Wednesday, October 24, 2001

War-related topics generate mixed opinions
Commentary by John P. Araujo

Presented below is a brief list of some of the war-related topics that have gained national attention after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Emmys
The Emmys are on again, but I say the planners of the Emmys should just hang it up this year and mail everyone their awards. Our country does not need its displays of overindulgence and scandalously bad fashion at this time, which often portray the United States at its shallow and materialistic worst.

Awards presentations such as the Oscars and the Emmys have become representative in recent years of how gaudy and hedonistic our society has become as well as being freak shows for celebrities’ social and psychological shortcomings. It really is time for a change, and I hope that awards shows from here on become more subdued.

Bi-partisanship
Just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, yet another newspaper had come out with yet another study of the Florida election recounts, how they were done wrong and why Gore should have been declared the winner. Gag me.

Fortunately, all parties have been able to pull together since the attacks, and the word “bipartisan” has taken on its intended meaning. It has really been heartening to see. The country needed its elected officials to be working together, and they have.

It is unfortunate that it took such a tragic event of monumental proportions to shake our elected officials out of their partisan rancor, but at least they are working together now. How long will this last? I hope for the duration of the war, and beyond.

The War
There are many opinions on this topic, and they range from bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age to reparation payments for anyone in the world that the United States may have offended. With such a wide discrepancy of viewpoints, it’s a wonder we are able to do anything at all. Most of us, including myself, fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

There have been anti-war protests taking place in various parts of the country, and some say this is not the time for such actions. I say that the protesters actually help send an underlying message of what our country is about, and that would be freedom — including the freedom of speech. There is no better time to demonstrate that particular freedom than now.

“God Bless America”
Speaking of free speech, ask yourself how many times you have heard the phrase “God Bless America” since Sept. 11. Who could possibly have a problem with that phrase, you ask? Ironically, one of the protectors of free speech, the American Civil Liberties Union, does.

The ACLU is suing the Rocklin, Calif. school district for putting “God Bless America” on one of its elementary school marquees. A lawyer for the ACLU in California cites that the marquee displays a “hurtful, divisive message.” The lawyer further states: “By displaying a religious message, the Breen Elementary is dividing its young students along religious lines.”

This is an ill-timed, ill-considered and insensitive lawsuit for the ACLU to file while the nation is struggling to be united, and it will be even worse if the ACLU wins this suit.

The ACLU is demonstrating a great deal of rigid inflexibility and gross insensitivity with this suit, and I hope the expected backlash will wake them up to their own, hurtful, divisive messages that their actions are sending.

Anthrax attacks
The worst part of these anthrax attacks is the fear of the unknown. We don’t know who is doing this. We don’t know how they can be doing this for so long and over such a large area of the country and still not be caught. And we don’t know when it will end.

The worst thing we can do, however, is panic. Panic never helped any situation get better or resolved. We should take the necessary steps to protect ourselves, but we also need to demonstrate to those who perform these evil acts (they can’t be called anything else) that they can’t intimidate us. They want us to cower in fear, and we should deny them that satisfaction. Let’s not give them what they want the most from us.

John P. Araujo is a Master of Liberal Arts candidate from Fort Worth. He can be contacted at (j.araujo@tcu.edu).