letters
TO THE EDITOR
orientation. I was even naive to think that
most, if not all, local Christian churches in
the Eugene area would be progressive as
well. I have recently found out otherwise.
I overheard what I believed to
be demeaning conversations about
homosexual and transgender relationships
from pastors or elders of a local conservative
Presbyterian church, and I later began to
research these types of groups. I researched
local churches in the Eugene area to better
understand the conservative voice locally
regarding defi nitions of marriage. It did
not take long to fi nd a statement which is
related to a local church here in Eugene
called Cascade Presbyterian PCA. This
church denomination has stated in 2000 the
following on its national website:
“The PCA is committed to the sanctity
of human sexual relationships. We believe
God’s intent in creation was that male and
female would be complementary, that the
privilege of sexual expression would be
between male and female only, and this
expression would be only in the context of
marriage. Both heterosexual and homosexual
sexual behavior outside of marriage violates
the human spirit and distorts God’s intent for
men and women” (see http://wkly.ws/11o).
Does anyone else fi nd it interesting
or appalling that the appeal here is
that homosexual behavior violates the
human spirit? Does this view perpetuate
degrading and demeaning views of
homosexual in the conservative groups
here in Eugene? Does it also perpetuate
the view the heterosexual couples are
also privileged? Well, in actuality you are
right, they are privileged, sadly, and the
PCA just admitted it clearly.
But perhaps this group has progressed
since 2000 since in reality this was a
statement from over 10 years ago. What
do they say now?
Brad Hershel
Eugene
EDITOR’S NOTE: We asked Cascade Presbyterian about
this and the Rev. J. Kyle Parker tells us he’s unaware of any
gay-bashing talk in his congregation.
TORTURE
Bradley Manning, the soldier accused
of providing classifi ed U.S. government
documents to Wikileaks, has now been
held in solitary confi nement for 8 months
in the Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Va.
Some call him a traitor and some laud
him as a hero for releasing documents
revealing widespread state corruption and
global corporate criminality.
Manning is forced to spend 23 hours
per day in an empty cell with no human
contact. He is forbidden any exercise
including pushups during that 23 hours.
He has also been stripped of his reading
glasses. In other words, Private Manning
is being tortured with isolation to set an
example to whistle-blowers. This is an
outrageous disgrace.
A Supreme Court decision in
1940 characterized prolonged solitary
confi nement as “torture.” A contemporary
opinion from prison psychiatrist Dr.
Terry Kupers states: “If you put people in
isolation, they will go insane. Symptoms
include perceptual distortions and
hallucinations, increased anxiety, revenge
fantasies, rage, irrational anger, fears
of persecution, lack of impulse control,
claustrophobia, severe and chronic
depression, talking to oneself, headaches,
nightmares, dizziness, self-mutilation and
a decline in EEG activity. Some of these
symptoms occur after only seven days of
extreme isolation.”
It is incredible that Marine
Commandant James Amos, Attorney
General Eric Holder and Secretary Gates
continue to ignore the pleas of Amnesty
International, the United Nations’ Human
Rights Council and a myriad of individuals
such as Daniel Ellsberg to desist from the
unconstitutional and criminal abuse of
Bradley Manning.
Gerry Rempel
Eugene
WATER ISSUES
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We all need water to live, but we
usually take it for granted, especially here
in the Northwest where we are blessed
with plenty of rain and rivers. Yet global
supplies of fresh water are dwindling, and
privatization of water is increasing. How
do these trends affect us? The Lane Peace
Symposium on April 15 will address
many crucial water issues, including:
Nestle’s move to put a water bottling plant
at Cascade Locks on the Columbia River;
ongoing efforts to keep our rivers clean
and healthy; the mission of the Winnemem
Wintu tribe of Northern California to
return the sacred salmon to the McCloud
River; and the bottled water controversy
and what we can do about it. To learn more
about this FREE event, go to: www.lanecc.
edu/peacecenter. Everyone is welcome.
Ruth Wren
Eugene
APRIL 9 & 10
SAT. 9AM - 6PM • SUN. 9AM - 4PM
LANE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS
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PLUS CDs & DVDs
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EUGENE WEEKLY APRIL 7, 2011 5