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Show ss3yd Hvin if i 2 THE GREEN SHEET Thursday, Dec. 22, 1988 c VrosCTixafDLi IX OUR READERS WRITIT Czjru Chris mJ HON EX S ) ' I am writing because I have no answer to this story. Maybe someone out there has it. It goes back to the 1930s when I was a teenager. We lived in Colorado and we moved to Iowa to a moderate-size- d town with about 35 churches and when Christmas came around, they would all display the Nativity scene next to the church. Some scenes had roofs over them and light inside as it gets dark in the winter about 4:30 p.m. There was snow and that is why there were roofs over the scenes. In those years there werent many who had cars but we would walk from one church to the next to look at the different ways each church made up its scene. Some were large and some were smaller. Some had straw on the floor anj some used cotton. Each was a little different from the others and we made as many as 4 trips to each before Christmas Day. There were as many as 25-3- 0 people at each church looking at the display. Then we moved to Chicago and that was the end of the Nativity scenes. Every Christmas after that it made no difference how things were going. All the family members were there for Christmas but there was always something missing. I would count the family members and the count was right but something still was missing. That happened on every Christmas. I got married and we had children and it was the same thing. As the years went by, the children got married and moved away. I moved to California and now it is Christmas time again. I was driving down Pearson Street one day. It was partly sunny, and as I was 3-- ' Nothing For Me Santa, But For Mom . . . Nativity Dear Santa: Ive been putting off writing to you this year. I guess my life is pretty full and I couldnt really think of anything I wanted. I mean, for years now Ive asked you to bring my mom a but I guess she hasnt been good, because she never gets one. I was going to ask for a skinny body, but I realize that you dont have the power to grant that wish. Only I do. Thats when I got to thinking, Santa, about all those things we think we need. Actually its - Wow, Santa, isnt that' a brilliant deduction on my part? Many of our wants are universal. Wed all like to see world peace. Except for those with the mentality that war means prosperity. Many of us are having a hard time believing that world peace can be achieved. I suppose Sigmund Marciniak 1354 Elliott Rd. Paradise, Calif. Does His Homework May I take this opportunity to let you know how much we at Granite School District appreciate having Ralph Goff assigned to cover our district. He does an excellent job of reporting the meetings of our Board of Education. The clarity of his writing and his superb ability to make difficult issues understandable is certainly a tremendous asset for the subscribers of your newspapers. We are particularly appreciative of Ralphs thoroughness and accuracy. He does his "homework" to make sure the stories he writes are correct in every way. This is a fine attribute. Over the year, The Green Sheet has been so helpful to our district. We hope that our continuing relationship will be as pleasant in the future as it has been in the past. Thanks for your service to Granite District and to the residents of Salt Lake County. Loren G. Burton Superintendent ' mm Scenes on Public Property? Albert J. Menendez is the author of The December Dilemma: Christmas in American Public Life and a specialist on church-stat- e matters. I Why do you support having Nativity scenes on public property? Our Founding Fathers never intended to diwill come back, Well weve all got some needs that should be filled and when ours are, we should be about helping others. We do a pretty good job of that this time of year, but we fall woefully short the rest of the time, Im afraid. Well, Santa, I didnt mean to wax so philosophical on you. Its just that I really cant think of anything I need to ask you for. Except maybe that one thing for my mom! if Ill let it. Perfection. I wonder how much we really want that one. And what would we do with ourselves if we ever achieved it?' Perhaps its better that it remain some barely unattainable thing that we can almost reach but never quite master. I think we actually want perfection more in others than for ourselves. Material things? and You Your Child: if we all practiced what the angel said that night about good will toward men it could. Most of us want more money, despite the signs that money by JIM CAMPBELL really is the root of all evil. Maybe Utah Education Association President we need a computer program on how to get along better with what A teacher who came from doctor, he shouldnt do it at all." this a "less bright" Sometimes, money weve got. Add that to my another country gave student will fool both the teacher list, Santa. That and a little illustration: If a Japanese mother has two and the mother. willpower. Good health would be nice. childre- n- one very bright and the That happens when motiviation While for the most part we control ' other not very bright, she will say compensates for any our own destiny, sometimes its to the less bright child: lack of brainpower. not our lot in life to enjoy good We 'You can be a doctor like your see when it the health. Most of us could enjoy brother. It will take you three does poorly in better health though if we wanted times as much hard work, but you reading at first, and later reads a to give up a few things that bring can do it. You will do it. You will Russian novel in a day. We see it us temporary pleasure. work three times harder." when the college student does But, according to the teacher, poorly on the law school aptitude Happiness. an American parent is likely to test, is admitted anyway, and Now theres a nebulous request. finishes in the top 10 percent of say to the less bright child: What makes one of us happy "You cant be a doctor like your her class. We see it when we dont expect might make another absolutely brother. You be will an miserable. But its something we automobile mechanic instead." it. But we see it far more often all claim to desire. Ive found it to Then the teacher made it plain when we do expect it. be a fleeting thing. Just when I that its Like the Japanese mother, if we okay to be an auto think Ive captured it, it develops mechanic, "but what were telling expect a lot from our children, e traits and flies away. the child is that just because it they often live up to that But Ive also discovered that it will take him longer to become a expectation. Success in School "late-bloome- -- bird-lik- Why Buy Kids War Toys Two of my favorite bumper stickers of the year are: "War is no game why buy war toys?" and "If you believe in peace why let your kids play at war?" Think about this when you go shopping this year. What purpose do war toys serve? You can argue for freedom of choice qnd expression, but it is hard to defend them on any other grounds. Even if you believe that we as a nation need to be constantly prepared to protect our freedom, these toys do not prepare youth for the realities of war any more than Barbie dolls prepare them for the realities of marriage, says Dr. Ann Austin, mother or five and early childhood specialist in he Utah State University College of Family Life. But, you say, war toys have always been with us. Before G.I. Joe there were cowboy and Indian toys, and before that kids probably tossed rocks and sticks at each other. Well, one of the differences is that new war toys have become less imaginative and more scripted. It is difficult to defend them even on the basis of fostering creativity. There used to be justgeneric good guys and bad guys, now there is a defined enemy. Most of the war toys are supported by cartoons and movies that tell the kids who the enemies are. One of the most popular of these "action figures" tells on the label whether or not this is an enemy or a good guy. On the back of the package is a short biography about this person. There is something both comical and eerie about this. For example, one reads "this is the type of person who butts in the front of lines and never leaves a tip she disguised herself as a dental assistant for six months and used poison dental floss on her victims." - And I had to stop and look, but you must remember that I am here all alone and the feeling I got seeing 'the Nativity scene is that everything was all right and I did not feel alone at all for the first time in 55 years. And I did not have to count to see if everyone was here or if someone was missing. After I went home, I thought about becoming a member of that church. Richard Cizik is research director for the Office of Public Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals and an author and lecturer on ethics issues. and church-stat- e son-in-la- usually want rather than need, at my house anyway. Only a very few of them can be granted by you. Or by anyone else for that matter. I guess weve just got to go out there and get whatever it is our hearts desire. a light came through the clouds like a spotlight and it was shinning on a Nativity scene at the church that had it set up for the people to see. driving, Something Was Missing if War Is No Game? As if going to the dentist isnt already frightening enough for kids, they have to plant the thought of evil dental hygienists in their minds. It is hard to shield your kids from war toys, even if you choose not to buy them, says Austin. Many of your childrens friends will have them. You may even have relatives who insist on giving them to your children as gifts. She says maybe the best you can do is make your own house a demilitarized zone. You can just explain to your children that they can play with war toys at friends or at grandmas house, but they cant bring them home. This allows them respect for others as well as your beliefs. Dr. Shelley Lindauer, director of the child development lab in the USU College of Family Life, says she keeps war toys out of the lab campus, but the kids still know about guns. When a policemen comes to class to talk to them, often the first thing they want to see in his gun. They talk about resolving conflicts by "blowing away" the other person. Another problem with war toys is that they are Last year Burbank, becoming too realistic-lookinCalif., banned toy guns that are replicas of the real thing such as machine guns. This year several toy gun manufacturers are painting the muzzle of their orange to make them more guns day-glodistinquishable from the real thing. War toys require that there be an enemy, Austin says. Maybe conflict is just a reality of life, but maybe it is that way because we are always preparing ourselves for conflict. Dennis Hinkamp g. w N vorce the expression of peoples faith from public places. Thus, the reasonable use of public prop- whether in court, Congress or airport conerty course for a religious expression has been lawful and accepted since our nations beginning. The Constitution requires functional, not physical, separation of church and state. Reasonable accommodation of all religions, not repression, is the law. To eliminate Nativity scenes is to engage in a kind of cultural censorship that mandates, in effect, a contrived exclusion of religion from public life. Havent the courts said that it is acceptable to have Nativity scenes on public property? The Supreme Court in its wisdom upheld in Lynch vs. Donnelly (1984) the constitutionality of a Nativity scene on public property at government expense. The court found that it met a three-patest: have a secular purpose, have a primary effect neither advancing nor inhibiting religion, and not involve excessive entanglement between church and state. The creche was held to be no more advancement or endorsement of religion than, for example, exhibition of religious paintings in government-supported museums. The manger scene served a legitimate secular purpose of depicting the historical origins of this sacred event long recognized as a national holiday, and thus, did not create excessive entanglement. rt Do you consider it a shame that we must go through this argument each year? Yes. The argument is revived because a minority of objectors in good conscience have the freedom to raise it, and the media loves a squabble. Its also a result of the tendency to forget the constructive public role of religion in a free society. Formal contention of the legal issues involved will bring refinement of the reasonable boundaries. May God help us to contest with civility. Fill I Why do you oppose having Nativity scenes on public property? The government has no business erecting a sacred religious symbol at Christmastime. The , reason for this is simple: Under our Constitution the government is forfederal, state or local bidden from meddling in religious matters. And that includes sponsorship of activities which are religious in nature. The founders of this great nation had a new vision of religious liberty for all citizens. Every American can worship or not worship as he or she chooses. Government does not encourage or discourage religious participation or practice. That hands-of- f policy has worked well for two centuries. Haven't the courts said that it is acceptable to have Nativity scenes on public property? Not really The Supreme Court held that religious symbols could be included in a publicly sponsored Christmas exhibit only if secular symbols were also included. A Nativity scene alone would not be acceptable. This means that religious symbols, which many people cherish deeply, must be diluted just enough to be inoffensive. This strikes at the integrity of religion itself. the kind that Truly vital religious experience makes a difference in peoples lives does not need governmental endorsement or a ritualistic salute from public authorities. Do you consider it a shame that through this argument each year? we must go Yes, but it would be more of a shame if our fundamental constitutional liberties were lost. The real shame lies in attitudes that harm good relationships between people of different religious faiths. Respect for the feelings of those who are not the majority is a good civics lesson to promote, at Christmas and throughout the year. Peace on Earth and good will among humankind start at home. Let our churches erect Nativity scenes, and let the courthouse square belong to everyone. M 4)1988, PM Editorial Services 03O TWEED SPORTCOATS Compare at $1 50.00 Fully Lined A K3 B CB1 a0 g TRM Offfl I |