A4 • COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
O PINION
The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg-
ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition their
Government for a redress of greivences.
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Political/Election Letters:
Walk a mile in the footsteps of others
By Caitlyn May, Editor
cmay@cgsentinel.com
I think people are a lot like
shoes — created for a certain
circumstance and purpose.
Dance.
Work.
Leisure.
Image.
Those of high quality can be
repaired more often than those
that are poorly constructed but,
in the end, the consequences of
life leave a worn sole.
I think people are a lot like
shoes.
The thought struck me for the
first time watching coverage of
the Twin Towers’ death. Of all
the terrible images from that
day — more so than the folks
jumping to their death; more so
than people begging others to
help them find loved ones they
would never, ever find; more so
than the scrapers falling from
the skies into piles of ash — it
was the image of people run-
ning.
In front of my grandparents’
house, 20 minutes outside the
city, there’s a stretch of cement.
My grandfather was pouring it
years ago on a sunny morning,
not unlike the one on Sept. 11,
when I ran through it.
Two footprints of saddle shoes
issued by my Catholic school
embedded in the concrete
— frozen in 1994, age five.
Watching the coverage that day,
I wondered if there was a patch
of drying cement in the city that
now held scores of footprints,
forward moving, frozen in time,
preserving the terror of that day.
Genesis 25:9 relays the story of
the sons of Ishmael, descendant
of Abraham. Forgoing reason
and relying solely on faith, we are
to believe that well into his first
century of life, Abraham and his
wife, Sarah, welcomed their son
Isaac. His birth, of course, came
13 years after the servant Hagar
delivered unto Abraham his
first-born son, Ishmael.
Fearing her own son would
benefit poorly under Ishmael’s
influence, Sarah cast both the
boy and his mother out.
So goes the story of our
division: Ishmaelites, known
today as ‘Arabs,’ the sons of
Ishmael; and Christians, the sons
of Isaac. Remnants of Catholic
school.
The notion we don’t want to
drag from the back of our minds
and place firmly in our hearts to
rust and settle into the beats is
this: We are not divided at all.
The schools full of boys
learning to hate America are
not all that different from the
western hamlets that inject
Christianity into every nook and
cranny that will hold it for fear
that the absence of “God” may
be mistaken as a tolerance for
“Allah.”
Suicide bombers in dusty,
desert alleys cast easily back to
southern streets, glowing from
the hate of the torches and thick
with the fear of young black
children. Children threatening
to kill Americans on film are
not all that different from Aryan
toddlers being coached to decry
immigrants and using much
filthier terms on their parents’
social media accounts.
We condemn the culture
that would demand a religious
doctrine become state law and
have women ashamed of their
God-given bodies.
And yet picket signs line
the chambers of legislatures
demanding that a single
religion’s command be the basis
by which all laws are approved
— and that even actions deemed
legal by the state be banished
because they are illegal accord-
ing to scripture.
When we opt to be
driven by faith, it is with the
understanding that sometimes
we are in the passenger seat and
may not always approve of the
destination. We’ll get there just
the same, but our soles may just
be more worn than we’d like.
Nearly 20 years after 9/11,
we can drown our founding
principles in whatever bigotry
and profit mongering we want.
We can brag about this elusive
freedom we seem to want to
steal for ourselves and ours,
with no regard for those who are
different.
We can wave all the flags we
want while holding our protest
signs higher and point our
fingers towards the Middle East
and condem them as terrorists.
We can be the land of the free
and the home of the brave but I
think it would be more fitting of
our foundation if we were also
the nation of understanding and
the mainland of tolerance.
Seventeen years ago, people
ran for their lives, leaving
footprints in the dust of the
towers. Those who ran away
lifted fallen strangers from the
sidewalks as they passed.
Those who ran towards the
chaos did so with the intent to
give their life in the smallest
hopes of saving someone else’s.
Some fell together into the street
and prayed because that’s all
there was left to do.
The sons and daughters of
Ishmael bowed their heads and
clutched the hands of the sons
and daughters of Isaac.
And prayed together.
I imagine there will be a lot
of talk of the impact of 9/11 this
week. Tributes scattered among
the coverage of immigration
and football players’ peaceful
protests. Reminders of the
images — victims and heroes
of Sept. 11, 2001 — will be
coming at us pretty quickly. But
I would hope that in re-living
the nightmare, we make the
conscious effort to work toward
the dream — one in which young
girls can hope to be president,
people of color can find much
more than tolerance in a land
meant for them as much as
anyone else, and that we can all
understand that patriotism may
hold different meanings but all
of them are felt passionately by
those who love this country.
Wherein we can be spared
the ugliness of judgement and
the evil rhetoric that is currently
passing for civilized debate in
America today, mostly I hope
that in the shadows of Sept. 11,
2001, we will remember to walk
a mile in our enemies’ footsteps
and tread lightly in our treat-
ment of others.
I think, in the end, it will save
our souls.
Election-related letters must address pertinent or
timely issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing
campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure
any information about a candidate is accurate, fair
and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay;
and 3) explain the reasons to support candidates
based on personal experience and perspective rather
than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the
editor column to outline their views and platforms
or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political
advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the
newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher,
general manager and editor, reserves the right to
reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@cgsentinel.com or cmay@cgsentinel.com
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.floydprozanski@
state.or.us
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
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