4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 3, 2002 OP/ED I ate £idbigun !14aftg 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com NOTABLE QUOTABLE CHIP CULLEN GRINDING THE Nm POO.Wg~A~Q RC Yu LIVING NEXT YEAR? [FOUR ANSWERS] EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 JON SCHWARTZ Editor in Chief JOHANNA HANINK Editorial Page Editor cc, don't appreciate Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. him being called a drug dealer. I think that was really inappropriate." 1'MAMOVING BACK TO0 WEST QUAD. I'M GV-1N G MY OWN~ S\01M I'M VINNIX Y MOav G INfTO AN APARTMENT. 0 i - Howell parent Jean Stone, on her son's suspension from Northwest Elementary, as quoted in yesterday's Ann Arbor News. The 11-year-old was one of20 Northwest students to be suspended for the distribution of plastic baggies containing Kool-Aid powder, Jell-O mix and sugar. M1LWAI L ACxSON GUY DNCS I I L CJ? &LYE LV~. YL c~ekAbene -._ The multicultural barrier to a more secular world NICK WOOMER BACK TO THE WOOM it's time to put an end to ing AIDS and other misery across the developing for its literary value, but in order to "appreciate" multiculturalism and its world as a result of its no birth control policy is its supposed spiritual value I have to first be open sickly cousin political similarly mostly ignored so as not to offend our to certain assumptions - ones that, for petty rea- correctness. Rather than multicultural sensibilities. sons such as a total lack of evidence, I am quite encouraging enlightened The point here is that multiculturalist senti- unwilling to grant. appreciation of cultures other ments - that peoples' sacred institutions ought Thus, the multiculturalist would present me than one's own and recogniz- not to be interrogated, mocked, questioned or ... with the following, totally nonsensical dilemma: ing the horrors of western exposed solely because they are sacred - have If I reject the divine origin of the Koran, then I imperialism - both laudable prevented, countless times, legitimate criticisms cannot properly appreciate it, and if I cannot goals - multiculturalism has and conclusions from being publicly voiced apro- properly appreciate the Koran but I nevertheless become a barrier to penetrating criticism of insti- pos of some people's sacred cows. continue to reject its divine origin then I am igno- tutions and practices some people hold dear. This rant. So basically, if I were to hurt the feelings of is an issue that conservatives and a growing num- Hypocrisy a devout Muslim by telling him or her that the ber of radicals agree on - although for very dif- Why it's OK for black rappers to use the N- Koran is just as man made (and man-inspired) as ferent reasons. word is only the tip of the iceberg. While simulta- the Bible, The Celestine Prophecy or, for that All multiculturalists are guilty of one of the neously proclaiming respect for all cultures, it is matter, a Danielle Steel novel, I would be igno- following: 1) they gloss over truth for the sake of no secret that many-a-multiculturalist will allow rant. cultural sensitivity, 2) they are hypocrites, 3) they the criticism of WASP culture (which, more often The result of this diabolic ideology, then, is to embrace an unacceptable level of moral rela- than not, deserves to be attacked) while making equate "insensitivity" (or frankness) with igno- tivism. criticism of minority cultures far more treacher- rance - positions are ignorant, then, if they ous. offend; that can't be good for free, public dis- Hiding the truth Additionally though, we are all allowed to course. In his latest column for The Nation, Christo- criticize any group we may have been bom into. pher Hitchens notes the lackadaisical approach Under multiculturalism, since I was raised Moral relativism most in the media have taken to the "revelations" Catholic it isn't considered bigotry for me to This one's pretty easy. The radical multicul- that the goodly Rev. Billy Graham is an anti- blame a good part of the world AIDS epidemic turalist refuses to pass judgment on other (minori- Semite and that the Catholic Church has spent on John Paul II and his cronies. However, for ty) cultures. These are the people who think decades covering up priests' sexual abuse of chil- many multiculturalists, I cross the line when I condemning, say, female circumcision or slavery dren. Graham's apology is taken at face value; he proclaim that the Koran's origin is certainly as, in Africa is a form of gross cultural imperialism. has undergone much less media scrutiny than equally not divine as the Bible's or that the Mor- No. black religious leaders like Jesse Jackson, Al mon church is a bogus cult or that the rituals Multiculturalism is not the antidote to West- Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan who have made orthodox Jews subject themselves to on the Sab- ern cultural chauvinism it purports to be, and similar comments. bath are actually quite ridiculous. Now I'm being people who are against it are not all necessarily Meanwhile, and perhaps more demonstrative- mean, hurtful, insensitive and... ignorant! cultural chauvinists (although a good number of ly, the Catholic Church enjoys similar plush treat- It's worth delving into the "ignorant" epithet, the conservative critics of multiculturalism are). ment. Instead of proclaiming what is clearly the because it implies that if only I knew more about Multiculturalism has given every religious truth - that the Church is, as Hitchens aptly put the Koran, Mormonism or Sabbath rituals - if believer an infinite stack of "get out of jail free" it, "a protection racket for child rapists" - Amer- only I had an "appreciation" for them - I would cards; it's time to take that stack away. ican journalists have tiptoed around the issue and not be so quick to air derisive comments about thus equated the sexual abuse of children with them. But what does "appreciation" really mean? Nick Woomer can be reached mere "controversy." The Church's role in spread- I might still, for example, appreciate the Koran at nwoomer@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 0 'Validating acts of violence from either side' of Middle East conflict not the answer TO THE DAILY: In my four years at the University, I have never before thought of the Daily as advocat- ing or even not condemning terrorism. How- ever, in Monday's column (She was from Deisheh, Palestine, 4/1/02), Amer Zahr wrote such understanding words relating to the of killing innocent citizens that my opinions of the Daily might have changed. His claim that strapping a bomb onto one- self and walking into a room full of innocent civilians for the explicit purpose of killing everyone in the room is "impulsive and wanting to die" is ludicrous. "Impulsive and wanting to die" is jumping off a bridge. Cre- ating a destructive devise, deciding on a place to detonate it and then carrying through vwith the attack is done with the same reckless disregard for the sanctity of innocent human lives as driving a plane into a building. Zahr has warped sense of morals claiming that two wrongs create a right helps to explain why the endless cycle of violence in, Israel doesn't have a foreseeable end. Peace will not arrive until everyone can take a step back and realize that mistakes have been made by both parties. Validating acts of vio- lence, from either side, isn't the answer. SPENCER KRANE LSA senior Zahr 'clueless;' suicide bombers just as calculating as Sept. 11 terrorists TO THE DAILY: The latest installment of blatant ignorance has pushed me past just reading and laughing at The Progressive Pen. Amer Zahr's column on the girl from Deisheh needed to be responded to. Zahr's voice is not a valid rep- resentation of all his fellow Palestinians, the Palestinians that I have talked to who live in Israel were completely against suicide bomb- ings. Zahr is clearly clueless on the subject. He asserts that Palestinian suicide as many as possible. The reason that nails are sometimes packed around the bombs is to kill and injure as many as possible, but this could not be "deliberate" right? While Zahr "felt relief to learn it had not been Manaar who decided to take her life that day," most people are disgusted by such cow- ardly and murderous acts. Every day I watch the news and the casualties rise. I know no such relief from suicide bombings, only sadness. Most Palestinians know that their cause is never helped by suicide bombings; Hamas and others (Hezbollah, the PLO) are trying to stop any Peace Process and they seem to be suc- ceeding. Zahr speaks of "commitment to the struggle of (his) fellow Palestinians" yet all he does is urge people to look past the suicide bombings, as if the murder of real people - young girls, mothers - and men - is some- thing to look past. Zahr may as well be in the parade celebrating these "martyrs" and throw- ing candy with other lunatics. GABRIEL SPERBER Engineering junior 'Acting like a bunch of turkeys' bad for Palestinian cause, public perception TO THE DAILY: Terrorism is an ugly demon inflicting pain upon many innocent people and this must be despised by the values of our great country. Zahr sings songs for peace and dances for the release of military presence in your "country" and yet he does not abhor the illegitimate acts of violence which destroy the hope his "country" sings and dances for. Zahr stated that Palestinians do not commit calculated and deliberate acts of terrorism and that Palestinians are, acting with dejected, impulsive and righteous minds. Unfortunately, calculated terrorism begins in the foothills and develops in bril- liantly dejected and impulsive minds. And in reference to the Twin Towers, the terrorists of Sept. 11. had bigger bombs strapped to their chest. Mr. Zahr, the time of written love letters to your "country" has passed; take off this righteous cloak your wear. Zahr creates barriers to his own cause be refusing to deplore illegitimate, destruc- more sound-minded decision avenues. ADAM CARLIN LSA junior Separation of church, state correctly exempts clergy from sexual disclosure TO THE DAILY: I fear that it is necessary to point out that the catchy lead on the Associated Press article, Clergy exempt from sexual disclosure, in the Fri- day's Daily edition -begs but does not answer the question, "Why?" I wish that some editing had been done to the story to make sure that readers are kept aware that this is a first amendment issue; the separation of church and state. To quote the story's lead line, "Michigan health care workers, social workers and educators must tell police if they suspect a child has been sexually abused." But clergy don't face the same require- ment." The reader should be driven to ask, "Why not?" The answer, obvious to me, is "Because all the named occupations are public employees. Clergy are not." Readers should be clear on the fact that these employees have totally different responsibilities to the public. Clergy have no more responsibility to report suspected abuse than does your favorite wait- ress. Nor should they. I am not at all concerned about the issues of confessional confidentiality, which seems to be the main focus of those interviewed for the story. That is an internal matter for those denominations that have such ritual. I am wor- ried that this article and others like it may be the beginning of a drive to make clergy liable under state law for reporting to the state. This is not separation of church and state, anymore than requiring membership in a state sponsored church was for holding political office, back in England in the 18th century. The alert student may recall that we fought a revolu- tion over that issue, among others. When the state requires clergy to take actions other than those required of any citizen, it goes too far in restricting the free exercise of religion. Despite the long-standing American tradi- tion of viewing clergy as public servants, lead- ers, counselors and watchdogs for the greater good, they are nothing more than citizens who S 77 F...'. :