From: WillNich@aol.com
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 21:20:40 EDT
Subject: Editorial from The Letter (Kentucky) (non-gay specific)

An Editorial Opinion from The Letter - Kentucky's gay, lesbian, bisexual & 
transgender newspaper, August 1999

House of Worship

After the Columbine massacre in April, for awhile Americans had some hope 
that Congress might finally do something about the horrifying proliferation 
of firearms in this country.  How could they ignore the cries for action in 
the face of one of the bloodiest crimes this decade?

Well, they did.  Instead of meaningful legislation, we got lots of 
grandstanding about how prayer had been kept out of Columbine and every other 
school in the country.  That's why those boys did what they did:  if they'd 
only been forced to pray every day, this wouldn't have happened.

As it turns out, Columbine was probably one of the most religious schools in 
the Denver area.  Students were allowed to pray freely--on their own, not by 
school coercion.  Many carried Bibles to the lunch room--legally.  Christian 
jewelry was accepted.

But you wouldn't have learned that from Congress.  Reality failed to get 
re-elected last year-- again.  In a frenzy of religious fervor, instead of 
passing a strong gun control law our representatives approved a clearly 
unconstitutional measure to allow the Ten Commandments back on schoolhouse 
walls.  (Which version the government decides to use remains to be seen).  
That's like dabbing a head wound with a cotton swab.

During the impeachment process (remember that?), we suspected the mad house 
had been taken over by the lunatics.  Now we have proof.  It's not a Congress 
for all the people this term, but a House of Worship for the elect.

They say you get what you deserve in life, but in this case I haven't a clue 
what we did to deserve this.

--David Williams