AGING RIGHTWARD
Regarding your comments on gay marriage: (“It’s Not Just
‘Politics,'” Urban Journal, June 14): I am one of the few conservatives who
have no problem with gay marriage (although baby steps may be needed, such as
civil unions, before outright marriage is enacted into law).
But you write that young people are especially tolerant. You
seem to forget that young people become old people, and their views usually go
more to the right as they marry, have kids, and work a 9 to 5. I am evidence of
such a phenomenon. Thus, I would not take the polls of the malleable youth as
proof of a growing acceptance.
I am accepting of gays; I knew and befriended them in
college, and have done so at my present job. But society as a whole, not youth,
must be taken into account.
When the 50-plus group starts to accept the concept of gay
marriage, then the societal shift will be complete.
Mike Meggison, Penfield
THIS FAMILY’S VALUES
I agree with the points Mary Anna Towler makes in “It’s Not
Just ‘Politics'” (Urban Journal, June 14). My partner and I are committed to a
19-year relationship that is both monogamous and one embracing “family
values.” I find the distrust and second-class treatment we both feel
disturbing. It’s as if our long-term, faithful relationship is viewed by
family, hetero neighbors, and other social observers as deviant, un-American,
and outside the grace and mercy of the loving God we worship. As if we’re some
kind of freaks pretending to blend.
We pay high school taxes — which we gladly pay to ensure a
better tomorrow. We also pay high property taxes, which quite frankly pay for
nothing more than bloated town government. I would welcome anyone who knows me
from my church (Spiritus Christi) or my neighborhood
to seek out my views further.
Gregg P. Allen, West Irondequoit
OVER-DRAMATIZED?
It is mind-blowing that something as logical as preserving
our environment is as controversial and politicized as everything else George Grella mentioned — science, medicine, history, and
religion (“Frying and Dying with Al Gore,” June 28). But the manipulation and
misuse of imagery makes it easy for adversaries to claim “liberal
propaganda” when the so-called “most compelling images” are the
least scientific and least objective component of the film.
True, the “before and after photos” do
dramatically illustrate physical change over time and enliven the audience with
their shock value. But there is no presentation of exact location or even the
date that the photos were taken. How do we know the “then” photos
weren’t taken during a rainy season and the “now” photos taken during
a dry season?
If we are going to use scientific proof as a catalyst for
social and environmental action, let’s be scientific and not such suckers for
dramatic imagery. The only way to get the right-wingdings
to give a damn about the environment is to show the potential for capitalistic
ventures.
Step up, economists. As demonstrated by the brief clip of
George Bush Senior, the Republicans fear that if we care too much for the
environment, “we will be up to our necks in owls.” That’s the
mentality we are up against. (But what if those owls could be sold to voodoo
practitioners for $1000 a piece, eh?)
Moira Speer, Rochester
WRITING TO CITY
We welcome and encourage readers’ letters for publication.
Send them to: themail@rochester-citynews.com or The Mail, City Newspaper, 250
North Goodman Street, Rochester14607.
Our guidelines: We don’t publish anonymous letters — and
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publish letters that have been sent to other media — and we don’t publish form letters generated by activist groups. While
we don’t restrict length, letters of under 350 words
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from the same writer more often than about once every two months.
This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2006.
