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It's enough to make me gag
Some of us take an interest in history. All of
us will become part of it sooner or later. When I first came to Pacifica
I had a very low interest in the Little Brown Church. At that time it
was still a working Presbyterian church, still being run by Rev. Herschel
Harkins, the pastor of the Coastside. Today I'm actively trying to save
this memory of Pacifica's historical past.
I never asked the late Richard Meyers his opinion of the Little Brown
Church. If I had, he would have given me a straightforward, no-nonsense
answer. It's highly likely I might have disagreed with his opinion, but
I'd have enjoyed the exchange of views, and I would have respected his
ideas for their intelligence and their consistency.
I first came to know Bud Meyers through his many, and intelligent, letters
to the editor. Unlike most Pacificans, and unlike me, he was a conservative.
Like many other engineers, he was an admirer of the Metric System. Much
of what he wrote was an effort to promote a method of measuring the world
he thought made a lot more sense than the length of some king's foot,
multiplying 16 ounces to get a pound, or 36 inches to get a yard.
I got to know Bud much better when both of us served on a committee of
the North Coast County Water District examining the feasibility of using
the ocean, that inexhaustible resource at our front door, as a water supply.
The committee spent four years to conclude desalination is too expensive,
energy-intensive and impractical, at least at present. Sometimes I'd drive
Bud home after a meeting, and we'd sit and talk at length. I agreed with
his stand on the Metric System, which makes a lot of sense, and I enjoyed
our disagreements on other subjects.
I'll miss Bud, who died recently. He was a worthy opponent and a good
friend. There are some other Pacificans and former Pacificans whose opinions
I know mostly through letters to the editor responding to something I've
written.
I can respect many of those with whom I disagree, whether they are heavy
metal music lovers, environmentalists, gun lovers, motorcyclists, reactionaries
or radicals. When they sit down and put their thoughts to paper, or these
days, in an E mail posting, that represents effort, time and concern.
Even the lovers of those giant weeds, the Eucalyptus, can be respected
for their point of view. There are two sides, and sometimes four, five
or ten, to every argument. Even my old adversaries, the Friends of Pacifica,
were not completely in the wrong.
One group of people I can't stand. They are the folks who have so little
faith in their own ideas that, rather than standing up and arguing them
out, they instead attempt to stifle their opponents ideas and prevent
their publication. Even some elected officials in Pacifica have done this.
I find this contemptible. What's really bad is, if they should be successful
in their attempts to censor persons with different ideas, most readers
would never know.
I think it's fascinating that some persons willing to take full advantage
of our cherished constitutional freedoms to advance their own pet causes,
such as a particular religion, or the environmental movement, would be
perfectly willing to stifle the ideas of persons with whom they disagree.
It's enough to make me gag, but of course, gagging the opposition is the
whole idea.
In a way, of course, it's also reassuring. If they're so uncertain of
the validity of their own ideas they feel the need to censor their opposition,
their ideas must really be full of holes.
Paul Azevedo's opinions are his own, and can be disputed via E mail
to Paul@thereactor.net. Check
his website at http://www.thereactor.net.
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