Letter to the Editor

Easter is a time of reflection

Dear editor:

Easter and the spring season is a good time to think about the issue of separation of church and state. When you closely study the founding fathers and early America, the issue is not that hard to understand. The outcome of such a study also reveals that the separation issue is not what the atheists and agnostics make it out to be.

When America was founded, freedom of religion was one of the issues which brought people to our shores. The Pilgrims and Puritans came looking for God, while the later '49ers came looking for gold. At the time the Pilgrims and other early colonists came here, England was under the harsh rule of the Church of England. The Church of England remains the state religion of the United Kingdom to this day, just like the Catholic religion is the state religion of Ireland, Italy, and much of Latin America, and the Lutheran religion is the state religion of the North Countries. The founding fathers did not want a state religion. So this is all that separation of church and state means, in my opinionthat the government does not pick one particular denomination and recognize it as official.

I believe the founding fathers would be shocked if they knew that people like Madeline Murray O'Hair, and others, have used this issue to have oral prayer removed from school, the Ten Commandments removed from display in public buildings, and Nativity scenes taken off public property. The founders of the Republic were not perfect people; some owned slaves, some had affairs on their wives, some drank and smoked. However, most of them were good Christian men who believed in God and his Son.

For now, the atheists have won in their court campaign against God. But, you know, we have a few things over on them. While there needs to be oral prayer in school to help students, teachers, and the school system in general, we may still pray silently. No one can take that away from us.

Someone once said, as long as there are algebra tests, there will always be silent prayer in school. We can still study the Ten Commandments in Sunday school and church and try to practice them in our lives. Even if they are not on a public building's wall, we can accept them and study them. We can still enjoy Nativity scenes at home, until the time comes when they are allowed on public property again. The atheists may have won the court battles, but if you have Christ in your heart, no one can take that away from you. Madeline O'Hair and company can fight all they want in the legal system, but they cannot remove Jesus from your heart.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

Sincerely,

David Shipp Nevada

Old structure made from terra cotta

Dear editor,

It seems an appropriate time for me to correct, yet again, a seemingly ineradicable, monumental blunder of fact, this time committed (perhaps aptly) in Charles Nash's April Fool's Herald-Tribune column.

The present Vernon County jail building is not, repeat not, "marble." It's terra cotta, essentially a finegrain, highquality concrete, very popular early in the 20th century (Kansas City is full of it), still being manufactured.

It was inspired by, and named for, the ancient terra cotta ("cooked earth") pottery. The original was more brickcolored than the modern, which is usually buff, but can be cast to order in any color.

The eagle over the jail's south door, and other ornamentations, are all cast terra cotta, just like the walls.

Ken Postlethwaite made an untypical error in praising the county for sandblasting the building as soon as it got possession, "bringing out the beauty of the original marble." As I titled my response, "They ruined it."

Terra cotta is coated with a glaze, called a "slip." The sandblasting simply knocked off most of the slip, leaving the building vulnerable to weather and in need of eternal repainting.

One only hopes some moneyed soul will do for this abused, noble edifice what Greg Hoffman did for the Carnegie Building. But, thanks to one-time official Vernon County, he'll have his work cut out for him.

In design, the building is a miniature replica of the Baths of Caracalla in ancient Rome. In saddest truth, "they don't make 'em like that any more."

Patrick Brophy

Nevada