Established
in 1937
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Letters to the Editor
(Editor’s Note: Views and commentary,
including statements made as fact, are
strictly those of the letter-writers.)
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Typed, double-spaced letters written solely to this newspaper and/or Website are considered for publication. Hand-written letters that are double-spaced and legible
also can be considered.
Cards of thanks are not accepted as letters.
* * *Selma Center recycling rules must be observed
From Jan Walker
SelmaI would like to list the rules for recycling at the Selma Center because I know that many people read letters to the editor in the “Illinois Valley News” and will hopefully take these rules to heart.
1. No dumping: (take your refuse to the Kerby Transfer Station out Kerby Mainline).
2. No glass: (also take to the Kerby Transfer Station - no charge).
3. Leave only bottle-shaped plastic.
4. Crush your plastic (takes less room).
5. Place only cardboard in the dumpster, and break boxes down, as they take up less room that way.
6. Do not leave cardboard or plastic if the bins are full. Take them to the transfer station - no charge.
On Friday morning, Aug. 18, volunteers cleaned up all the trash that had been
dumped behind the center and hauled it to the dump. These trips are costing the Selma Center money we don’t have.Sunday morning another load of trash was behind the center. This is a community center, and those unwilling to follow these simple rules are a disgrace to the community.
If this continues to happen we will shut down the recycling program or perhaps keep it open two days a week with a volunteer to supervise, or we could try some sort of device that will identify those who can’t follow the rules.
It would be excellent if none of those choices have to be made.
Gore’s global warming warning called crock
From Sam Martindale
O’BrienSorry, but I must respond to Linda Wigger’s inaccuracies in last week’s letters to the editor about global warning. Frankly, it’s a big crock fostered by loony lefties and others using false data.
Real scientists, not the junk science variety, have proven definitively that global warming is not occurring. Before people run about shouting that the sky is falling, they really should study the matter and not be misled, especially by the green former vice president.
The problem is that the doomsayers, including National Geographic, Time and Newsweek, delight in fostering such crocks of sensationalism. Global warming is not happening, but many would like it to because it allows their wacky “environmental” actions to continue.
Sees mixed messages in deputy’s comments
From Don Fasching
CJ Citizens PatrolThe monthly meeting of the Cave Junction Security Council was held at city hall on Aug. 21. As before, Cpl. Sean Rarey was the chairman and called the meeting to order.
He began his agenda and eventually made a comment regarding the CJ Citizens Patrol. Instead of commending the group’s efforts, he called us “vigilantes” and stated concerns regarding the group’s function.
“Vigilante” is defined as, “any person who assumes the authority of the law, as by avenging crime.” We, the members of the Citizens Patrol resent Rarey’s remarks and are confused by his contradictions. I believe this is the same Cpl. Rarey who made it very clear that we are on our own when protecting ourselves and our property.
He is the same Cpl. Rarey who said that the sheriff is unable to provide basic police service during the night and that we must take an active role in policing ourselves. Members of the Citizens Patrol have done just that. We are not representing ourselves as law enforcement and have very strict rules regarding involvement with suspected criminals.
The purpose of the Citizens Patrol is to deter crime by mere presence. The patrol moves throughout the city during the hours of darkness looking for possible criminal activity. During patrol, we interrupted a person about to steal gas from the U-Haul trucks parked on River Street. He was picked up by a person in a vehicle and was last seen going north on Hwy. 199.
The patrol has observed many individuals and small groups walking around private businesses in the early morning hours. Our goal is to make it uncomfortable for the criminal element and cause them to think twice about entering the city. So instead of working with us, Rarey labels us vigilantes.
Rarey preaches the value of COP, Community Oriented Policing, but has failed to meet with us and establish a partnership. On one rare occasion, Deputy Corey Krauss was working at night. He drove by us six times and never once stopped to see who we were or what we were doing.
You would think that a deputy would want to know why six people with flashlights were walking in town at 2 a.m. The Citizens Patrol is comprised of dedicated women and men who volunteer their time to help law enforcement and reduce criminal activity in Cave Junction.
I would ask the residents of Cave Junction to support our efforts, and would hope the sheriff’s office would view us as an asset and not a problem.
‘We are all the children of God’
From Zabriel Zadravetz
O’BrienWhat is the cause of all the wars if we are all the children of God?
War is not our great and terrible disease; war is a symptom, a result. The real disease is the virus of national sovereignty. World peace cannot be maintained by treaties, diplomacy, foreign policies, alliances, balances of power, or any other type of makeshift juggling with the sovereignties of nationalism.
World law must come into being and must be enforced by world government -- the sovereignty of all mankind.
The political sovereignty of representative mankind government will bring lasting peace on Earth, and the spiritual brotherhood of man will forever ensure good will among all men. And there is no other way whereby peace on Earth and good will among men can be realized.
As for religions, could it be that each person’s religion is nothing more nor less than the composite, the totality, of one’s personal relationship with God?
If this is true, then one’s religion is not the church, sect, denomination, or even the broad classification given to those whose experiences with deity have common characteristics (such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, etc.) Nor is it a system of beliefs.
Rather, it is a unique personal relationship with God which each individual must establish alone.
There is a significant difference between having faith in God and having faith in the representations of others about God. How does membership in human institutions affect one’s personal relationship with God?
The most exciting and self-satisfying challenge before anyone is to develop a unique soul-creating personal relationship with God. Certainly, reading inspired books, listening to the experiences of inspired persons, and belonging to truth-seeking organizations can help, but can any or all of these substitute for the development of one’s own personal experiences with God?
Cannot the essential personal relationship be developed by living each day as a loyal and loving son or daughter of God?
Is it that there is no secret formula, no magic knowledge, no social group, no single creed which opens the door of eternity? Rather, it is the dedication of one’s self to finding and doing that which, for that person, is the will of the Creator, together with active and living faith in the mercy of a loving and understanding God, which results in the development of a soul of eternal value.
If this is correct, then is it not the role of religious leaders to hold up the challenge, to inspire the dedication, to support the efforts and facilitate the progress of those who choose to become faith-children of the universal father/mother of all.
And cannot this better be done by expanding, rather than by limiting, the ways in which mankind can perceive and relate to God? What better way to fulfill the vision of Isaiah and work toward the goal of Jesus to help “set the spiritual captives free” of burdensome theological bondage. We are all the children of God, all of us.
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