each district originally has 3,000 con-
stituents; now they contain more than
600,000 (a 20-fold change in the ratio).
Who says numbers of people don’t mat-
ter? Where is the discussion about a national
population policy?
Boyd Wilcox
Corvallis
THE OTHER JFK
I wanted Wes Clark, you may have
wanted Dean or Kucinich. Well, we got
Kerry. Hopefully, he’ll ask John Edwards for
the southern and chick vote.
I would gladly marry Ralph Nader, but
this man is an obstacle to storming the
Bastille. We have got to remove Bush and
Cheney. That is job one.
John Kerry is an awkward, Lincoln-esque
cuss. He is intelligent and war-tested. And a
60-year-old man who can play hockey and
snowboard is scary. Read Tour of Duty. Sean
Hannity would wet his pants reading Kerry’s
’Nam work. Kerry knew what McNamara re-
alized, only 35 years earlier. Vietnam was a
blunder.
I’m asking you EW readers and voters to
forfeit your conscience and devotion to your
candidate. Vote Kerry, the other JFK.
To you 18 to 34 year olds: You are prime
fillet for military service. The reason it ain’t
21 to 34 is because so many of my generation
were dying in the ’Nam, we forced a constitu-
tional amendment. Old enough to die, old
enough to vote.
Greg Hume
Creswell
HEADS OR TAILS?
It is time for the state of Oregon to choose
a symbol for the Federal Mint to put on our
own quarter. Gov. Kulongoski has convened
a commission to make the final decision. The
final four choices are: Mt. Hood, Crater Lake,
The Leaping Salmon, The Covered Wagon
Heading Down The Trail. I thought I would
throw in my opinion.
Mt. Hood. Don’t like it. Why? Because of
the curse of the coin. New Hampshire put The
Old Man In The Mountain (a natural cliff that
looks like a man’s face) on their coin and sub-
sequently the face fell off the mountain. If we
put Mt. Hood on our coin we may be tempt-
ing fate and get a volcanic eruption.
Crater Lake. Don’t like it. I think seeing
this coin in circulation might just remind us
all of our current state budget — a big, deep
hole.
The Leaping Salmon. I like it. I like the
salmon for the children. If we adults screw up
and kill all the salmon we can at least show
our children a picture of the great salmon on
our state coin. “This is what a salmon used to
look like, kids. A beautiful fish, good eatin’;
now they are all gone. Sorry. My bad.”
I love The Covered Wagon. The coin de-
sign has the Covered Wagon going away
from the viewer so what we actually see is the
back of a covered wagon heading down the
Oregon Trail. Like many Oregonians and
most pioneers, I came to Oregon as an adult. I
grew up in Ohio and lived in NYC for 10
years. My moving to Oregon was a very con-
scious adult decision. So, to me, this coin
says, “Kiss my ass — I’m moving to
Oregon.”
Chris Pender
Eugene
RIVERFRONT PETITION
The R-G is silent but actually a major
land-use showdown is under way. The
Riverfront greenway pave-over is being
championed by David Kelly and others in the
name of pursuing his vision of responsible,
compact growth. The Riverfront urban re-
newal referendum petition being circulated
may allow citizens more control over the
emerging Eugene City Council plan for high
impact development to replace the scenic
riverfront greenway.
In the past, millions of dollars have been
directed toward riverfront roads for develop-
ment to house companies like Electrical
Geodesics. This distinguished company’s
work has even gained the attention of the CIA
for their interest in improved methods of lie
detection (6/23/99, Portland Business
Journal). Last year, UO was reported to be
considering a one-of-a-kind nanotechnology
research center (the Multiscale Materials and
Devices Center) to be sited near the riverfront
southbank field (5/6/03 Oregon Daily
Emerald).
If tax diversions are going to continue to
fuel a riverfront pave-over for this type of
business, then the public must be well in-
formed and involved in the decision. The ref-
erendum petition is now far behind schedule
and the last day to turn in signatures will be
April 5.
You may sign the petition or get your own
copies to circulate among neighbors at both
locations of Paul’s Bike Shop or sign the peti-
tion at Sundance Market (24th and Hilyard).
I am not a chief petitioner of this referen-
dum and my views do not necessarily reflect
those of the businesses or activists involved
in circulating this petition. Some of them
have not yet seen the danger of the Smart
Growth America agenda (this organization
receives thousands in donations from Nike,
Intel and Les Schwab) and David Kelly’s
brand of anti-sprawl extremism.
Zachary Vishanoff
Eugene
BY SHELLY RICHARDSON
Searching
for insight
Reflections on The Passion ,
Easter and baby chicks.
T
o see it or not to see it. That was the question. For several weeks, friends and I
have had ongoing discussions about whether or not to see The Passion of the
Christ. Some of my friends say the message of Mel Gibson’s movie reignited
their compassion and love for their fellow beings. Others found the violence distasteful.
I vacillated for several weeks between the expectation that the movie offered spiritual
insight and philosophical objections to portrayals of violence.
I haven’t always objected to violence in movies. There was a time in my life that I
wanted to see every Vietnam story that came out on the big screen. I thought that if I
experienced the pain and sorrow of the Vietnamese people and our soldiers who fought
there, I could somehow atone for the sins of our country. After I started a sincere spiri-
tual search, the desire to see violent movies stopped.
As a follower of Jesus’ teachings, The Passion put me in a quandary. Understanding
Jesus’ ability to love in spite of unbearable hate is crucial for my own spiritual journey. I
am humbly grateful that Jesus was willing to go through the crucifixion in order to help
me, 2,000 years later, to understand my unstoppable relationship with Divine Love/God.
Often, I’ve searched the Bible and scoured over the story of the Passion for insight into
how to heal like Jesus, love like he did, and even think like he did. The Bible says “Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Like many other sincere seekers, I pray
to understand and accept for myself the goodness and purity of that Chirst-like mind.
For me, this means that anyone has the right to practice in some degree the healing
power of Truth or what I call The Christ. So, after much contemplation, in a “if this will
help me understand how to love better moment,” I made a date with myself to see the
movie.
T
he theater parking lot was practically empty for the noon showing. I sat in my
Subaru feeling very sorrowful. This was not an experience I was looking forward
to. It wasn’t hard for me to visualize the images of pain and hate that were com-
ing to my thought and of Jesus’ humiliation and defeat in being nailed to a cross. I gave
6 APRIL 8, 2004
gratitude to the presence of Divine Love that is always with me and re-
minded myself that the loving presence of God never abandoned Jesus.
God is with me in my darkest moments, whispering messages of love,
victory, and the permanence of heavenly Life. I felt such gratitude for
the sacrifice Jesus made so that we could all understand that violence
and fear don’t have dominion. The resurrection proved them powerless.
As I opened the car door, I asked, “How can I love like Jesus loved?”
Then my cell phone rang.
“The chicks are in,” my husband said.
“What?”
“The chicks are in. I’ve picked up the kids from school and we’re headed over to the
feed store to pick out baby chicks. Do you want to come?”
He and our girls had been patiently waiting through the winter to get baby chicks so
we could have fresh eggs.
The dichotomy of the situation was a bit startling. The crucifixion or baby chicks?
I sat for a moment wondering if going with my family was a cop out. But then, I had
just asked “How can I love better?” Maybe my husband’s call and asking me to meet
them was the answer to my prayer. I told him “yes.”
A
t the feed store, hundreds of baby chicks, bunnies, and ducklings snuggled
under heat lamps for warmth while the girls bounced from cage to cage unable
to decide because of their immediate love for every chick. The picture of all of
them together was so innocent, so harmless. It was as if God said, “If you want to know
how to love, look here.” The verse from the Bible written by Paul when he was in prison
came to my thought:
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, what-
soever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, what-
soever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think
on these things.” Phillipians 4: 8
I stood in the feed store allowing myself to embrace all the qualities of goodness and
love. The humility, meekness and humanity that Jesus had are really innate, simple, and
natural to all of us. Perhaps the message from Paul was that in order to love, I needed to
embrace and affirm all the good that God has already created.
We left the feed store that day with five baby chicks. I haven’t thought about Gibson’s
movie lately, but when I’ve been pressed to react to a thoughtless remark or act, I work
to remember and acknowledge my simple natural desire to love like Jesus did.
Shelly Richardson is a member of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Eugene and a frequent contributor to
www.spirituality.com. This quarterly submission to EW by the Eugene/Springfield interfaith community is sponsored by
TRIM (Two Rivers Interfaith Ministries). For information, call 344-5693.