Reader feedback 2.16.05

FAITH AND REAL SOLUTIONS

As a pastor of a city church,
it was certainly a surprise to learn that MonroeCounty has established an office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
(“Leap of Faith,” February 2). One would have thought that the county executive
would have consulted the faith community before establishing the office, and at
the very least informed them of its existence. Or is this another initiative
meant only for insiders?

            More surprising was to read Luis Perez’s rather strange
take on history. The US Constitution says that it is the responsibility of the
government to promote the general welfare of the people. Churches in the US have never been the primary providers of social
welfare, partly for the following reason: Why should the minority take the
burden of responsibility off the majority population to promote the common
good? More important, churches simply do not have the resources.

            For churches to take government funds to administer their
programs for them and then suggest that they are fulfilling the gospel demand
to care for the poor and oppressed is at best a disingenuous proposition.

            My congregation takes seriously our commission to help
those in need, and we are active in doing that through interfaith coalitions.
But that is hardly the solution to the larger problems of poverty and
unemployment and unaffordable health care that plague not only Rochester, but the nation.

            Rather than participating in the government’s efforts,
which offer neither adequate charity nor long-term solutions, the church will
better serve the people by demanding that the government fulfill its
obligations to all of its people.

            The Rev. Dr.
Eugene Roberts, Brighton Reformed Church, Blossom
Road, Rochester

ACHIEVEMENT’S NOT A SMALL ISSUE

Regarding Mary Anna Towler’s
fine article “Don’t Close My School” (February 9): I question the School and
Community Advisory Committee’s initial assumption that programs, teachers,
students, and support staff can be relocated without detrimental effects. While
this was a convenient assumption for the committee’s process, the notion that
effective programs can be successfully re-established in new locations seems
speculative at best.

            Successful urban schools are fragile formations, where
teachers, students, and parents combine with their neighborhood and facilities
to create a nurturing learning environment. Given the relatively few examples
of high-achieving schools in Rochester, I am incredulous that the CitySchool District would even consider closing any buildings where high
standards are currently being met. Closing schools that are struggling
academically, while hard on their families and neighborhoods, at least allows
for a reformulation that may achieve better results. Closing schools that are
performing well does not make sense, especially given how elusive success has
been for the District.

            Homebuyers do not want uncertainty regarding their local
schools, so there is little doubt that the preliminary list of potential school
closings has already suppressed important portions of the city real estate
market. My fear is that when the dust settles, there will be even fewer
high-performing schools in the city and that even more committed parents will
have gone private or gone elsewhere, leaving the district worse off. This is an
outcome that none of us can afford.

            Lawrence Jones, Spruce
Avenue, Rochester

ENRONED

President Bush says Social
Security is headed for a crisis. Fascinating that on page 229 of the 2004
Economic Report of the President, Bush endorsed exporting US jobs to cheap
labor markets abroad. He also signed into law, on October 22, the American Jobs
Creation Act of 2004, a cleverly disguised tax break for corporations to engage
in offshore outsourcing.

            These WMDs (Weapons of Mass
Deceptions) generate less tax
revenue, rather than more, to finance such things as Social Security. If the
jobs cannot be exported, there’s another way: Promote W’s Amnesty/Guest Worker
program with Mexico. Willing employers would be matched with illegal aliens, resulting in a
backdoor depression of wage scales. Reduced wages mean reduced taxable revenue.

            No wonder Social Security is being Enroned.
Or is it Global Double-Crossing[ed]? If President Bush and his supporters in
Congress believe in reforming Social Security, they should begin with their own
Golden Parachutes.

            Steve Barnhoorn, Honeoye

CAN THAT PROGRAM

In his State of the Union
address, George W. Bush stated: “My budget substantially reduces or
eliminates more than 150 government programs that are not getting results, or
duplicate current efforts, or do not fulfill essential priorities. The
principle here is clear: a taxpayer dollar must be spent wisely, or not at
all.”

            I wholeheartedly agree, and I will suggest a
“program” not getting results that deserves to be shut down
immediately:

            On September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden and his
followers attacked America. The Bush administration vowed to get bin Laden, and
I do not know of anyone who was against that plan.

            However, that plan was set aside to pursue weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq. In another State of the Union address, Bush told America of the imminent danger the world faced from the
arsenal of illegal weapons Saddam Hussein possessed. The case for invading and
disarming Iraq was made, and the president went ahead with his plans.

            Now, years have passed and the two main objectives of the
war on terrorism have not been achieved: finding bin Laden and finding weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq. Bush’s efforts are not producing results. Bush has
failed.

            Thomas R. Janowski, Hazelhurst Drive, Gates

WAR OF WORDS

Every day I hear or read
something about the “war on terrorism” or “war on terror.”
Occasionally someone points out that terrorism and terror are modes of human
behavior, tactics used by some people. Can there be a war on human behavior?
When will this war end?

            Not only is “war on terror” an inaccurate use
of language, but this terminology is used to decide the policies of our country
and the budgets to be devoted to them. And the terminology may be
counter-productive.

            We are repeatedly told that the people who perpetrate
terror are evil and that they hate freedom. People are not born terrorists;
something happens to them that makes them willing to destroy others and
themselves.

            When we focus on the “war on terror,” we do not
consider what makes people behave this way, or ask what the root causes of
terrorism might be. When we do not know what causes a problem, we end up
treating only the symptoms. When we know something about the causes of a
problem and only attack the symptoms, we do not eliminate it, and we may make
the problem worse.

            This observation does not make me “anti war” or
“soft on terrorism.” Call me “pro life,” if you like, as I
am strongly against people killing each other. And yes, I would like to prevent
wars. We can do this, I believe, by addressing their underlying causes.

            MirekPiskacek, Beverly
Street, Rochester

WRITING TO CITY

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two months.

This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2005.