God doesn't justify hate
To the editor,
Philip Alderink is typical of those who do not make any effort to understand anything but their own narrow world. Mr. A says that he is not aware of anyone who has an "irrational or excessive fear of homosexuals." What about the man that walked up to a man who was having coffee and stabbed him in the back, while screaming that "god hates fags"? Do you find stabbing someone in the back to be a rational act? The student in this incident was doing nothing but having coffee, he was not molesting children or doing anything but living his life, not hurting anyone else. What about the men that beat Matthew Shepard nearly to death, tied him to a fence and left him to die, and then claimed that they did it because he was making passes at them? Do you, Mr. Alderink, find that to be a rational act?
You, Sir, with your supposed Christian morality, are perpetuating myths and stereotypes about a group of people that you obviously know nothing about, and fueling the fire that leads to senseless attacks on homosexual people.
Do you know that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered teens (13-17) are three times more likely to attempt suicide than their "straight" peers, and that they are eight times more likely to succeed? The hate that you are condoning, Mr. A, kills people. Do not attempt to justify that with God, Sir, because God created all of us and loves all of us equally.
Jonna Lopez
ASUA Pride Alliance
Volunteer Coordinator
Letter-writer lacks compassion
To the editor,
I am disappointed to see that the Advisor to Graduate Christian Fellowship shows a tremendous lack of compassion for his fellow human beings.
Philip Alderink's claim that he is, "not aware of anyone who has a irrational or excessive fear of homosexuals," is almost insulting in its ignorance. Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten and strung up on a fence to die on Oct. 12, 1998, simply because he was gay. Did Philip not hear of this nationally covered tragedy? And Tucson itself is not without gay hate crimes. On Feb. 6 of this year a UA student was stabbed in the back for sitting in front of a gay-friendly establishment. Is Philip "not aware" of this local hate crime either? It must be easy for a man who does not face the discrimination and potential danger brought about by homophobia to compare it with "okraphobia." Whether hate crimes against homosexuals are classified as "homophobic" or not, the fact remains that they are a serious issue. I commend the Wildcat on its fair and open-minded coverage on gay issues. Open your eyes Philip Alderink, the dismissal of homophobia as a false complaint will only lead to more suffering and unnecessary anguish.
Ladd Keith
Media arts sophomore
Cunningham ad truth, not negative
To the editor,
In response to your editorial about State Senator George Cunningham's commercial, let me first begin with a question. What is the definition of negative campaigning? To my understanding, negative campaigning is when one candidate accuses his or her opponent of something untrue. In your editorial, you indicate that Sen. Cunningham is practicing in dirty politics because he uses children in his ad. What you failed to notice is that the Cunningham commercial is simply telling the truth, something that seems anything but negative to me. Every fact about Represenative Jim Kolbe in Cunningham's commercial is true. Kolbe knows his record on education is poor, which is why his only response to the ad has been to attack Cunningham. Instead of addressing the facts, Kolbe chose to run his own ad, also using the children in the commercial (except in Kolbe's their faces are blurred making them look like criminals)- but without their parent's permission. This seems like the most negative tactic- avoiding the issues and focusing on insults.
In your editorial you also blame the school for letting Cunningham film the ad there and involve the children. However, no where in the ad does it say which school the children are from, so how can the non-Cunningham supporters at the school be identified? It seems the school was just trying to involve its students in the political process, not to take sides in a Congressional race. I hope you don't think a school is naive enough to "make a statement that they are in Cunningham's corner." The truth is, the school was used on a weekend, and only children with permission slips signed by parents were allowed to be in the commercial.
Instead of casting blame on Cunningham, a candidate who is simply trying to inform the voters, I encourage you to do your job as journalists and make Jim Kolbe defend his record.
Melinda Mills
Political science junior
