4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| MARCH 10, 2021
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
The First Amendment
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ongress shall make no law respect-
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prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
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press, or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the Govern-
ment for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
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Copyright 2021 © Siuslaw News
Siuslaw News
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Florence, OR 87439
LETTERS
A thrill of your life
Health providers encourage us
all to exercise whenever possible
and to do so outdoors during
COVID times. My preference is
to walk or ride a bike since I have
given up jogging some years ago
to preserve my knee joints.
I often seek the beach or some
other locations nearby using a
portion — or all — of Rhodo-
dendron Drive (Fourth Street) as
my pathway. Exercise enthusiasts
suggest raising one’s heartbeat
rate to gain an aerobic rate for
best results.
I can confirm gaining the de-
sired aerobic rate at times as ve-
hicles pass by me between 35-55
mph a mere yardstick or two
away from my body while walk-
ing or riding outside the fog line.
The 1- to 3-foot of asphalt is
your sidewalk or bike path (un-
less you add the ditch) from
north of Wild Winds subdivision
to Heceta Beach Road. Many
courteous drivers slow or swerve
partly away to give additional
space, but when oncoming vehi-
cles approach, this is not possible.
I can only hope that all drivers
are not distracted by passengers,
pets, children, coffee spills, radio
announcements, avoiding pot-
holes or daydreaming when pass-
ing. One warning to all is that if
you are on the inside of a curve,
be extra observant since drivers
tend to “turn into” corners sharp-
er and cross over the fog line.
I invite our mayor, city council
members and Lane County offi-
cials to get the thrill of their life
by walking or biking any portions
of this road when busy with traf-
fic (add in some rain or darkness
for extra thrills).
I would bet they all agree it was
a thrill of their lifetimes also.
—Joe Fyie
Florence
A sign of hope in
beautiful Florence
We are very lucky to live in
such a beautiful area. While the
last year has shaken our sense of
community due to politics and
the pandemic, I hope we can all
adopt a sense of gratitude in the
coming months.
One thing that has given me
that hope was my experience at
the COVID vaccination event
at the Florence EventS Center. It
was very well organized and ex-
ecuted.
There was an efficient plan,
smooth execution and an overall
environment of care and concern
for everyone involved — both
volunteers and vaccine recipients.
Thank you, volunteers.
Thank you, Florence.
—Crystal Hall
Florence
This is not the time to
disregard to guidelines
Across the country, we have
experienced the state’s mandate
for the coronavirus pandemic to
wear protective masks, adhere to
social distancing and not expose
yourself to eating or drinking in-
side an establishment that has by
mandate been closed down.
In states like Florida and Tex-
as, the mandates have been dis-
regarded, establishments have
opened and more people have
been infected.
I never thought that I would
see such disregard in our town
but I was so wrong. Both The
Little Brown Hen and Firehouse
Restaurants have been fined a
total of more than $36,000 by
OSHA inspectors, who reported
also being threatened by gun-tot-
ing individuals.
Our local city council has not
said much about that. And why
wasn’t our local police called in
to discover, apprehend and pos-
sibly arrest those gun-carrying
individuals who threatened state
officials?
I still will not eat or drink in-
side any establishment until I
think it is safe. Hopefully, I will
not be required to carry my 9mm
pistol when I go to the health club
or movie theater.
—Win Jolley
Florence
Framers saw difficulties
in church-state unions
In response to Karen Mahoney’s
Letter to the Editor (“Forefathers
Saw Inequities of Imposed Re-
ligion” March 6), I would like to
add additional history on the is-
sue of whether or not America’s
Founding Fathers intended this
to be a Christian nation.
In short, they specifically did
not.
While responding to Guest
Viewpoint author Marshall Den-
ton, Mahoney summarized some
events and conclusions during
the period between indepen-
dence and ratification of our U.S.
Constitution supporting a secular
government. When drafting the
Declaration of Independence,
Thomas Jefferson used generic
religious language that all reli-
gious groups would respond to,
not narrowly Christian terms.
Further, had a Christian nation
been the goal of the founders, that
goal would have been specifically
stated in the Constitution.
The Founding Fathers chose a
secular government not because
they disliked religion, but be-
cause they saw the difficulties and
inequities in church-state unions
across Europe and wanted better
for America.
From 1797, the Treaty of Trip-
oli states in Article 11, “The gov-
ernment of the United States is
not, in any sense, founded on the
Christian religion.” This treaty
passed unanimously in Congress
and was signed by President John
Adams.
Over the decades, several
amendments to the U.S. Con-
stitution have been proposed to
include language explicitly ac-
knowledging Christianity and/or
the Christian deities as America’s
source of authority.
Such proposals have never been
passed into law.
America’s Constitution, by in-
tent and design, provides free-
dom for all religions as well as
freedom from any religion. My
advice to those believing Amer-
ica was meant to be a Christian
government is to get your religion
from your clergy and your histo-
ry from professional historians in
peer-reviewed literature.
—Raymond Hull
Florence
Thank you Lane County
Public Health, volunteers
My wife and I got our
COVID-19 vaccinations at the
Florence Events Center clinic this
morning.
I am almost 73 years old, and I
have never seen any government
agency provide any service as ef-
ficiently as the Lane County Pub-
lic Health Department did today.
I would also like to thank all
those who volunteered to see that
Florence area residents were able
to get in and out so quickly and
safely.
—Paul Floto
Dunes City
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Email letters to:
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WHERE TO WRITE
President Joseph Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
TTY/TDD: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
Email: Sen.DickAnderson@
oregonlegislature.gov
Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown
State Rep.
Boomer Wright (Dist. 9)
State Sen. Dick
Anderson (Dist. 5)
160 State Capitol 900 Court St.
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Salem, OR 97301
Message Line:
503-986-1409
503-378-4582
Email: Rep.BoomerWright@
www.oregon.gov/gov
oregonlegislature.gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244 | 541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
Lane County Dist. 1
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753 | 541-465-6750
Florence City Council
www.merkley.senate.gov
& Mayor Joe Henry
Florence City Hall, 250
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio Highway 101, Florence, 97439
(4th Dist.)
541-997-3437
2134 Rayburn HOB
ci.florence.or.us
Washington, DC 20515
Email comments to Florence
202-225-6416
City Recorder Kelli Weese at
541-269-2609 | 541-465-6732 kelli.weese@ci.florence.or.us
www.defazio.house.gov