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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle, Wednesday, October 16, 1985 Page Seven EDITORIAL Classtime, school aren't the time or place for praying There's a time and a place for everything. Remember that? It seems a lot of Americans have forgotten. Results of a recent poll show that Americans feel there is no specific time to pray. Praying, they have voiced, can be done anytime and in any location. Gone are the days of praying in church, before you go to bed or when you wake up in the morning. Americans apparently think prayer is not meant to be private. Press poll A recent Media has revealed that most Americans not only favor General-Associat- ed prayer in the nation's classrooms, they encourage it. The telephone survey said that while there is strong support for separation of church and state as the Constitution states, 25 percent of Americans believe church-stat- e separation is a bad idea. Results of the poll are frightening. There are three main reasons Americans should think twice before praising such mix a Wi rry . practice. summiT expecraTions First, Americans have only recently stopped segregating students according to race. Putting prayer into the schools would divide students again by calling attention to whether they believe in a god. The editors of the Wall Street Journal recently parodied the U.S. with a number of its submarine and bomber warheads. These systems, however, arc slower, less offensive as just another Proponents of such a measure say a moment of Moscow's latest and largely ineffective against silence is then the answer. Silent or not, students Crazy Eddie commercial. "Beat the arms race! Crazy accurate Soviet military targets. In this scenario, an American Gorby's cutting warheads so fast he's practically giving would be looking at their peers and judging them those President would be forced to either surrender or launch a strategic systems away. ICBMs...tEuromissilcs... if at their of method suicide on the exchange on civilian targets. praying, they prayed Bombers... Check around. Get the best deals. Then go to Gorbachev's arms offer is biased arms-contr- ol super-harden- all. The second problem is government Crazy Gorby and he'll beat 'em. Fifty percent off. Come to !" Crazy Gorbyhis offers are The Journal's editors understand the hazards of being innn-saaaane- intervention. A federal ruling would require by a simplistic and superficially inviting arms teachers to set aside a moment for silent or duped control proposal. Others, however, have commended the spoken prayer. Currently an amendment, approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would reverse a Supreme Court ruling that barred public schools from holding a moment of silence if OPINION BY John students were encouraged to pray. The government has no right to get involved in spiritual learning of students. Why? Because Christians aren't the only students attending America's schools. Fortunately the poll did not show support from the majority of Jewish respondents. Finally, opponents of a prayer bill say that the United States and its Constitution were founded on religion. Maybe so. But, America's founding fathers were more likely than not of the same faith. They lived in an era in which there wasn't such a variety of culture and religion. Their views on God and religion may not have been the same, but they were similar. We're living in an era in which religion isn't a dominant force in many lives. There is a time and a place for everything, including prayer. Classtime and schools are neither the time nor the place to pray. Soviets' call for a 50 percent cut in strategic weapons and a ban on weapons in space, while criticizing President Reagan for his seemingly intractable position in the jockeying. Such a position demonstrates the dangerously seductive appeal of simple solutions and the hazards of misunderstanding the principles of negotiation. Simple solutions have been offered before on behalf of world peace. The nuclear freeze movement was largely promulgated by activists who traded public appeal for public policy attractiveness. The World Constitution and Parliament Association has naively called for 'No Nukes Now' and the 'outlawing' of nuclear weapons. In the best of all possible worlds, such solutions would be viable. Today, in our world, they are not. The Soviets have become quite good, as has the U.S., in making arms controls proposals which further their own security objectives while presenting a facade of equity. The latest offer is no exception. pre-sum- mit Although the U.S. enjoys a slight margin over the Soviets in total warheads, 1,494 to 9,468, the Soviets have built a edge in land --based ICBM warheads. These are the missiles which pose the greatest threat to American security. Long-rang- e, swift, and accurate, Soviet ICBMs pose a first-stricapability. In knocking out U. S. land potential military targets, a Soviet first strike would certainly leave 1 3-t- o-l ke Editorial Board: Peter Behle, Marva Bickle, Shauna Bona, Lisa Carricaburu, Shia Kapos, Chronicle N. Zaratzian Reporters Debbie E. Milne, John Youngren. The Daily Utah Chronicle is an independent student newspaper published during fall, winter and spring quarters, excluding test weeks and quarter breaks, by the University Publications Council. Editorials reflect the opinion of the editorial board, and not necessarily the opinions of the student body or the administration. Subscriptions are S25 a year, S10 an academic quarter. All subscriptions must be prepaid. Forward all subscription corresBuspondence, including change of address, to the 240 Union, iness Manager, Daily Utah Chronicle, University of Utah, Salt Lake uty, utan ou. Editor-in-Chi- ef Associate Editor News Editor .... Editorial Editor Sports Editor City Editor Photography Editor Copy Editor Asst. Editorial Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Extra Editor Peter Behle Debbie Eldredge Milne Lisa Carricaburu Shia Kapos John Youngren y. . . Marva Bickle Steve Griffin Dory Donner Shauna Bona Mike Prater Fara Warner Although air and sea nuclear delivery systems pose less of an immediate threat to nuclear escalation because of their slower delivery (which provides sufficient time to recall an attack), the Soviet proposal docs not treat them more leniently. It proposes a 50 percent reduction in all "relevant" systems. For their forces, this definition is limited to those weapons capable of reaching the U.S. and excludes SS-2- 0 missiles aimed at Europe. For our forces, all missiles in the arsenal would be included. The U. S. total is thus inflated with respect to the Soviets', which is understated. Specifically, Moscow's offer would limit each side's arsenal to 6,000 nuclear te range forces excluded). The charges (Soviet inter-media- Soviet proposal would restrict any one category of weapons to 60 percent of the total figure, allowing it to maintain 3,600 of its ICBM warheads. The other major elements of the arms control plan were the ban on space weapons and an offer to negotiate arms control issues on the side with our Western European allies. France and Britain quickly rejected the idea of separate deals, discerning it as a propaganda ploy to drive a wedge in the NATO alliance. The ban on Star Wars, however, gets at the heart of Soviet aims for the summit. Fears of U.S. high tech and the Soviet economy's inability to withstand the sacrifices involved in a similar undertaking are the keystones of the present Russian mindset on arms control. Their chief goal for the summit is to limit Star Wars with the lowest possible reduction to their present nuclear arsenals. Viewed in these terms, the Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars, is more than Ronald Reagan's 'pet project'. It is America's most valuable bargaining chip in the superpower negotiations. Already, it has succeeded in bringing the Russians back to the negotiating table. The latest Soviet proposal does not reflect benign intentions on their part. Rather, it represents a willingness to explore a compromise that is in their national interests. John Zaratzian is a graduate student in finance. Loren Jorgensen Trudy Skogerboe Donn Walker Amy Page Photographer Business Manager Ad Representatives ed Drew Staffansen Dee Naquin Connie Watts Todd Crosland Robert McOmber Jill Aggeler Rick Chase , Alan Overmoe Mary Safi Accountant Classifieds Production Manager Production Assistants . John Hausknecht Typesetters Cartoonist Kay Andersen Dawn Bacher Robb Welch Randy Sheya Todd Crosland Janice Austin Mark Murphy Carrie Hadden Chris Dangerfield Rodney Dallin Marianne Macfarlane Mark McCune . . . Tony Markham |
