Speak Out 3/10/06

Traveling issues

I FIND it funny that a Southeast Missouri State University student was complaining about not having transportation to get groceries. Every necessity a student needs is closer to the main SEMO campus than the River Campus will be. If students are worried about getting bread and milk once a week, they will really be perplexed to go across town for class. Way to go, SEMO.

That's no excuse

A PERSON makes a choice whether or not to have sex. We've pretty much reared our sons with the subconscious idea that, being male, they can be excused from sexual indiscretions. Whether straight, gay or pedophile-inclined, these people all have the ability to say no to sexual activities. Being "born that way" should not be an acceptable excuse, but we're being pushed into believing it is.

It's still a crime

THE ARGUMENT that back-alley abortions will still take place is a pathetic excuse for keeping abortion legal. Taking illegal drugs is a crime, but people still take them, and they get punished. Using the logic of some, we should legalize all illegal activities just because someone is doing the activity illegally.

No comparison

I WAS shocked and sickened to see a comment comparing homosexuality with pedophilia. What a hateful and ignorant sentiment. Homosexuality involves two consenting adults of the same gender engaging in a sexual relationship. Pedophilia involves children, who cannot consent to any sexual activity and who are not yet sexual beings, being victimized by an adult. Sexually abusing children will never be seen as an alternative lifestyle, because it is violence perpetrated upon innocents who cannot protect themselves. While you may not approve of homosexuality and may believe homosexuals should be subjected to shame, hatred and ridicule, no one is being harmed in that situation, and it cannot be seen as even remotely similar to sexual abuse of children.

Spilling dirt

TRUCKS FROM Cape Girardeau's Public Works Department are hauling dirt from behind the new fire station site on Mount Auburn Road and are throwing dirt everywhere on Route K. It got all over my car. If I did that, I would probably get a ticket for littering. So why is the city any different?

Making choices

In regards to Wes Wright's op-ed article, "Many Christians draw the line on embryonic stem-cell research," what many Christians and non-Christians don't realize is when Christ came on the earth we were given freedom of choice. We should look into things, read about them and then make a decision. In the end times there will be many things to tempt us. We can read and make a choice.

No caste system

THE IDEA behind vehicle inspections is a good one. I would ask that something be done about the few mechanics who appear to use the inspections to drum up business for themselves. I also take offense at the comment that abolishing the plan would persuade "lower tier" people from doing routine maintenance. Who exactly is lower tier? The poor, the uneducated, the unemployed? I can assure you that while I may not have much money, it does not distract a bit from my intelligence. Since when do we operate under the caste system?

Thanks for purse

I WANT to thank the person who found my black purse today in Wal-Mart's parking lot. Thank you so much. God bless you.

Plenty of support

STATE SEN. Jason Crowell has a lot of support. We appreciate his efforts to protect human life. The left wing would try to tell you it's not the opportune time, but it is the opportune time to go forward with his legislation overturning abortions.

Which is worse?

WHICH IS the bigger problem: worldwide childhood obesity or hunger?

Changing times

A SPEAK OUT comment stated, "Child molesters will never be accepted, no matter what caused them to be that way." I have lived long enough to see many things people said would never happen come to pass. There is already a movement to lower the age of consent as well as a movement among some to make the sexual desires of those attracted to children seem perfectly normal. I'm not so confident that child molesters will never be accepted. It very well may happen sooner than we think.

Need traffic signs

I LIVE on Kenneth Drive in Cape Girardeau. Kenneth Drive is a main thoroughfare. Abbey Road has to yield the right of way to Kenneth, but the other streets don't have a yield or stop signs. Motorists are not stopping. There needs to be some signs put up before somebody gets killed.

Sexual entrapment

I CAN hardly believe this is happening in our country. The story in the paper tells of a man charged with attempted statutory rape. This was set up on the Internet. A police officer pretended he was a 15-year-old girl. The whole thing was a setup. It also was an invasion of privacy, intimidation and entrapment. These days it's hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. It didn't use to be like that.

Precious life

ABORTION WAS made legal by a few liberal judges, not by our Constitution or the notion of a woman's right to choose. The unborn have a right to live. Using your body as a death chamber for an unwanted child is not the right of anyone. Finally, we have a few lawmakers who were elected to stop this horrible practice in our state. God knows a life is precious for the woman and the child.