The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 21

B6 Saturday July 31 1999 The Sacramento Bee Vindictive prosecution 'There is about the Cisneros case as sense of official vindictiveness that goes beyond earnest enforcement of the Marianne Means Op-Ed Laying 187 to rest A divisive battle has ended about as well as it could immigrants are denied most of the welfare trying to sort out the policy 1 H- Californians from the politics in this settlement of a federal lawsuit over Proposition 187 might be well advised to take guidance from Lt Gov Cruz assessment: think people ought to just focus on what eventually took In other words: Look at the result and not the process Taking that perspective should leave most thoughtful people feeling pretty good the long and divisive fight over ways to deny government benefits to illegal immigrants has ended about as well as it could have Many of the services voters sought to deny by passing the initiative are now banned A booming economy and a changed political climate have muted the anger and drained urgency from the original debate fueled by keep rhetoric Indeed when Proposition 187 champion Gov Pete Wilson was replaced by Gray Davis the new governor took his landslide victory immediately on the road to Mexico on a purposefully symbolic mission to help heal hurt engendered by the ugly initiative campaign Thus reference to eventually took asks that we focus on the salutary results of the settlement Under federal laws and regulations illegal health and other government benefits that many 1994 voters wanted to end But at the same time this settlement underscores the fact that Proposition hurtful and unconstitutional requirement to kick the children of illegal immigrant families out of school should be abandoned once and for all Since the state has now wisely extended prenatal care to all pregnant women regardless of legal status recognizing that everybody has an interest in healthy babies the worst parts of the 1994 initiative are gone The politics of the proposition are not nearly so clear-cut Master Triangulator Davis is spinning the issue fiercely to preserve a political foothold somewhere in an ambiguous middle ground Conversely some advocates on all sides of the debate are trying to fan the cooling embers of the battle back to life But the reality as Bustamante noted is that the settlement Davis initiated has proved basically beneficial The process may have been convoluted and even cynical at times but Californians can enjoy the fruits of the decision and move forward without the need to fix a final score Wilkinson Philadelphia Daily News Defining morality Andean quagmire? US role in double war is growing Re morals of letter July 18: Robert logic lesson to atheists is deficient He chose two premises to argue there is either supernatural moral authority or none and ignored what freethinkers know to be the basis of morality Most freethinkers and many religious individuals understand that the rules of morality came about naturalistically during the process of the development of human societies Contrary to Decker there is no contradiction between the two ideas is no and Naturalistic morality in general rests on three social and biological foundations Genetics the selection over time of genes that foster certain group values (for example tribalism which divides social groups into and written law the codification of human rules to regulate living in groups (for example it is illegal to kill or steal) and ethical values customs and mores that naturally arise to lower the social friction of people living together (for example the rules provided to The Bee by Ms Manners) Moral authority is of people by people and for people and this fact shall not perish just because religionists lay claim to it Paul Geisert Sacramento But there are serious obstacles For one thing US aid has been meager in the past not only due to corruption but because of rampant human rights violations by soldiers and right-wing paramilitary groups Thus the new battalion has been carefully recruited and will receive human rights training A larger problem is that US aid is meant to target only narcotics traffickers not a 35-year-old leftist insurgency Yet the two have become virtually indistinguishable as guerrillas extort tribute from coca growers and traffic in drugs as well The largest guerrilla group now controls much of the southern half of the country thanks to policy deemed naive by many Colombians and by some US officials of keeping troops out of the region as an inducement to the rebels to negotiate a peace settlement But the rebels while enjoying their immunity have stalled negotiations A 1 Abstain from beans 2 Do not pick up what has fallen 3 Do not touch a white cock 4 Do not break bread 5 Do not step over a crossbar 6 Do not stir the fire with iron 7 Do not eat from a whole loaf 8 Do not pluck a garland 9 Do not sit on a quart measure 10 Do not eat the heart 11 Do not walk on highways 12 Do not let swallows share roof 13 When the pot is taken off the fire do not leave the mark of it in the ashes but stir them together 14 Do not look in a mirror beside a light 15 When you rise from the bedclothes roll them together and smooth out the impress of the body (Source: History of Western Bertrand Russell) Jeff Austin Sacramepto Marriage and politics Re of Dan Walters July 11: Last month as I attended the usual Mormon church service a letter was read iq some of the meetings that directed that we as faithful practitioners of our religion go to the polls next spring to help pass a prohibition on official recognition of same-sex marriages It should be no surprise that a religious organization with such a strong emphasis on the role of the family in plan for mankind should advocate a strong opposition to philosophies and practices that further the notion that marriage between a man and a woman is not important San Francisco Supervisor Mark Leno committed a gross miscalculation in assuming that we Latter-day Saints are all uptight conservative close-minded polygamists who only vote Republican The last time I looked around at church I saw human beings with real compassion for others who try to rid themselves of prejudice and hatred toward anyone But why should we ignore what we believe is our duty and right to do? To Leno and others who try to challenge that right I say watch out for the backlash Robb Robertson Antelope Celebrating gift gays Re and letter July 26: This vicious and hateful attack on those bom gay was unconscionable Branding homosexuality as a certainly adds to the threat of violence that pervades our society Such a description of gays would certainly surprise God since he created gays such as Leonardo daVinci Michelangelo Winfield Mowder and Gary Matson God gave these wonderful people great gifts and talents to be used by society for the greater good of all and glory of God The only I see is that of the Vatican and its followers in keeping alive the spirit of the Inquisition and the Crusades and ignoring real teachings Joseph Bruno Carmichael Five American soldiers were killed in a plane crash the other day in a mountainous region of Colombia They were on a reconnaissance flight as part of an escalating US effort in support of the Colombian war against heavily armed narcotics traffickers The deaths call attention to a US aid program that has grown rapidly partly because Washington has more confidence in new president Andres Pastrana than in his corrupt predecessor and partly because of a perception that the threat to this country posed by Colombian traffickers is increasing That perception is strongly held by Gen Barry McCaffrey President anti-narcotics chief who says cocaine production in Colombia has doubled in three years that 80 percent of the cocaine and heroin entering the United States comes from Colombia and that traffickers have amassed so much wealth that they can buy all the weapons and recruit all the fighters they need especially in a time of economic hardship for most Colombians to fend off poorly trained and under armed government forces McCaffrey has called for $1 billion in emergency US aid to combat the drug trade in Latin America most of it for Colombia which is getting $289 million this year triple last total (Colombia now ranks third behind Israel and Egypt as a US aid recipient) The money would pay for technical and intelligence assistance and training by US advisers of a newly created anti-narcotics army battalion whose mission is to attack guerrilla units clearing the way for police (who get most US aid) to move in and eradicate coca crops Special We often hear that God is the authority behind our morality and that our moral values can be found in the Bible An example of this is the principle of toleration which is found in the parable of the good Samaritan Does belief in God or the Bible explain the high value that Western society attaches to toleration? look at a little history About five centuries ago the Protestant chinches broke away from the Catholic Church These religious groups did not tolerate each other and heretics were burned at the stake by both sides After several generations of persecutions and bloody warfare people finally came to the conclusion that it was better to live and let live Toleration had become a highly regarded value in the West It was not the authority of God or the Bible that taught this lesson but rather the authority of bitter experience The authority of experience can teach anyone including those who do not accept God Allan Demo Rancho Cordova Despite such troubling signs McCaffrey Brinton to The Bee appears to have strong support in Congress and to some extent from the White House for increasing US aid even as drug prevention and treatment programs at home are given only minimal funding Those priorities are misplaced The Pentagon insists that US combat troops will not be used in Colombia Good But Americans have heard that before about Vietnam and rebels say they regard US advisers as targets While it may be premature to sound an alarm not too early to begin a debate about US interests in a conflict that has at least the potential to suck Americans into another quagmire Congress and the administration owe it to the country to clarify at stake what is contemplated and what is not and the sooner the better It is possible to define morality as most atheists and agnostics do as that which benefits humanity By this standard I find many Christians to be highly moral people but I also find many nonbelievers to be equally moral Frank Winans Sacramento Morals are a reflection of the religious cultural and legal heritage handed down to us over the centuries dictionary defines the word moral as to dealing with or capable of making the distinction between right and wrong in conduct" Nowhere is it mentioned that a belief in God is a prerequisite Therefore atheists do indeed have the moral authority to condemn intolerance and persecution Everybody has the right to his own religious beliefs or lack of free from persecution by those who claim to know best for us Allan Weissman Sacramento Stan last 4 'I I- I Only the oldest Sacramento old-timers can remember when Stan Atkinson sitting in the anchor slot on a local TV station Except for a couple of sideways excursions Atkinson has been telling local viewers that he has news for them since 1957 mostly at KCRA (Channel 3) and since 1994 at KOVR (Channel 13) But as of last night officially retired which is hard for anyone who knows him to imagine Indeed expect to see and hear Stan at any number of charity events helped raise about $65 million over the years or other functions requiring the upbeat style and mellifluous voice that are his trademark Many viewers may miss periodic reporting trips to the ends of the Earth Afghanistan Central America and Vietnam come to mind and those five-part reports upon his return But in the unlikely event that this youthful abundance of energy deserts him anytime soon probably find a way to do some of that as well Happy retirement Stan A couple of venerable museums in Washington are getting a much-needed renovation and American art lovers will i get a chance to see some of their famous collections while the doors in DC are closed The National Museum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery which share space in the old Patent Office that dates to 1836 will close in January for three years of upgrading While closed they will send many of the best works in their collections crisscrossing the country The Museum of American Art has detailed plans for eight separate shows called to that will include American impressionists such as Mary Cassatt and James McNeil Whistler leaders of the New York school" with its grittier scenes of urban life and the subsequent work of Edward Hopper Some of the shows will be available in Northern California including a Crocker Art Museum show in August-October 2002 entitled Age that will highlight John Singer Sargent Abbott Thayer and others who brought a new sophistication and elegance to American art in the decades before World War I Is homosexuality a try an experiment: going to rip out the Sistine ceiling burn slash the Mona Lisa bury Walt of incinerate every Tchaikovsky score torch every Greta Garbo film ban every Bessie Smith song and grind every Marlene Dietrich performance to dust Then we can evaluate what kind of world we would live in without gay people Preston Reese Gold River Crushing burden of hate When I read in the newspaper that three synagogues had been firebombod in Sacramento it was like a kick in the stomach not even Continued on Page B7 Letters policy Please include your name address and daytime phone number All letters are subject to editing More information is available online at MAIL: Letters PO Box 15779 Sacramento C4 95852 E-MAIL: opimonsacbeecom Bee readers who are interested can gain a lot of insight into this topic by heading for their public library The article Moral Development of in the August issue of Scientific American magazine concisely summarizes present naturalistic understanding of how human morals develop Stanford University developmental psychologist William Damon has produced a clear and simple account that includes current knowledge and research on stages of moral judgment It also offers suggestions for further reading Mynga Futrell Sacramento I More commandments In view of the debate on posting the Ten Commandments in public schools I would like to propose posting another set of commandments Their author was a wise man whose virtue is beyond dispute who is known to every schoolchild as the inventor of the famous theorem on right triangles: Pythagoras His 15 commandments read as follows: The Sacramento Bee Locally owned and edited fa 141 years JAMES MCCLATCHY Editor 1857 -1883 CK MCCLATCHY Editor President 1883 1936 ELEANOR MCCLATCHY President 1936 1978 WALTER JONES Editor 1936 1974 CK MCCLATCHY Editor 1974 1989 JANIS HEAPHY Publisher RICK RODRIGUEZ Executive Editor HOWARD WEAVER Editor of the editorial pages.