OCR Text |
Show Letters To The Editor Exceeds Prerogative Dear Editor: I recently read Mr. Kimball's article on the Vietnam crisis in which he refers to war as a "nightmare" and' a "tragic disease." dis-ease." I WAS surprised that he was not affected by its futility, especially espe-cially in the case of Viet Nam where men perish everyday in the service of a country which doesn't particularly care. I was gratified to read, however, how-ever, that Mr. Kimball, as a loyal, liberty-loving American, does care. He, at least, is behind be-hind our men in uniform 100 per cent. (I could not help but reflect that he is also behind them about 10,000 miles.) BUT I DO feel that in respect re-spect of the liberty he so much admires, Mr. Kimball should refrain re-frain from indulging himself in self-righteous contempt for bearded pickets. This is unquestionably the prerogative of those servicemen fighting and dying in Viet Nam, most of whom probably have a similar feeling for stay-at-home college boys such as Mr. Kimball Kim-ball and myself. Joseph S. Lambie Feeble Apology Dear Editor: The insults directed at the local NAACP (signed Louis G. Tervort, "Chronicle," May 10), in the guise of a vendetta against Steve Holbrook, should do more than amuse. THE REMARKS can also enlighten en-lighten as an example of the "gentle" white racism that controls con-trols thinking in the north and in the Mississippi-of-the-moun-tain-west-Utah. We note that, as usual, the Negro has to be blamed; while distorting the truth about racist practice in the Church, Mr. Trevort presumes to judge and condemn the internal structure of the NAACP. PERSONAL attack is the surest evidence of indefensible position; the feeble apology for the Church is equally indicative. indica-tive. As a natural consequence, Mr. .Tervort does not suggest that the Church should change its practice, but rather that the Negro must change his. It is my unsolicited opinion that the NAACP does not need Mr. Tervort's advice, and Steve Holbrook does not need the publicity. Ethel C. Hale Slavery Issue Dear Editor: Shirley Anderson's statement that Brigham Young upheld slavery as a divine institution May 14 is true. HOWEVER, there is a question ques-tion as to whether he was speaking as a prophet, or merely mere-ly giving his own opinion, since Joseph Smith wrote: "Petition also, ye goodly inhabitants of the slave states, your legislators legisla-tors to abolish slavery . . ." This is only another example of how the attitude of the LDS Church is distorted by picking isolated facts rather than telling tell-ing the whole truth. It is odd that, in their frantic effort to paste the label of "racism" on the Church, the new-found friends of "civil rights" have failed to mention the only thing that can incriminate the Church; the disbarment of Negroes from the priesthood. I DO NOT know why this policy is followed, and if this were all there is to the Church I would not be a member. One might also ask why other churches discriminate against Negroes. IT WOULD be interesting to know how many Negroes go to integrated churches. It is ironic that the first civil rights case to be tried in Utah involves another church the Pentacostal. Has the local NAACP demonstrated against this church? I COMMEND the ministers who took part in the Selma march. But while they were away their parishioners stayed home and maintained de factor segregation by means of real-estate real-estate covenants. So you see, the race problem is not peculiar to the LDS Church. To make the "racism" label stick to the LDS Church, its antagonists must answer these questions: If the LDS Church is racist, why does it permit its members to support civil rights? If the Church believes Heaven is for "white, not dark skins," why does it give the priesthood to Mongoloids, Indians In-dians and black-skinned South Pacific islanders? WHY IS the local NAACP so fired up about demonstrating against "theological racism" when it has never had the guts to demonstrate against economic eco-nomic racism? Until they answer an-swer these questions, nothing they say will be convincing. Leon Johnson Change Policy Dear Editor: For what purpose did Pres. Brown make his often referred to statement on civil rights? DID HE try to induce the general LDS membership to aid in this drive? Or did he attempt to show that since the church as a whole could support sup-port the civil rights movement, everything within this church in regards to Negroes must be alright? In either case, I think his efforts will meet with little success. It's going to take a lot more to change a set of old, ingrained beliefs regarding Negro-white inequality within the LDS Church than a mere statement by one or even several sev-eral individuals of importance. A SOLID civil rights structure struc-ture cannot be built upon a weak, inner-religious foundation founda-tion of inequality. It's very unlikely that until the LDS Church grants religious equality to all persons irrespective irrespec-tive of color, statements made by its leaders on civil rights will have much meaning. ANOTHER questions remains. With the passing of several generations during which miscegenation mis-cegenation has taken place in this country as in others, it is V no longer possible to draw rigid lines between black and !-s white. THERE IS a lot of grey now. The crossing of the "color line," or change from Negro 433 to white identity (possibly some also go the other way), by per- :lj sons in this country each year directs one's attention to such (j places as Brazil where color- ' mixing has occurred on a much greater scale. The question is: how many "Uegro genes" must one possess to be a Negro and how many "whLe genes" to be white? I ?i have often wondered what kind l of recipe the Mormon mission- aries use in Brazil. ;u, '3 Adrian Sehlmeier |