How are we helping?

I just returned two weeks ago from Nicaragua after a 10-day work-mission assignment under Rosedale Labor Teams. Nicaragua is the second-most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere. I saw extreme poverty, oppression, and injustice which was unimaginable and beyond description in Managua, the capital, and in the small community of our work site. It reminded me so much of my experience as a missionary in Turkey for three years back in the ’60s. Most of the people live in shacks with tin roofs, dirt floors and sleep on old, worn-out mattresses.

I returned home with a deep sense of guilt and a heart of compassion, especially for the children who are trapped in the generational cycle of poverty. However, I observed something very unique and precious among our dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, where we built a new church in the community of Los Konosis. These people, to my amazement, were very content and happy. And they were thankful to God for their faith, their families, their limited portions of rice and for the help they received from our 15-member team from Fairview Mennonite Church in Albany.

The inseparable, spiritual bond that was created between us was something beautiful to experience and something I will treasure the rest of my life. I was reminded of the word of James 2:5, “Hath not God made the poor of this world rich in faith?”

The question we need to ask ourselves is, “What are we doing to help those who are living in poverty and are homeless in Third World countries, but also in our own towns and cities?”

Louis A. Lehman, Albany

Take warming seriously

Because we are having an unusually cold spring, people, including the editor, are once again mocking global warming, once again not getting the idea of “global,” apparently thinking that what happens in the Pacific Northwest is indicative of the rest of the world.

I would recommend looking beyond your own front yard. The Arctic and Greenland ice are melting at an increasing pace; Antarctic ice sheets are breaking off the coast in immense, unbelievably large blocks, potentially freeing the Antarctic glaciers to speed their journey to the ocean. Glaciers are retreating up mountains all over the world.

Scientists have known about global warming since the early 20th century by watching the things I have just mentioned. Now it is apparent that the rate of warming is increasing. The only question that can be debated is just how much we are affecting global warming, not whether it is happening or not.

We can do little about what nature does, but we can control what we do. We have destroyed great fisheries (think about the Grand Banks), we have overharvested timber and other natural resources from east to west, and we have caused untold extinctions.

We never seem to learn. It is all there for everybody to see, but for political or religious beliefs we think that we can do what we want without regard for consequences.

Society needs to change and quickly. If you love your children, think about what they will inherit and will have to live with.

Dan McMinds, Jefferson

Cartoon echoed Israel lobby

A cartoon in the Democrat-Herald of 4/23/08 showed Jimmy Carter handing Israel a bomb from Hamas. This implies either 1) Carter is helping terrorists attack Israel, or 2) he’s too dumb to know what he’s doing. These are both opinions pushed by the Israel lobby in the U.S. and commonly parroted by our press.

In contrast, it is interesting that Haaretz, the leading paper in Israel (www.haaretz.com) ran an editorial on 4/14/08 expressing appreciation for Carter’s many efforts toward peace over the years, his major achievements along those lines, and lauding him for his wisdom and integrity.

Who do you suppose knows the situation better?

John Goodwin, Lebanon

Race, gender are no factors

This morning as I started off to work, I had to reset the buttons on my radio caused by a dead battery overnight. As I ran through the dial, I chanced upon a debate between the mayoral candidates of Eugene and heard an exchange that was amazing to me.

The second question asked was remarkable because it was so stupid and inane, but the answer entered the stratosphere of stupidity on its way to the deep space of political mediocrity. The question was, “Who will you vote for in the presidential election?” The answer, given by the incumbent mayor of our second-largest city was, “I will definitely vote Democratic because we have a chance to break one of two glass ceilings in this election.”

Is that what this election has come down to? Is the deciding factor on who will lead my nation for the next four years dependent on their skin color or the arrangement of their genitalia?

Geraldine Ferraro apparently had it half-right when she said Barack Obama was where he is because he is black. She could have finished the thought by saying Hillary has made it this far because she is a woman. That seems to be “good enough” for the mayor of Eugene.

I won’t be voting for either of these candidates, but their race and gender will never be the deciding factor in my decision. The candidates’ personal integrity, honor, leadership ability and vision for America will be.

Gene Gradwohl, Shedd

Knows land-use issues

I am writing in support of Will Tucker. I have known Will for several years and have always considered him a great resource in land-use issues and general land-use knowledge. I know that he would work hard at representing the citizens of Linn County. Actually I know that he already is a great asset to many rural property owners in helping them through the maze of legal jargon and jurisdiction. He is the person that I go to if I have questions. I know he will give me an honest and knowledgeable answer. Will Tucker has a real interest in the people of this county and he shows that every day in how he deals with the public. Join me in voting for Will Tucker

Fred Adams, Albany

Put cameras here next

As I am now noticing that drivers tend to be a little more careful while approaching the intersection of Geary and Queen, am beginning to wonder what other intersections may benefit from the red-light camera technology. It seems as though every single day I notice someone rushing through a light change, or not paying attention to pedestrians who have the cross signal, at the intersection of Elm and Queen.

And what frightens me the most with this one is this is normally in the morning, right before school, when traffic is very heavy coming from every direction. And a quick glance at the cars as they whiz by on a red shows it is not the teenage drivers that are doing this. Please slow down; the seconds you save getting through that light are not worth the risk.

And Albany, consider this intersection next, before someone’s child gets hurt trying to cross this busy intersection.

Tina French, Tangent