Lack of religion is causing our country to lose their morals. Nope, wrong again.  There’s a lot of factors that play into this, including bad parenting, misguided government control, etc etc.  I think a lot of what happened here is that people started to take advantage of our ‘freedom’ without fully taking on the included responsibilities.  We’re supposed to WATCH THE NEWS.  We’re supposed to FOLLOW CAMPAIGNS.  We’re supposed to be ACTIVE IN OUR COMMUNITY.  But of course as long as we GET WHAT WE WANT as SOON AS WE WANT IT, we’re happy.  We’re a fat culture, in more ways than ever.

Our government cannot be trusted. That actually sounds like something someone on the right wing would say.  The fact is, it’s Bush that can’t be trusted.  I am so gung ho about people getting their faith restored in our government it’s not even funny.  I want people to see tangible effects of the government doing positive things here and abroad.  We don’t need to help anyone else right now (Iraq), what we need is to clean up our own country and take the initiative to help out.

There will be change once a new president is elected. This one I’m really worried about.  I’m not so much against a conservative president, but McCain?  No.  People…how has Bush helped us?  Really?  It’s ridiculous that we’d even consider a presidential conidate that has so much in common with our current caricature of a president.  Obama at least should’ve gotten a decent rival.  One that wouldn’t make me want to leave the country if he were to be elected.

As a closing thought, do we really exist?  There has yet to be proof.  One day at a time.  Live and then die.  Let’s not squander our time making artificial rules that mean nothing in the grand scheme of time.

In perspective, I can’t get married.  Why?  Because the religious right thinks it’s an abomination.  I didn’t choose to be gay.  To put it bluntly, I do not want to procreate.  As in I have no interest in doing what is required.  That is definitely a genetic trait that is abnormal, seeing as how most males want to get as much tail as they can, but it’s not something to cry witch over either.

I will die.  Whether or not I die happy in the arms of my husband does not seem like a choice that is fair to make by another person.  I hate how people choose these witch hunt topics that never have anything to do with what’s really going on.  Love is biological, it’s not religious.  Don’t make it something it’s not.  And last time I checked, love was not offensive.

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Dear Editors,

What could possibly be the reason to impose limits on how many letters one can write to the editor?  I would answer my own question for the benefit of some people who may not understand yet: it gets dull week after week.  I wholeheartedly agree with J B Anthony in his suggestion that this would be taken to the internet.  We are  fortunate to live in a time when one can create a website for absolutely nothing and get their opinions out.  With no restrictions on how often you can write and a huge potential readership, what more could you ask for?  Especially for things that do not pertain so much to our town as our country and the world that lies outside.

One of the problems I see in some of these letters is the fact the author cannot overcome their own perceived ingenuity.  I’m sorry Mr. Byrne, but this is a small puddle and if you had experience with anything outside I don’t personally think you’d have such a big ego, nor the same political views.  I’ve been to Japan.  South Korea.  Singapore.  Mexico.  Canada.  In the grand scheme of things feeding yourself bits of congratulatory wit only serves to set yourself apart as someone who cannot look past their own nose to the people who have not spent their entire life in a white farming community.  In fact I’ve seen quite a few excellent letters to the editor and you’re not only praising yourself, you’re disregarding and disrespecting others (whether you mean to or not).

And, ah, the subject of murdering unborn children.  While I do tend to view things more liberally, I’m not quite Pro-Choice.  I’m not quite Pro-Life though either, because as a male, I cannot bear children (surprising, no?).   Therefore I’d hesitate to make any judgment as I have never had my stomach engorged with that of a fetus.  Have you ever carried a child Mr. Byrne?  You seem to be an expert in what women should do.  I like to make sure I don’t get bloated after a meal by eating too much, so I know I wouldn’t be a very happy person if I had to carry that feeling multiplied by 100 for nine months.  But I digress, I’m sure some men might know about carrying a little extra weight comfortably.  This is America after all.  And if I may suggest, sir, I feel more for the soldiers we’ve lost in Iraq and their grieving families.  I’m not going to compare numbers though, I don’t frankly care about statistics.  Life is life.  My point is this: you cannot pardon a man who is responsible for the needless deaths of our young adults simply because he “protects” unborn children.  And yet, he didn’t outlaw abortion, did he?  It still continues no matter what you think of our President.

I have a suggestion now directly for the Beacon.  I propose we do some ‘down and dirty’ investigative reporting.  Let us kidnap a Mr. LoPresto in the dead of night, strip him, photograph him, the publish the results.  Since it seems that this is not torture, he should be able to stand the simple humiliation.  We all know he’s withstood his writings being published publically.  Frankly if anyone still thinks that Iraq had a connection to terrorists they have been completely and totally ignoring the media for at least the past 4 years.  First it was “weapons of mass destruction” that we started the war for (but there were none) and then the term “War on Terror” started to be bandied about.  Well, congrats to Bush’s public relations.  The masses ate it up.  The September 11th attacks had nothing, and will never have anything, to do with Iraq.  I’m sorry that you apparently didn’t do your research, but excuse is not going to fly if you’re willing to keep the same lies going.  The logic in the quote you started your letter with is greatly flawed, you’ve just proven it yourself.  No matter how many times you write about the Al Qaeda and Iraq War connections, they’re just not going to simply appear to justify your points.

Personally, I don’t advocate the right or the left.  I advocate intelligence.  I advocate information.  I advocate the truth.  It just happens that the people who are blatantly in the wrong happen to be coincidently on the right.  I suggest writers check their wit at the door and bring some knowledge for us to ponder over.  Do we want to continue to be a nation of ignorance, acceptors of half truths and smoke in mirrors?  This may be the point Mr. Byrne was looking for, I’m sure an educated society could make an educated choice on abortion.  Or war.  Or writing letters to the editors.

Yours truly,

Paul *******

’08 Senior

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