Wednesday, December 31, 2025

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Opinion | 1000

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COMMENTARY

God loves every person regardless of sexuality

In his letter "Marriage defined in Bible as man, woman" (SN 2/12), Zach Garris picks and chooses which part of the Bible to use for his view of marriage. First off, God didn't write the Bible — various men who were "inspired by the holy spirit" wrote different passages during a 1,500-year period.

COMMENTARY

Group seeks to spread respect, end hate at MSU

While "I Stop Hate: MSU United" appreciates the attention that Joey Nowak's article "New initiative aims to embrace diversity" (SN 2/13), brought to the initiative, the members of the initiative would like to articulate more publicly the vision and purpose of "I Stop Hate." Currently, more than 60 student organizations have pledged to support "I Stop Hate: MSU United," including representatives from Council of Graduate Students, ASMSU, Residence Halls Association, hall governments, international student organizations, religious organizations, political organizations, fraternities and sororities, women's groups, Council of Racial and Ethnic Students/Council of Progressive Students organizations, LBGTA groups, racial-ethnic and cultural groups, and student chapters of charity groups. "I Stop Hate: MSU United" seeks to encourage all Spartans to make a conscious internal commitment to support the vision of a campus where all members of the MSU community respect and value one another.

COMMENTARY

Service tax will benefit state deficit

In the wake of Michigan's budget crisis, Gov. Jennifer Granholm proposed a plan for a 2 percent tax on services, yielding approximately $1.5 billion. According to the Detroit Free Press, the new tax plan involves 132 services.

COMMENTARY

Romney announces bid in Michigan

With an ever-increasing field of potential candidates, the 2008 run for the White House is starting to heat up in earnest. Seemingly every day, a new candidate either formally has thrown his or her hat into the ring, formed an exploratory committee or has begun glad-handing around the country in order to drum up support in a bid for the presidency. The latest addition to the roster of presidential hopefuls is Mitt Romney, the Republican former governor of Massachusetts. Romney, however, didn't announce his candidacy in Massachusetts, where he lives.

COMMENTARY

Urbanization of small cities will help solve growing global crises

The issues facing our world continue to grow larger. From dependence on Middle Eastern oil to the horrible state economy to environmental threats — these don't seem like issues most of us can personally address in a small Mid-Michigan city. Sure, we can do our part by dropping a pop can in the recycling bin, but impacting global issues seems far out of reach. When I opened The State News on Tuesday, however, a few dots began to connect.

COMMENTARY

Great Issues promoted progressive discussions

I am writing in to criticize both ASMSU and The State News for their inaccuracies in evaluating Great Issues. First of all, I was at the ASMSU meeting, and the climate in the room was one that heavily favored Great Issues, while The State News decided to run a story that made it seem as though there were an equal amount of supporters on both sides in "ASMSU cuts Great Issues program" (SN 2/12). Secondly, the State News Opinion Page said, "If anything should have happened to Great Issues, it should have been reprimanded and restructured so the group could live up to its potential of sparking debate among the student population by giving a stage to unusual viewpoints." Uh, have any of you been to Great Issues events?

COMMENTARY

Argument is insulting to atheists, has no validity

I would like to respond to Matt Cowan's bizarre and insulting letter "Christianity doesn't need column to incite reaction" (SN 2/7), in which he relates Christianity and atheism to two bars of metal. In Cowan's misguided argument, he claims the atheistic bar looks shiny on the outside, but only because it is a piece of lead covered in gold paint.

COMMENTARY

Miraculous 'holy toast' pinpoints irrational flaw in religious belief

Throughout much of human history, stories of the miraculous have been a dime a dozen; very little was understood, and ignorant humans were perpetually running across inexplicable events that could only be the work of unseen forces. As science erases ignorance, "miraculous events" become increasingly rare, but those who want to see miracles always will find them. For example, last year CNN published a widely circulated story, "Woman finds 'God's water' gurgling from tree." A Texan named Lucille Pope reported her century-old oak tree had "gurgled water" for months.

COMMENTARY

Ethanol could save state's economy

America's gluttonous appetite for oil is not new. For the seventh time, President Bush mentioned the importance of energy independence in his State of the Union address last month. Bush also expressed the need for the United States to invest in the production of ethanol. Now, Michigan finds itself at an important crossroad.

COMMENTARY

Definitions of human life differ in debates

Two major arguments have been presented in response to my letter. In "Both stem cell research, organ harvesting ethical" (SN 2/6), Mr. Brian Weeks' attempt to justify embryonic stem cell research by asserting that it does "no more harm to the stem cells than was already going to come to them" is harmful for two reasons.

COMMENTARY

Criminalizing homeless is wrong solution to problem

Though not particularly surprised, I am nevertheless appalled by the attitude taken toward the homeless by certain members of our community in East Lansing and MSU. The East Lansing City Council has proposed an ordinance banning homeless people from the city's parking structures.