Standard Conservative Name-Calling
To The Editors:
Kelly Boatright’s rant against Lucy Perkins in your latest issue (“Angry, Selective Tolerance,” January 30) was a good example of the murky thinking self-proclaimed conservatives generate today. Boatright accused Perkins of Bible-burning, insinuated that Perkins is a sub-par teacher based on writings which have nothing to do with her professional abilities, and then lurched into a rambling attack on “liberal hacks and cowards” who disagree with President Bush. The letter was the standard conservative name-calling we’ve endured over the past number of years. Many conservatives would rather bray about how morally superior they are than seriously discuss the merits of an opposing argument.
But the most offensive part of that letter was the predictable ode to Dubya as the savior of America. The “reality” of President Bush being a fine leader is a sham. He has disgraced the presidency since the Supreme Court allowed him to assume the office. Bush surrendered to China during the surveillance plane incident last spring, fiddled while the economy burned throughout last year, and has shown himself to be an incompetent leader after September 11. Aside from reading a well-written speech or two, Bush has done little to help the nation deal with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Has Bush toured the country every week, visiting cities and towns to assure us that America would prevail during this time of horror? Has he asked the sacrifices needed of the nation to defeat this new threat to our way of life? No. George W. Bush sits in Washington and plays politics. He promotes tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations, while his administration engages in personal attacks on those who question his policies. Despite the fawning media who have built this arrogant corporate puppet up to be a combination of Washington, FDR & King David, most people know the truth. The emperor has no clothes. And the wrong man is in the White House.
Michael A. Clark
Charlotte
Lucy Takes A Good Look
To The Editors:
Lucy Perkins, you’ve got some set! It takes real fortitude to put religion on the table and take a good look at it. My guess is, some of the Christians are building a fire and looking to tie you to the stake. Wear asbestos shoes. . .tap dance. . .but don’t shut up. Live and let live, especially Lucy Perkins’ pen.
H.A. Thompson
Charlotte
Lucy’s Language, Part 3
To The Editors:
My mother and I have been interested and appalled at the controversy regarding Lucy Perkins’ use of language. We think the editors sidestepped the issues being raised. It’s not so much what you can say that matters, as that you say it in the most helpful and interesting way from the reader’s standpoint. Nine times out of ten, that means avoiding profanity and words like “pissed” or “sucks” which started out as scatological terms even though they are used more broadly now. I stress again — it’s not an issue of censorship, rather it’s an issue of what communicates your point directly and what distracts or detracts from your point. When I wrote record reviews for CL back in the 1980s, I saw no need to put in any language that would embarrass my mother or any other sensitive person. I’d still feel that way if I were writing now.
Michael J. Fawcett
Charlotte
Practice What You Preach
To The Editors:
David Peisner’s article “The Deafening Buzz” (CL, January 30) struck a familiar chord. I find it ironic that your magazine would publish an article about the lack of integrity of national music critics when it seems your local critics suffer from the same complacency. For months now your magazine has run articles bashing Charlotte’s music scene, or lack thereof. The fact of the matter is that the same bands and groups of musicians get most of the press in this town; not to criticize your favorites, but many are not that good. Sometimes a good image or marketing effort is misconstrued for talent. If the average reader followed some of your recommendations, they would want their money back at the door. Charlotte has many talented musicians and artists, you just may have to move out of the same old cliques to discover them. It seems your magazine could learn a lot from David’s article.
Carey Sims
Charlotte
Hornets Are A Good Deal
To The Editors:
Excuse me, Mr. Alex Dunn (“Give me real sports teams,” Letters, February 6). A Hornets game is the only major league game in town that a family of four can afford to go to. God knows you can criticize the owners of the Hornets for a lot of things, but high cost of tickets is just not one of them. The Hornets have consistently maintained their ticket prices among the lowest in the NBA. There’s plenty of damn good tickets available in the $10 to $16 dollar range. Twenty dollars for a hot dog and drink? Maybe at a Panthers game, but certainly never at a Hornets game. Going to a Hornets game has always been the sports deal here in Charlotte. Too bad the citizens have decided to run them out of town.
Terry C. Cox
Charlotte
Who Does God Pray To?
To The Editors:
Regarding Lucy Perkins’ “I’m Sure I’ll Catch Hell For This” (CL, February 6): Bravo. If I may humbly point out one oversight: God has never insisted that I believe and pray exactly as He does. Of course we don’t exactly know how or to whom He prays since there are about a zillion options out there. Or, the belief that He’ll send me to a place of untold evil, torture and misery for all of eternity. Only Christians seem to know this important piece of information. This is an especially affable side of Christianity that I have come to cherish. Thanks for the column.
David Klein
Charlotte
Divorce From The Church
To The Editors:
Regarding Lucy Perkins’ “I’m Sure I’ll Catch Hell For This,” for once, I enjoyed Perkins’ treatment of religion and her separation of God and church.
If the church is the bride of Christ, then she has become a lecherous, adulterous whore. Time and again, the church has sold itself to countries, leaders, causes and other earthly considerations. People bandy about “USA” and “God” in the same sentence as if the president is the earthly incarnation of the Almighty. The idea that God favors countries descends to Christianity from Judaism, in which God favors his chosen people.
But Jesus had a different idea. Jesus tells us time and again that following God will more likely separate you from everyone, including family. In Mark, he refuses to recognize his own family, stating that his only family is the community that worships God. Jesus tells his own disciples to separate themselves from worldly matters and misconceptions. He preaches that if your hand commits a sin, cut it off — better to live in heaven lame than to burn in hell whole.
The Christian church has never managed to follow these precepts. From its very inception, the various beliefs and denominations have involved themselves in politics, persecutions and other sins (as Perkins pointed out). The whore known as the Christian church has sinned time and again. If the church refuses to reform, then why would the true Christian remain with it? If I cut off the church, I may still go to heaven, albeit lame. Many of our generation have served the papers — if the church is the bride of Christ, then we want a divorce.
Alan Jenkins
Rock Hill, SC
Lucy Measures Up
To The Editors:
Regarding Lucy Perkins’ column “Measuring Up” (CL, January 23): I agree that learning to measure would be much simpler if America switched to the metric system. What is easier, using random numbers or numbers divisible by 10? Why does the United States have to be so stubborn not to realize this? I enjoy that Perkins uses sarcasm to explain the situation; however it truly is a serious matter. She jokes that America has continued to use our system to keep things interesting, but in reality it makes learning difficult. Continuing to use this system does not make “this country great,” it makes us foolish.
Who is in charge of deciding to keep our backward method and how can we make the change? I know we will probably never convert due to people enjoying their old-fashioned ways, so maybe I should move to Canada.
Perkins states another reason (like we need one) for the change: as the economy becomes more global, we need to transfer to meters to make business run smoothly. Also, I believe our monetary system is the easiest to understand, so why doesn’t the world convert to that? It is a travesty that no one cares about making math and everyday life easier to comprehend. Screw culture just this once, for these two things, and the world would be a better place!
Meredith Turner
Rock Hill, SC
This article appears in Feb 15-21, 2002.
