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Show Utah Statesman Opinion: Monday, March X2QQ7AI "• •ccw LETTERS From page 10 From page 10 excellent choice. God bless America. fans have rushed the court and put my friends and me in danger of getting trampled. It needs to stop. So grow up and learn to have some selfcontrol. Taylor Howard Deciding religion's place Lydia Wheeler A religious candidate is best To the editor: A recent letter published in The Statesman regarding To the editor: politics and religion I feel brought up a very difficult In response to a letter of issue that must be faced by all March 2nd, the writer's pro- of us and soon. Does religion agnostic views have no truth- have a place in politics? Right ful concept concerning faith now our troops are fighting and reason. In his arguments an Islamo-facist war in which against faith, he lacks clear politics and religion are being insight into the current situ- confused. We are also fightation of our great country ing a battle in Washington and its political realities. For every day regarding the place instance, only a man of faith of religious views in polican hope to solve our prob- tics. Decisions regarding the lems in Iraq and elsewhere. issues of abortion, stem-cell Like, the only way we can research, the Iraq war, gay hope to leave Iraq a success- marriage and I might even ful democracy is through a stretch to say global warmgreat amount of prayer and ing have a religious element a miracle (or two). A presi- to them. Religious views dent unwilling to pray for and opinions of religion will our troops has no place to always determine what our be in the White House. If country is. not for our current president's The word religion stems faith, I'm sure many more from Latin; re-ligation or a American soldiers would be re-connection, meaning a reinjured and worse. So if Mr. connection to a higher power. Romney, a successful one- 'Whether a person is an atheterm governor and Olympic ist or not they will have coordinator isn't the best beliefs regarding God. Either faithful candidate, so be it. God exists or God does not Maybe another recent ex- and that belief will determine Olympian in the news (Rulon " that persons actions. A belief Gardener), strong in stature in God merely complicates and faith would be another things because now the indi- vidual needs to take God's opinion of issues into account, mat is where organized religion helps teach its followers God's opinion. Religious beliefs do influence the decisions of political leaders and law makers. "Thank Heaven" (pun intended) our founding fathers had ties to organized religions that helped them figure out what would be best for our new country. Belongingtoa religion does not force you into a certain action, it only influences your actions. The LDS faith highly encourages its members to not drink alcohol, however some still drink, may I also add that the LDS faith encourages equality among all men and there is no teaching in that religion regarding color as a qualification for inequality (see 2 Nephi 26:33). The Catholic church believes in the commandment "thou shalt not commit adultery" (see Exodus 20:14) but it still happens within that faith. The Muslim faith promotes peace (Q 2:263), yet some of its members are highly involved in violence. The tricky part to this issue is the membership in a religion does not guarantee specific actions, it only encourages them. gun is not on the banned list. Also, anyone who champions this bill needs to address the legitimate uses of these weapons. They are useful for hunting, self-defense, target and competition shooting. To formulate a legitimate argument against these weapons one needs to have a basic understanding for what they are being used for. It is not sufficient to say they have no use. The purpose of the Second Amendment was not designed to facilitate criminals in murdering unsuspecting civilians. From my research the Second Amendment was designed to give "the people" the responsibility and ability to protect themselves, their communities and their nation. As a nation we have drifted from this responsibility. We now consider ourselves just to leave those duties solely in the hands of paid professionals. I can think of few things more unethical than sending a police officer to face possible death when we ourselves are unwilling to take the same risk and face the same danger. 95 E. 400 N. Logan 752-9673 Brigadier General John McAuly Palmer explained why this attitude is so dangerous in a republic. "Standing To state that religion should armies threaten government have no place in politics and by the people, not because law-making agendas, how- they consciously seek to perever, is absurd. That arena vert liberty, but because they is where religion needs to be relieve the people themselves of the duty of self-defense. used the most. A people accustomed to let Ryan Jackson a special class defend them must sooner or later become unfit for liberty." It is imperative that we reexamine our own attitudes. A government by the people will not work if enough major Iraqi communities have come together citizens constantly avoid the on a defining piece of legislation. A national responsibilities of citizenship. reconciliation that stabilizes Iraq can be Just because a responsibility achieved if similar compromises are "*;.:'* is easier to contract out (sucn on the future of de-Baathification and on as gun ownership) does not amending the constitution. The agreement mean we should. Dan Call is a member of the on the oil law should give us confidence that Iraqis are willing and able to take the steps armed forces and a student at needed for Iraq's success. USU. Comments can be sent Zalmay Khalilzad is the U.S. ambassador to to dancall@cc.usu.edu. IRAQ OIL From page 10 Arriving at this agreement was not easy. It has taken other countries years to complete such legislation. While negotiating this law presented special challenges for the federal government, the Kurdistan regional government and the leaders of key political blocs, the approval of the draft by the Council of Ministers sets a precedent for problem-solving and cooperation that is critical to the stabilization and development of Iraq. This is the first time-since 2003 that all •s\-. 2 DC leg i? hiSn combo •Drink may be substituted for another side dish. 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