Wednesday, November 17, 2004

A Reply to "Liberals Undermine Traditional Family Values"

I usually ignore the opinions in our university newspaper, but today there was a columan that was difficult to ignore:

Liberals Undermine Traditional Family Values

My reply to the column (keeping in mind that there is a 250 word limit:

An independent reply to Stephen Burnett and his Democrat opponents as expressed in “Liberals Undermine Traditional Family Values”:

The problem as we see it is not whether Bush stole the election or Kerry was morally unsuitable to lead our nation. Instead, we recognize the failure of the democratic system that is the foundation of our great nation. In a democracy is it unreasonable to expect “every” vote to be counted? Is it sour-grapes to insist that those votes continue to be counted so that we can get a final tally?

Of course Burnett in his column moves quickly away from the real issue of democratic process to distraction issues like the poorly-defined “family-values” and social-morals. We understand that you would like to legislate our personal lifestyles based upon your religious beliefs, but insist that you first re-read the constitution and Bill of Rights to search for where this is considered to be a legal role for the government. Are we not still fighting a war in Afghanistan against a political system that legislated religious morality.

Lastly, I would encourage everyone to honestly think about the significance of scientific research and its benefits to our society. An example of the neo-conservatives’ outright contempt for science is exhibited in Burnett’s comparison of the groundbreaking scientific research of Alfred Kinsey to the pornographic peddlers Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt. No wonder so many Nobel Prize winning scientists lined up in opposition against President Bush in the last election. Burnett’s position is symptomatic of the larger neo-conservative "kill-or-be-killed desire to undermine public debate based on fact." (Suskind, Ron. “Reality-Based Reporting.” Salon. October 20, 2004. )
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Of course my response was limited by time and space--but feel free to add your opinions at opinions@kykernel.com

1 comment:

Michael said...

No, but you are on the same campus--they should have copies in the library?

I was sick today--did you see if they published it in the paper?