Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/496615
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Some 154 years ago an es- timated 620,000 Americans fought each other and died as they went through our Civil War. Our country had left the control of Great Britain. It was a bat- tle of Blue and Gray — grow- ing pains for a young nation. A similar battle today would take about 6 mil- lion lives. But, we did get our religious freedom when we split from Great Britain years before. Unfortunately, some of that battle is still going on. It is now our right and choice to join any reli- gion. We can now even start our own religion or even be an atheist. What a great country. A couple of our state's Gov- ernors — Indiana and Arkan- sas — have recently made the big time, as far as publicity is concerned. Both these states have approved a law that al- lows companies to discrim- inate against gays and use their "religious freedom" to defend that action. I myself am finding this issue very difficult. It is possible to take either side. I hope you will tell me what you think. The proposal in Indiana is SB-101. The two proposals stop all government entities in their states from "substan- tially burdening" a person's exercise of religion. Its effect is already spreading rapidly as Rep. Mike Johnson of Lou- isiana has introduced a simi- lar proposal there. When are we going to flush bigotry down Ameri- ca's cultural toilet once and for all, where it belongs? I am sure that Pope Francis would agree with me. If such a religious freedom act were ever to stand and take ef- fect, I guess that means we would be able to then dis- criminate against people like Ellen Degeneres and Sir El- ton John. Such a law would let us do so. As you know, religion is now a hot button issue worldwide — i.e. Christians verses Muslims. Native- Americans get special rec- ognition in America. A good example would be the Roll- ing Hills Casino on I-5 just south of Red Bluff in Corn- ing. Their ethnicity has properly given them that land and rights that are both sacred and "religious." Yes, they have religious freedom, as they should. In discussing a first draft of this column with a friend he told me; "Anyone over 60 will probably wonder why you are going over this is- sue again." In that conver- sation we both thought the Republicans would wind up a bit more behind society's curve on this issue, much more so than the Demo- crats. Already, possible pres- idential candidates like Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee have been doing what I call a "politician's two-step." They are all doing their best to please everyone. This issue is sufficiently hot that 17 states have al- ready submitted religious freedom bills. Standby, this could take some time. I think independent vot- ers will be our final arbitra- tor, and probably mostly be on the Democrats' side. Not to be frivolous, but it's like a battle between the Nord- stroms — Republicans — and the Walmarts — Democrats. I shop at both. For openers, I think we must do all we can to avoid being intolerant. It discour- ages me that government is once again where we have to go to gain religious free- dom. Sometimes I seriously wonder if our species is ade- quately evolved. Oh, well. Mytakeonmovies My movie review this week is on "McFarland, USA." It's a feel good movie from Disney starring Kevin Costner. I especially enjoyed it because I like docudra- mas. If you see it, remem- ber to stay in your seat as the movie ends. You will see what has happened to the real life characters you just saw. This movie deserves five stars. Very good for the entire family. Please let me know what you think. Stan Statham served 1976- 1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965- 1975. He is president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. My take Thefight over religious freedom When are we going to flush bigotry down America's cultural toilet once and for all, where it belongs? Prejudice in the making Editor: This is in answer to "Tired of the homeless," a letter to the ed- itor on the opinion page Satur- day, March 28. First of all I am very sorry that Ms. Walen was treated so poorly. No one deserves to be treated with disrespect or to feel threatened by another per- son. Earlier in my life, I had drawn similar conclusions about those who are homeless, but now that I have been work- ing with the homeless since 1999, I have changed my mind. I was among those who founded the PATH organiza- tion in the year 2000. During this time we have housed many homeless in our shelter and in our transitional housing pro- grams, and I have spent many nights volunteering as staff for the shelter. During that time well over 1,000 homeless individuals have passed through our doors — 270 men, women, and children in this year alone — and I can count on one hand how many of them were ever disrespectful to me. Most of the homeless we serve are kind, helpful, grateful and respectful of the staff and other homeless in our program. I can tell you that only about 10 per- cent of those attending the shel- ter, truly want to be homeless. The other 90 percent would love to live in a home, but have not been able to make that hap- pen for one reason or another. A lot of them have mental issues, which often leads to drug and alcohol issues as well. Some of them have very poor self-esteem issues, and just can't seem to get it together without help. About 25-30 percent of those who stay with us during the winter months get into hous- ing. These are for the most part folks who are already receiving SSI due to physical or mental disabilities, but their payments are low enough that it is diffi- cult to save up for first month's rent and deposit. By staying with us for a few months for free, they are able to collect the funds they need. Another issue is the lack of enough low income apartments in Tehama County to accommo- date them all. Prejudice occurs when a per- son takes a few incidents by a few people of a certain segment of the population and then ex- pands that to be true of all peo- ple in that category, whether it be racial, ethnic, religious, gen- der or the homeless. I would en- courage Ms. Walen and oth- ers who thought her article was right on target to look at that more closely. Most of us are only a major illness or the loss of a paycheck away from being homeless. Some of us would handle it bet- ter than others. Some of us that become homeless might become embittered, because of our situ- ation. Sometimes when people feel stuck in a situation, they lash out at others, causing prob- lems for those around them. I encourage anyone who can to please support the PATH Winter Emergency Shelter. We are doing a service for the com- munity. We could do even more if we had our own facility. If you can help any way, we would be most appreciative. If you'd like to volunteer and get acquainted with some of the homeless who are trying to bet- ter their lives, call Liz Keith, the shelter manager, at 736-3959. — Allene Dering, Red Bluff Easter cartoon of 3 crosses out of line Editor: It was shocking to see the April 4 Easter editorial page cartoon of three crosses, with Indiana and Arkansas as the criminals or sinners surround- ing Christ's cross. It was a ha- tred cartoon by leftists who are anti religion. The editorial was with ref- erence to Indiana adding their name to the 20 states who have passed laws protecting religions from federal and state anti reli- gious mandates, such as Obam- aCare, which mandates religious institutions to provide abortion and birth control as part of their employee insurance policies. Our nation has become secu- lar, with fewer than one-third of residents attending a religious service weekly. It is ridiculous to believe that the 20 states who passed religion protection laws are anti lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transvestites. Hoosiers have long been welcoming to the LGBT minority, as they are welcoming to all religions, races, lifestyles and choices. Discrimination is very alive in most states, including Cal- ifornia, by denying parents the right to use their educa- tion taxes, as vouchers, for their school choice children. In In- diana, 97 percent of the low income slots, for the average $4,500 school choice voucher, goes to first generation His- panic children, who otherwise would be forced to attend fail- ing inner city public schools funded with $14,500 per child. The school choice voucher program is being expanded to include more low income, usu- ally single mom African Ameri- cans. Anti discrimination is the norm in Indiana. The century old discrimination hate crime against K-12 school choice vouchers should end. — Joseph Neff, Corning Stop deceptive pricing online Editor: Countless times I've entered into buying items online only to find their price substantially higher after adding shipping and tax. Congress should pass legisla- tion requiring online vendors to conspicuously display estimates of all charges before a shopper even puts an item in their cart. Congress should also require vendors to include unit pricing so shoppers can effectively com- pare competing offers. — Nathan Esplanade, Corning Your opinions Cartoonist's take Last year I wanted to smack myself for missing the chance to write about the Kacey Mus- graves country song "Follow Your Arrow." Luckily, Musgraves has now released the similarly themed "(Mind Your Own) Biscuits." Both the former (about the fu- tility of changing to please oth- ers) and the latter (about the fu- tility of trying to judge/ change others) follow in the tradition of crowd -pleasers such as "Mind Your Own Business" (Hank Wil- liams, Sr.), "Family Tradition" (Hank Williams, Jr.), "Long- Haired Country Boy" (Char- lie Daniels) and "Garden Party" (Rick Nelson). All of these songs have a point to make, but our disdain for prudes and busybodies can tempt us to give the points too broad an application. Although some songwriters tend to pan- der to the "rowdiness is next to godliness" set, please think of this column as a corollary rather than a rebuttal. Following your arrow/dream/ urges is a bedrock part of Amer- ica, but the principles espoused in the aforementioned songs cannot be treated as absolutes. If your "thang" happens to be running the state's biggest meth lab or setting a record for drug- ging and raping coeds or shoot- ing unarmed suspects in the back, obviously there is a prob- lem. True, countless personal choices have absolutely no im- pact on anyone else. But we live in an interconnected world. If your actions do affect someone else's property value, insurance premiums, tax bill, sleep pat- terns, etc., they're entitled to an opinion. ("I'm fine with your biscuits, but if I have to pay for that unplanned 'bun in the oven'...") Sorry if I'm going out on a limb here. Ignoring the elephant in the room has such a proven track record in families, busi- ness and politics. Discernment and acknowl- edgment of nuances are virtues to be valued above knee-jerk re- actions. There is a vast differ- ence between (a) using high- powered binoculars to gather bedroom gossip and (b) stating firmly that you will not let your six-year-old child pay a return visit to a home where loaded high-powered firearms are left lying around in the open. The adage about not judg- ing a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins usually applies, but you could try out the entire shoe closet of some people and not come close to justifying their wrongheaded actions. Granted, some societal prob- lems arise from arranged mar- riages or being forced into an ill-fitting career path. But head- strong, impulsive, self-centered actions account for vastly more of the business for drug re- hab programs, battered women shelters, Dave Ramsey's Finan- cial Peace University, jails, pris- ons, loan sharks and the like — in spite of the ubiquitous "And I turned out okay" mantra. Maybe you never signed on to be a role model, but that's just part of the human condi- tion. I never signed on to get callouses from continually bit- ing my tongue. Let's meet in the middle. Always examine your motives. If you're giving advice, are you really trying to be helpful? If you're receiving advice, are you rejecting it for good reasons or because you have a chip-on-the- shoulder response that everyone who disagrees with you is a hyp- ocritical hater? The wishy-washy think their relatives, friends and co-work- ers are always right. The hard- headed think their relatives, friends and co-workers are never right. If we could all develop the common sense and intestinal fortitude to judge life's events on a case-by-case basis, life could indeed be gravy. Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree Mind your own biscuits, up to a point Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, April 16, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6