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Show TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2001 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Know You're Not Alone A Mistaken Moderation Nice to freedoms are so sacred and valu- Editor, This is in response to a particularly disturbing opinion article in The Daily Utah Chronicle Feb. 28 titled, "Leave firmly held convictions in the closet" by James Seaman. At first glance it seems to be a little stab at the Republican Party, but Seaman goes way beyond that. This article is offensive to freedom lovers and anyone who has ever stood up for something to effect change for the better. He criticizes these "extremists," contradicts himself, and even misquotes a great leader. Mr. Seaman says that it is inherently logical that "in reality, nothing is absolute," when speaking of values and truth. In other words Seaman claims that it is an absolute truth that there is no absolute truth (nice paradox). Seaman also criticizes Patrick Henry's declaration of "Give me liberty or give me death." I thank God for the good men who were willing to give up their lives in defense of the freedoms that we able. Seaman is correct in the fact that many of the freedoms originally g men. applied to white for if weren't it However, people who stood up for their beliefs, slavery would still be here today along land-ownin- with a myriad of other wrongs that have been changed by men and women who courageously stood by their values and convictions. Barry Goldwater, in my opinion, was one of these great men who stood by their convictions and was misquoted by many people, includ- Editor: I would like to thank Carlos Ponce for exposing the readers of The Daily Utah Chronicle to a book that forever changed my life and should be required reading for anyone professing to love knowledge and its rewards. Until I read Carlos' column, I had never encountered anyone else who d had even heard of The World, let alone actually read it. It is a great thing to know there are still a few people dedicated to skepticism and scientific inquiry in Demon-Haunte- The correct wording of the quote "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, and let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." One of the definitions of extremism is "of a character or kind farthest removed from the ordinary or average, the utmost of highest degree." Luckily, not everyone is willing to succumb to following all the popular trends and ideas. After all, "You've gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything." Maybe Mr. Seaman is the jelly doughnut. enjoy. James should at least appreciate the freedom of speech which he so freely uses and abuses. Maybe if he studied a little history he would see why these e ignosociety becoming rant and uninterested in learning the habits of skeptical thought. It is a sad thing to know that there are still people being duped into believing that evolution is only a theory, that the earth is only 6,000 years old, and that the "Founding Fathers" intended for this to be a "Christian" nation. As long as there are people like Rev. Pat Robertson fighting against secular scientific education in public schools, people like us will have our work cut out for us. Whenever a religious institution makes claims ever-mor- stemming from the supernatural that are scientifically testable, science has a duty to evaluate and refute those statements as ferociously as it would any new claims from within its own ranks. Unfortunately, the intellectual community has become slow to respond to threats from pseudo-scienc- e and antiscience, due mainly to fear of a mainstream backlash. Thank you for not being afraid to rational stand for skeptical, thought. ZACK JENSEN Junior, Political Science The Daily Utah Chronicle RAYETTA CROFT Salt Lake City, Utah i Innovation's Real Focus Editor: tion party. The person who made the comment is himself not a candidate, but, rather, a campaign volunteer. It is unfortunate that this individual commented on his personal beliefs while representing the Innovation party. Prior to Monday's letter, religion had not entered into the dialogue between myself and other Innovation party candidates. Rather, we have discussed the party's support of diverse groups, such as the Lesbian and Gay Student Union (LGSU), of which I am a part, and the willingness of our presidential candidates to offer support to all students. I chose to run with the Innovation party because I viewed them as individuals whose views correspond with mine. I do not belong to LDSSA. I do not believe that the fact that I do not belong to LDSSA was ever an issue for Innovation party leadership when choosing me as a representative of their party. write in response to a letter printed in Monday's edition of The Daily Utah Chronicle, under the title I "A a ing James Seaman. is, Religious Campaign." This letter accused the Innovation party of being strictly an entity of the Latter-da- y Saint Student Association The (LDSSA). opinion portrayed by Michele Burchett was formulated in response to an individual campaigning for the Innovation party asserting that "the Church is true." As a result Ms. Burchett drew the assumption, and justifiably so, that the Innovation party was promoting religious ideals in addition to their platform on campus politics. The assumption was also made that the Innovation pa'rty, in its entirety, is made up of members of LDSSA. As a candidate for assembly with the Innovation party, I write to refute this assumption. While the actions of the individual who asserted his beliefs concerning divine truth were inappropriate and uncalled for, they do not represent the beliefs or platform of the Innova hard-worki- ARLYN RAY BRADSHAW Junior, Political Science is now accepting applications for Editor-in-Chifor the 2001-200- 2 academic year. Applications are available in Union Room 255. Dealine for applications is arch 19m. 2001 at 5 pi ef Funding for Student ublicatioii! Publications Council is making available funding for student publications for the 2001-200- 2 academic year. Applications are available at the Chonicle Office, 236 Union. Deadline is March 23d1 at 5 pm ' i fESfYiiltS continued 6 from paga have in campus goverMnce. ' Thank you. for your attempts to validate the apathetic feelings of those students v.'ho believe that student government is a joke. Thank you for those additional' efforts which kept .turnout ridiculously .low and demonstrated that,'. without a broadly based mandate, no student government leader will have any real standing, with university officials when it comes to discussing the issues that really affect students. I have been at the university for less than seven months and, after seeing virtually every poster campaign defaced, I am asking: "Is this what is supposed to happen on the campus of a major university?" LES R0KA Faculty, Communication 7 it, FEBRUARY IB m Utah Museum of Natural History MAY 13, X w mm |