A nation under God
I have been paying close attention to the issue concerning removing The Ten Commandments from public display. At first my thoughts were, as long as they are etched in the believer’s heart, it doesn’t really matter. Now, I realize how wrong I was. In the March 5 edition, columnist Ellen Goodman stated that she sided with somebody that said, paraphrasing, it’s ironic that someone would worship a document that says we are not to create any graven images. I do not worship any document and anybody but God. These tablets are one of just three articles that were placed in the Ark of the Covenant. They represent the significance of the Israelites journey to the Promised Land. The ark represents the holiest sign of God’s presence. I do not honor a piece of stone, but I do honor what they represent. They are so important that God handed them over to Moses, personally.
On Sept. 11, 2001, we witnessed a miracle. We saw a whole nation turn to God. People were flocking to church in record numbers. The Democrats and Republicans were standing side by side on the steps of the Capitol building singing “God Bless America.” The ACLU had its head buried in the sand. Not a word from anybody who wanted to take God out of our systems. We were indeed, one nation under God.
Now look where we are. Attendance in church is lower now than before 911. We let them fire Judge Roy Moore, the most honorable man that I know for refusing to remove the writing of God from public display. He took a stand for Jesus and was persecuted for it.
This shouldn’t be surprising. The scripture tells us that we have done this to God many times before. I know of this church that had to build a balcony during the great depression to handle the overflow of people. It is our nature to turn to God when things get tough. We cry out to him, then he blesses us, then we become proud once again, we don’t talk to him any more, then we wonder, how could God let this happen?
Bud Lambert
Lake Lynn
Get tough on polluters
Last June, six Greenpeace activists climbed a 700-foot smokestack in Masontown and unfurled a banner reading, “The Bush Energy Plan Kills: Clean Energy Now.” They carried out this peaceful protest at Allegheny Energy’s Hatfield Ferry power plant, one of the nation’s dirtiest, to highlight that the government is protecting polluters like Allegheny and not doing enough to promote clean, renewable energy.
These activists appeared in court last month and accepted responsibility for their actions. Five of the six served their sentences and have been released. The sixth, Josh Raisler Cohn, is continuing to serve a longer sentence of 30 days. Josh is now fasting in silent protest of the lack of action taken by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection against Allegheny Energy, which continues to pollute and put the health of community members at risk.
Just the other week, Charlotte O’Rourke, a Masontown resident, joined with Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future in filing a lawsuit against Allegheny Energy for its refusal to clean up the Hatfield’s Ferry power plant. Hatfield’s Ferry has a long history of violating the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
President Bush’s ties to the dirty fossil fuel industry are well known, and we will continue to fight for a clean energy future for America. This administration has weakened efforts to develop clean, renewable energy sources that would reduce pollution, protect our health, create good paying jobs, and lessen our dependency on imported sources of energy.
This administration has systematically weakened clean air laws by allowing power stations to upgrade and increase capacity without adding modern pollution controls, and by permitting coal-fired power plants, like Hatfield’s Ferry, to continue to release tons of mercury into our air and waterways.
However, the federal government is not alone in shirking its responsibility. Where is the Department of Environmental Protection? Why does Pennsylvania put peaceful protesters in jail while continuing to allow Hatfield’s Ferry to pollute the air and poison the water of Greene and Fayette counties? Why does DEP administrator Kathleen McGinty refuse to force Allegheny to clean up its plant? Pennsylvania has held the defendants accountable; now it’s time that the same standard is applied to Allegheny Energy.
John Passacantando
The writer is the executive director of Greenpeace in the United States.