Another Round with WPR

This is a follow-up to my previous post about WPR & "Here on Earth."

Today, I tried calling, since writing has gotten me so very little. They were kind enough to take my complaint. The woman I spoke to, presumably a volunteer, also suggested that I write Phil Corriveau, which I have done and will be snail-mailing shortly. Here is a copy of the letter Mr. Corriveau will be receiving:

Mr. Corriveau,

I am writing because I am concerned about misinformation that was broadcast on "Here on Earth" on Thursday 6 October 2005. This is the third letter that I have sent to WPR about this incident, the first two letters were sent directly to the contact email on the "Here on Earth" (hereonearth@wpr.org) but I have received no answer whatsoever, although they had both my email address and my phone number. I received your name and address when I called Audience Services this afternoon.

In a nutshell, what happened is that one of Jean Feraca's callers stated that Mormons practice both polygamy and child marriage, neither of which is true. Jean Feraca then agreed, saying, "That's true, that's true, right in our own country. Have you thought about that Jessica?" I understand that WPR and "Here on Earth" have no control over the quality of information that is presented by your callers. However, such a gross error on the part of the host at least deserves a correction.

I am enclosing a copy of the letters that I previously emailed to "Here on Earth," for your information and review. Please keep me informed about the status of this problem.

Thank you very much

I also included a copy of the letters that I've previously sent. Hopefully this time they'll respond. Better yet, they'll respond with an on the air correction or a show on the persistent perception that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints still practices polygamy.

Smokeing Ban vs. Civil Liberties

Since I read his blog (The Appleton Blog: Appleton's Smoking Ban), I've had a running internal dialog about whether or not I agree with Jeff's assessment of the situation. He brings up an interesting point, with the civil liberites angle.


So, here's the conflict that I see:
On the one had, smoking is not only nasty, it's dangerous. Not only for the person who smokes, but for anyone around them, because of second hand smoke. When my co-worker smokes, or the person at the bar at Applebees, or what have you, then I also smoke, with all the health risks that entails, regardless of what I want to do. It doesn't seem right to allow a perfect stranger to chose those health risks for me.

On the other hand, there's the civil liberties issue that Jeff raised in his blog. Our government is already huge, and this is another expansion of government. Is more government really in our best interest!

Government's purpose is to protect fundamental rights, such as the right act according to our conscience, have & use our property, and the protection of life. The more that I think of it, the more that I think that the smoking bans might come under the protection of life. Smoking is hazardous. There is no doubt about that. So, while I am very suspicious of expanding government, I think that in this particular case, the laws may be justified. And it is certianly more pleasant to visit places that don't allow smoking.

WPR's Ben Marens, 12 Jan 2006 3pm: Wisconsin's Failing grades from the American Lung Association
American Lung Association
The Appleton Blog: Appleton's Smoking Ban

"Reproductive Freedom"

What a load. The biggest difference between my D&C and the D&C that a woman at an abortion clinic has is that my baby died of natural causes. Before the operation. Very much against my wishes. At abortion clinics they exercise their "reproductive freedom" to do away with perfectly viable pregnacies.

After the baby's born it's called Murder.
Before birth? Oh, it's just "reproductive freedom."

Unless the pregnancy is the product of rape, the "reproductive freedom" part happens when you chose to have sex.

You want freedom from children? Put the baby up for adoption. There are plenty of couples out there who would happily raise your child. You want freedom from children? Freedom from pregnancy? Don't have sex. Sex leads to babies.

Sure you're free to chose, but you're not free to escape the consequences of your choice. Legal or not, there are consequences.

"America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts--a child--as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience."
-Mother Theresa ("Notable and Quotable," Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94, p. A14)

Islam, Judaism, & Christianity

After reading this article on Eid-al-Adha, and the end of the hajj, I am reminded of the animosity between Islam, Judaism and Christianity. What a puzzle.

The first time I met either a Muslim or a Jew was in college. The dorm where I lived housed all sorts of interesting people, and I was fortunate to have a very diverse group of friends. Several members of the group had also never been around people who were not Christian, and we had lots of questions. But as we talked to our friends (and looked on the internet for answers when they were less than informative about their religion) we noticed something: The teachings are really not all the different between the religions. Be nice, play fair, worship God. There were a lot of really compatible beliefs. One question that I puzzled over with one of my friends was, "Why the fuss? Why the anger & the hatred between these groups?" I still haven't figured that out. That question became even more puzzling when I realized that all 3 religions share the same Old Testament foundation.

Based on what I read then, and what I've read this afternoon, my best guess is that in every group there are Kooks and Crazies. The Crusades were not in keeping with the teachings of Jesus Christ. In all my study of the Bible I've never seen anything that would justify wandering over to your unbelieving neighbors and killing them all because they refuse to convert. Not a very good missionary tool. And even if they did convert, it wouldn't create very sincere converts. The same things could be said about the current jihads that I've heard about, and the attacks on 9-11, or the Holocaust, although I don't think that was ever about converts. While I've never made an exhaustive study of Islam, I've never read anything that even hinted that 9-11 might be justified.

IslamiCity: Understanding Islam

Same Sex Marriage: No Big Deal?

Meridian Magazine: Is Same Sex Marriage No Big Deal?

You hear it like a drumbeat. It is the most pervasive argument for same-sex marriage. People will say, “This is no big deal,” or “How will my neighbor’s same-sex marriage have any effect on me?” At Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the issue of same-sex marriage, senators say, why are we wasting our time on this matter? Why don’t we spend our time on issues of poverty or health or the war in Iraq? ...