Letters to the Editors

Public schools exist to educate, not to preach

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 7, 2001

Editor: I'd like to respond to all of this furor about School Board member Carol Snyder's comments regarding religion in Citrus County schools. Please consider the following:

Our founders wisely adopted a secular Constitution, the first ever to derive its powers from "We the People" and the consent of the governed, rather than claiming divine authority. They knew from the experience of religious persecution, witch hunts and religious discrimination in the 13 Colonies, and from the bloody history left behind in Europe, that the surest path to tyranny was to entangle church and state.

That is why they adopted a secular Constitution whose only references to religion are exclusionary, such as that there shall be no religious test for public office (Article VI). There were no prayers offered at the Constitutional Convention, which shows their intent to separate religion from secular affairs.

And to those who claim the country has gone downhill ever since religious practices in public schools were outlawed 40-some years ago, let's look at the leap in civil rights, equality, environmental awareness, women's rights, science, technology and medicine. Fountains, buses and schools are no longer segregated by law. The crime rate is down. Teen pregnancy is down. Who would want to turn the clock back? Not me.

Some preach that the "majority" should decide this issue of prayers in public schools and at public events, simply because it is the majority. The majority religion in the United States is Roman Catholicism. Should Protestant minorities and others be required to pray to the saints, to the Catholic version of God, to the Virgin Mary? In some schools in America, Muslims outnumber other religions. Think about that.

Public schools exist to educate, not to proselytize. And what 5-, 8- or 10-year-old could view prayers recited as part of the routine as "voluntary"? Religion is private and schools are public. To introduce religion builds walls between children who may not have even been aware of religious differences before. Schools should not usurp parents' responsibilities.
-- Ray O'Connell, Inverness

Christians should remember that their religion is based on faith

Editor: School Board member Carol Snyder seems to have her eyes open and sounds like she understands what our Founding Fathers had in mind when the Constitution was formed.

Thomas Jefferson was upset by the fact England was paying the salaries of the Anglican clergy who were officiants in the parishes of the state of Virginia. One would think he would have had much support in his opposition to this practice. Jefferson was a vestryman in the Anglican Church. At least two other denominations of churches, both of which to this day are alive and well in Citrus County, suggested that their clergy also be paid by the government. Enough opposition finally developed to enable the very idea of clergy being paid by the government to be prohibited in the newly formed United States of America.

Jefferson eventually became more and more cautious about his church, and religion in general. He was proud of his opposition to any ties between government and religion. It is listed as one of the three most important accomplishments of his career and was placed on his tombstone as such.

Today, good-intentioned Christians can be looked upon as aggressively making attempts to make Christianity the official religion of our county, state, and federal governments.

Those same professed Christians deliver quotations from both the Old and New Testaments to justify the presence of elements of Christianity in government. Those quotations cannot apply because our government was not founded on the Bible as such, and in our country citizens practice many religions.

Christians should remember that their religion is based on faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus, known as the Christ among the apostles and early followers of Jesus. Martin Luther made a big point to the pope himself, as did Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, that "for by grace are ye saved through faith."

Even though Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines faith as "believe, trust," the original Greek word for faith, pistis, was closely related to its verb, pisto, resulting in sentences like, "I faith in the Lord Jesus Christ."

I can't prove Jesus was raised from the dead, but I faith it. The word faith is not intended to imply a strong proven fact. We must consider "my faith," as opposed to "your faith," and be tolerant.

Christians should not assume that any thoughts and activities of citizens of this country should be based on any Christian principle or teaching. Our thinking and laws are based on the Constitution, which does not allow the government to either endorse or repress any religion.

Allowing any religious activity to take place on school property is very suspect and open to criticism regarding the constitutionality of suffering such activity to occur, and could result in holding the School Board responsible for retribution.
-- Fred L. Stone, Crystal River

Power company's service during outage was unacceptable

Editor: On the coldest day of the year, Jan. 5, at 7:49 a.m., with the outside temperature hovering in the 20s, we were hit with an electrical outage.

My calls to FP&L-Carolina were met with many unanswered questions and outrageous replies. For example: I was advised by Mr. Miranda (Ocala office) that the feeder lines were out, due probably to the cold weather, and that crews were on their way to fix the problem. As a full-time resident I ask, what is their excuse during the summer?

I requested to be connected to the executive offices in St. Petersburg and was transferred there to speak with Ms. Capricia Blue. There, too, I was met with unsatisfactory responses to my questions. The one remark that stands out is, "We do not guarantee service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."

Obviously on this, the coldest day of the year, I was not placated by that remark. This was totally unacceptable. I further think the monopoly of utilities should be brought to an end and that the consumer have some choice.

FP&L-Carolina could give me no real expectations on restoration of service. I was advised by Ms. Blue to use my contingency plan (hurricane) to get warm, and in the same breath was told 1,600 people in my area also were without power, as well as some 7,000 people in Ocala.

At 9:55 a.m. I received a call from Ms. Blue advising the crew was working on the problem and started working on it at 9:30. This was substantially later than Mr. Miranda indicated. Is it possible that it took 1 hour and 41 minutes to get a crew to work on the problem affecting 1,600 people in this immediate area?

At 11:56 a.m. power was finally restored. I do not understand the company policy of allowing a wait of such a long time when so many people are affected. If, in fact, the equipment or lines are susceptible to this kind of outage, why don't they replace ancient equipment?

It is a shame that the consumer has no say in the matter and that the utility company continues with an attitude that is totally unacceptable.
-- Rita D. Lang, Homosassa

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Recent coverage - Carol Snyder

An open letter to the citizens of Citrus County (January 5, 2001)

Board member explains views (January 5, 2001)

School Board member deserves applause (November 16, 2000)

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