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Column
By
Adam Fouche
The Jackson Herald
October 11, 2000
America is becoming
de-moralized
Get ready for a rough few years, guys.
We, as Americans, are all on a ship that is sinking and sinking
fast.
We no longer care about our fellow man. We no longer take the
time to be courteous.
Men don't hold the door open for ladies anymore. In fact, I don't
think there are that many ladies left.
No one helps the elderly and no one offers to cook a meal for
a sick neighbor.
Restaurant workers don't smile and cashiers never say "Thank
you."
Husbands are brutally murdering their own wives and mothers are
drowning their children in lakes.
Kids are killing kids for trading cards. Kids are killing kids
for drugs.
Parents are neglecting their children. Children are becoming
parents.
We are in a country where football fans will mercilessly trample
over an injured girl because their team won a big football game.
Everyone is on drugs and no one seems to care.
Our President condones killing unborn babies. And so do many
of our citizens.
No one's friendly. No one's happy. No one seems to care.
We don't vote anymore. We don't go to city council and board
of education meetings.
Parents don't care about what their kids are doing in school
and kids don't care to tell their parents.
Playing the lottery is more important than buying diapers or
paying the utility bill.
Parents are spending more money on booze and drugs and less on
health care and food for their children.
And our government is approving the use of a pill that kills
babies. Yes, our own government is allowing the murder of innocent,
helpless children.
How is this right?
Abortion is wrong; it's immoral; and it is, beyond a shadow of
a doubt, murder.
People will argue for pro-choice and that a woman has the right
to choose what happens to her own body.
She doesn't.
No person can decide if an innocent baby should live or die.
No person has the right to erase their own mistakes by taking
another's life.
And if you do make that choice, do you really know what you are
doing?
You are taking a person's chance to hear music and birds chirping
and people talking.
You are stealing the sunrise and the sunset from someone.
You aren't giving a little child the chance to color a picture
or play in the grass.
Yes, that sounds harsh and maybe it's a little mean. But it's
all true.
Abortion is harsh and trying to make it sound like it isn't is
horribly wrong.
I feel sorry for the women who have had an abortion and who have
to face that fact every day. I know I will never know the hurt
some woman have gone through because of their decision.
I can only hope we will end this terrible practice before another
young woman has to realize the mistake she made by choosing abortion.
We must save the ship America is on-if it's not already too late.
Adam Fouche is a reporter for MainStreet Newspapers. His email
address is fouche@nbank.net.
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Column
By
Tim Thomas
The Jackson Herald
October 11, 2000
What to say?
Dear God, I just can't do this. For two
days, my mind's needle kept jumping back into that same groove,
playing the same verse over and over.
The dreaded event crept closer with each minute: what to write
about a special young man who's suddenly gone? As a crowd of
people filled the Jefferson High School gymnasium, the thought
played on.
Dear God, I just can't do this.
Later, as the crowd filed out, I perused the various pictures
posted in the gym. Basketball awards. A skinny little kid proudly
holding up a small bass for the camera. School photos. Opening
Christmas presents with Annie. The framed display extolling character.
All very nice.
Dear God, I just can't do this.
Suddenly, there it was. As usual, the Master's timing was perfect,
even if my faith was not.
The photo of Daniel Goza with a handful of his friends immediately
sent my mind back to 1986, to another photo of six smiling Jefferson
High School seniors. A passer-by wouldn't have known the difference
if you'd switched our names with theirs. That guy on the left,
he could be Jimmy. And that one over there, he could be Bruce.
We often overlook the synchronicity of our lives with others,
but as I stood there fighting back tears in front of that photo,
I realized that for those two brief moments separated by 14 years,
Daniel and I felt a common emotion. Most of you have felt it,
too.
The world was ours for the taking. The unfair formality of a
high school education was almost past, and we were ready to take
our turns on the ride. Darn it, it was our time, and everyone
else could either get with the program or get out of our way.
We'd gone through our time of waiting behind those ahead of us.
We'd eventually found our own respective niches on the basketball
court and the wrestling mat, and we'd filled them when the opportunity
came. We'd rebounded and turned on a short sit-out better than
anyone else, and there was nothing we couldn't do if we really
wanted to.
We were immortal, at least for a while. And it was a wonderful
ride.
As I stood outside, a candle flickering in my hand, the question
of why this happened was at least partially answered. The details
won't be told here, for fear of bringing unneeded attention.
Those who were there and who understand Truth know what I mean.
I know there's nothing as trivial as basketball in Daniel's new
world, but if you wish to see it this way, he's moved on to the
next level. Only this time, the roles are reversed; he's on the
court ahead of me.
This time, he's really immortal, and not just for a while. What
a wonderful ride.
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Jackson County Opinion Index |
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