Love/Hate Mail
All verklempt
After reading the April 1 headline, "Here Come the Jews," my first reaction in disgust was, "Are you out of your mind?" My second reaction, after realizing that it was an April Fool's joke, was, "Could you be any more insensitive?" Headlines are powerful and stirring instruments that can breed negativity. They should not be abused, even in jest. So in keeping with your tradition of bad taste and insensitivity, I'm afraid your follow-up story might read something like this:
"Hoping to run what seemed like a great scoop, the Scene printed the headline "Here Come the Jews!" in our latest edition. Most readers, unaware of the subtle humor, were immediately frightened and ran for comfort to the safety of their homes. Red Coulter, twin brother of Ann Coulter and former Klan member, called his wife and proclaimed, "The Jews are coming, hide the children!" Sensing a looming crisis, the Scene retracted the headline as fear gripped the otherwise sleepy town. "We had no idea this would cause such a stir," exclaimed Scene editor Paul Revere. "It's a good thing we didn't run our first headline idea, 'The Yids are Coming, The Yids are Coming!' "
Anyway, all's well that ends well. The Jews aren't really coming, and we can sleep peacefully knowing that, if they do come, the Scene will warn us first.
Alan Cohen
acohen@sharelink.net (Nashville)
Charter ain't smarter, or so she say
No. More charter schools are not what Nashville or any city needs ("Let 'Em Rip," April 1). Our limited school funding distribution should be used for the public schools, not an alternative. So-called "Old School" teachers know how to teach—and know how to teach young, poor, hungry, angry, parentless—and have throughout their careers. The philosophy and techniques used by Smithson-Craighead Academy and other successful schooling ventures are ones that should be used as examples and put to work in the traditional public schools. Better to utilize such approaches within the current schools and move them to continue their successes than foster further depletion of their meager resources by establishing what is or would become a separate and unequal public charter school system.
Jane Fort
janefort@webtv.net (Nashville)
Jesus was just all right with them
Richard Merryman (Love/Hate Mail, April 1) will never be free so long as he continues to be ignorant of the facts about the Christian faith and the founding fathers. This completely historically inaccurate Christian demagoguery has gone unchallenged and uncorrected so long that most citizens have come to accept it as fact. Thomas Jefferson was not a Christian. He was a Deist, a believer in "natural law." He said of Christianity: "I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature." George Washington said, "The U.S. government is not based upon the principles of the Bible." A careful reading of Abraham Lincoln indicates that he was at least an agnostic and very likely an atheist. The Christian zealots always quote the Ben Franklin proposal to open the Constitutional Convention sessions in Philadelphia with a prayer. They neglect to finish the story. James Madison said there was no chaplain and no money to hire one. Only three other delegates spoke in favor of the prayer proposal, and eventually it died.
The founding fathers were students of the 18th century Enlightenment, and based their ideas about government on the works of David Hume, John Locke, Erasmus, Voltaire, Rousseau, as well as ancient Greek and Roman philosophers. They were much more interested in their own power than they were in the power of the Lord. They believed fundamentally in reason, not religious faith, and fashioned a government based on the notion that educated and informed people could rule themselves without descent into tyranny. An avoidance of religious zealotry over the governmental process was a key feature of avoiding the tyranny of the majority over the lives and property of unpopular minorities. It has taken us 200 years, countless political campaigns, endless court battles, a Civil War and the deaths of tens of thousands to extend those protections to all citizens regardless of race, national origin, religion or gender. The state of Tennessee, along with other states, now wants to take a huge leap backward based on nothing other than pure religious bigotry and prejudice. The founding fathers would be appalled.
Curtis Balls
curtisballs@bellsouth.net (Nashville)
Love the ladies
Kudos to Jack Hurst for his excellent analysis of Lady Commodore Hillary Hager, who exemplifies the characteristics of the premier college athlete ("The Lady Captain," March 25), and for his recent profile of Vanderbilt women's coach Melanie Balcomb as well. If you're not going to the Lady Commodores' basketball games, then you're missing out on the most exciting sport in Nashville.
Saralee Woods
saraleewoods@comcast.net (Nashville)
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