4 OPINION Page 4 Sunday, November 23, 1980 The Michigan Daily You don't even have to be Catholic If etiquette experts think politics and religion bad topics for polite conversation individually, they should try compounding the sin by discussing religion in a political setting - like the editorial page of a secular daily newspaper, for instance. Virtually any time this newspaper (or any other, I would imagine), has seen fit to criticize a particular religious institution's actions or philosophy, we have received letters decrying Obiiquit y By Joshua Peck sin: for his stances against "artificial" methods of birth control, against freedom of choice in abortion, and against homosexuality. We inevitably hear via the mails and in face-to- face confrontations about our alleged arrogan- ce: "How dare you pronounce judgement on a theological matter of which you have no under- standing, when infinitely more experienced and wise men have deliberated centuries to come up with the tenets of the Catholic faith?" How dare we? I cannot speak for all my colleagues, but I feel perfectly at east with non- Catholic criticism of the Catholic church. Religion does have an obligation to the world at large, and it is easy to spot religious movemen- ts, individuals, and ideas that do not meet that obligation. I acknowledge, whether or not I like it, that most of the world's people, and virtually all of its politicians, act primarily in their own in- terest. The actions politicians take always benefit some segment of the population as well, but there is a long-term personal reward for those elected officials who manage to do well consistently by some significant portion of the population. Religion, at least the Judeo-Christian variety, claims to be above all that selfish scut- tling about the business that will propagate and perpetuate the individual's power, wealth, and happiness. Thereis, of course, a large part of every religion that deals strictly with Man's relation- ship with his creator, which is no concern of the secular world. The practice of prayer comes to mind as one element of religious devotion that, is clearly immune from worldly con- siderations. But those worshippers who imagine that all their religiously-related actions are ,equally private are mistaken. There is evidence, even in the Good Book itself, that religious directives concerning man's relationship with his fellow man bear equal weight-at least-with more 'personal matters. The Ten Commandments, embraced as the basic tenets of both the Jewish and Christian faiths, are divided by theologians into two distinct categories: Law concerning man and God, and that concerning man and man. The first are matters that clearly belong in the private sphere: "I am the lord thy God," "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain," and so forth. But now the rest: Thou shalt not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness against your neighbor, or covet his spouse or- possessions. These are matters of civic respon- sibility more than they are of faith. Surely argumentation-over such matters belongs in the public sphere, even if the source is said to be divine, Once the hurdle barring secular examination of moral precepts is surmounted, religious sources yield much fascinating material that give clues to the hidden and overt sources of Biblical morality. One particularly relevant example can be found in Genesis 38:8-10. It concerns a young man, Onan (etymologists will recognize the name), who had the unfortunate experience of being slaughtered by the good Lord for the sin of wasting his semen - he chose to spill it on the ground rather than depositing it in his sister-in-law. Onan's fate is at the root of all the pope's notions barring non-reproductive sexual ac- tivity, from masturbation to homosexuality (though this is proscribed elsewhere as well) to the use of contraception in heterosexual inter- course. The authors of the Bible evidently believed, like many other people of their day, that the capacity to reproduce was limited and therefore precious, and that wasting semen was tantamount to murder. This ethic looks a little silly in light of the modern understanding that even normal inter- course "murders" the potential population of a good-sized city or two. But that may be just the point: Religious reaction to secular criticism has to be quick and angry if it's to be successful in keeping the godless world from debunking such religious superstition as the Onan story. Those who prefer reason to mythology ought not to be swayed by ecclesiastical admonitions to "stay out of our business." When, indeed, has religious blundering ever been corrected by any within a given faith? It is, in fact, the responsibility of the skeptical world to peel back the obscuring folds of Faith. No one else will do it. Joshua. Peck is the co-editor of the Daily's Opinion page. His column appears every Sunday. . , *. a .F. a A t g us for daring to attack on secular grounds the private decisions of religious authorities. It has happened in response to mention of the Unification Church (Moonies, for the uninitiated), and when we have subjected the Mormon Church to barbs for various matters of bad taste such as its racism and sexism. But the religious institution that finds its name on this page most often is one with a history richer and slightly more influential than either the Korea- or Utah-based sects. I speak, of course, of the Roman Catholic Chur- eh. We have scolded the pope for all manner of ,, ; Pope John Paul 11 -r Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan 420 Maynard St. Vol. XC1, No. 70 Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Porter, SAID ticket are clear LSA-SG choices Feiffer NOW WL)aa 'W U.~. efATrrWHEA1 1Pir'WE F(R$T L2ARJ %MI A PS11C MIL4TARY !E ER pEFE7sc1 ESS 1kBA-.AIJC6E'IT'S A ~ATOI3AL-t- r4W 'HE RUS(P4)? j; WAS IT (W. UYSO ITH KH ROSHCHEV ? 11 THE ALTERNATIVES in this week's LSA-Student Government Oection are very clear-continued progress or regression. At the polls tomorrow and Tuesday, students will hlave the opportunity to determine the direction that LSA-SG will follow in the doming year. There is clearly only one 4hoice. In the LSA-SG presidential election, Sue Porter offers the ability and courage to fight hard for student interests against a University ad- m~inistration that has long been reluc- tant to include students in its decision- snaking process. Porter's opponent is Tim Lee of the Student Alliance for Better Represen- (ation. He offers stagnation at best, and regression at worst, for LSA-SG. Porter, who is heading the Students for Academic and Institutional bevelopment ticket, has shown a ;riving consistency in her work with LSA-SG that is essential to success in the slow process of gaining real student influence in administrative Decisi'ons. Furthermore, as an LSA-SG veteran, Porter has proven her ability to work in assertive cooperation with members of the faculty and the ad- inistration. She has shown an un- swerving commitment to winning a student voice in administrative decisions regarding the impending Oudget cuts, to pushing the University to develop an effective program to ieet its affirmative action goals, and to dramatically improving the qualifications of teaching assistants. Porter and her running mate Margaret Talmers will seek greater student input into budget-cutting decisions through work on faculty and administrative committees. Porter has already proven successful at asserting student views during her tenure as chairwoman of the Student- Faculty Policy Board. In that position, Porter fought hard to defend and ex- pand student influence in decisions that directly affect the quality of education. Lee, on the other hand, seems to lack any clear direction. He speaks in vague terms of an overhaul of the prominent role in his judgments as LSA-SG president. Currently, one of LSA-SG's major functions is the allocatton of funds to student organizations. Lee freely admits that his decisions as president regarding which campus groups would receive LSA-SG funds would be based largely on his evaluation of the political at- titudes of the organization. For exam- ple, Lee said he would "absolutely" at- tempt to block funding to any left-wing or radical student group. Clearly, one of the great virtues of this campus lies in the diversity of its students and their organizations. For any student government president to allow personal prejudices to enter into funding decisions is un- conscionable. Indeed, most desirable would be a redirection of LSA-SG's focus away from an emphasis upon allocations and more toward efforts to improve the quality of academics. But, if allocations continue to be a major fun- ction of LSA-SG, funds must be distributed on the basis of the con- tribution a given group makes to cam- pus life-not on the basis of politics. Perhaps most disturbing, Lee has shown himself to be prone to commen- ts and actions which are less than well thought out. In fact, one can never be quite sure what to expect next from Lee. He simply has not exhibited the maturity essential to effective negotiation with faculty and ad- ministration officials. The anti-SAID smear campaign of distortion he has been waging is clear evidence of that. Students for Academic and In- stitutional Development is the clear choice for a responsible and effective student government that will fight for student interests. The accomplishments that the SAID leadership has made in LSA-SG during the past year are not achievements which are usually glorified. They are the silent victories in closed-door negotiations with the administration. They are the hard-fought gain of one more student seat on the ad- ministration committee for the selec- t' -- -P - _--' T C4* -1- - r1_- .- -U- EN~l.I1AS15It IN) I SAtA,)? S 0 EAR"M 6. gI l'~f{ r)1~ D9 yIN 4 LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Federal mandatory deposit la To the Daily: Although the State of Michigan has enacted a beverage con- tainer law, the nationwide problem still exists. Some people may wonder how something as inconsequential as a beverage container can arouse so much national attention. The interest lies in the fact that "the volume of these throwaway articles had grown to the unbelievable num- ber of seventy billion bottles and cans by 1977. If these containers were placed end to end, they would circle the globe nearly two hundred times." The impact of throwaway beverage containers is heightened each time one glances at a field along the road only to realize it has been transformed into a litterer's paradise. The situation is especially dishear- tening when a nature scene is ruined by the sight of a rusted beer can. Something can be done. The federal government should establish a mandatory deposit law for beverage containers. One might ask, why not just* use the litter laws that are already on the books? The an- swer is that these state or local laws are by and large unenfor- ceable. In addition, a federal law is necessary to eliminate the uneven application that is an un- constitutional burden on inter- state commerce. The opponents of deposit legislationhave argued that there would be a large num- ber of jobs lost adding to the unemployment rate that could be attributed to returnable bottles. However, due to the mehaniatinof the bottle and three to four month adjustment period even this cost could be minimized. On the average, throwaways cost thirty percent more to produce than retur- nables. The National League of Women Voters, in cooperation with the Environmental Protec- tion Agency, surveyed twenty- four states and determined that beverages in refillable containers were actually cheaper for con- sumers. There are some powerful arguments in favor of a national deposit law. A mandatory law would reduce the consumption of raw materials in the container manufacturing process, in- cluding 'energy. The National Commission of Supplies and Shortages reported that one step to avoid future shortages of raw materials is the establishment of a mandatory deposit on beverage containers. Foresighted leaders in the beverage industry even admit that there may soon be materials problems due to the accelerating rate of consum- ption. Of_ course, studies of resource savings focus on that precious commodity, energy. The Administration Resource Con- servation Committee reports a system of reusing bottles and cans would use only a third as much energy as the current system. Another form of savings iden- tified with the establishment of a deposit law is an item everyone is concerned about, the taxpayer's money. Between 55 and 70 per- cent of all roadside litter is bot- tles andcans and the enormous cost of disposing of the millions of suitable is often impossible to find. Those sites that are found are located at longer distances, which means inevitably rising costs. The solution is to reduce the solid waste that the cities must handle. Another effect of the deposit law, which cannot be analyzed in terms of cost, is the observed reduction in roadside litter. This is the basis for most of the legislation's most popular sup- port. As a society, we cannot put a price on beauty. However, the public is becoming more and more aware of the value and vulnerability of a clean environ- ment. A law cannot be truly ef- fective unless it has popular, sup- port. Polls taken in many states where container laws have been in effect for a few years show w needed over 90 percent in favor of the law. The very high return rate also demonstrates the law's potential effectiveness. Michigan is jusI one of seven states which have already passed mandatory deposit legislation on their own. Finally, on a nationwide basis; a poll was taken that showed 73 percent in favor of a federal laW requiring all soft drinks, and beer to be sold in returnable con- tainers. Therefore, Congress shouid enact legislation to improve our: environment while conserving' both raw materials and tax; dollars. A federal mandatory; deposit law would represent our' commitment to a cleaner America. -Patricia Brooks November 11 I I 4 T c ft 1! b ti t w n u v d h c 9 0 Nuke waste disposal risky o the Daily. deemed geologically unsound, at Almost unnoticed by Michigan which point the Nuclear- itizens, Governor Milliken has Regulatory Commission cans ormed acommittee to study his celled its plans to bury wastes: .976 decision that banned the there. If the U.S. government; urial of radioactive wastes in pulled back, one wonders'why' he state. On this committee of Milliken is pushing the issue. ' hirteen (twelve men and one Waste from the Michigan reac- woman), ten have affirmed pro- tors is currently shipped to a ce&t- uclear power affiliations or per- tral site in Illinois. That is not an ,onal interests, acceptable solution either, for Now, if the governor wanted an accidents may occur in the ship- nbiased report on the ad- ping process. Most nuclear isability of nuclear waste waste is unlabeled, and even the lisposal in Michigan, why would driver does not know the contents ie choose a committee of such a of his cargo. Furthermore, it is omposition? Obviously, the unfair to dump our waste in overnor has his mind made up another state. n this issue and just wants an of- However, while there is