feaders respond on

Bob

STRICTLY PERSONAL

§ GET a lot of letters. and I
am absolutely useless when
it comes to answering them.
This has been going on, of
course, since I first started
writing columns in 1968...

I tried at first to answer them,
but it quickly became apparent
that if I did that, | would spend
more time writing letters than col-

-.umns, or books, or scripts, or
anything.
_ Ihave never used the device of
a form letter saying, ‘‘Thank you
; for your, letter, regretfully I don't
* have time to answer.”’ I find form
etters.insulting , and I expect
“most, people feel the same way.
"” So it’s not that I don’t get the
‘letters, or that i don’t read them,
“ar enjoy them (or get enraged or

chastised by them), but I'd rather -

"not insult anyone’s intelligence
with a form letter in return.

hang alone”
ofthe North Share News,

Asa guy min, fsappart venir
opinions concerning bodh sexual
freedom and freedom of speech,
However, one sentence in par-
ticutar disturbs me.

You write of homosexuatity
one at the key tests ofa free
society is the freedom ta chouse
your sexual kick."

Mr. Huater, please try to une
derstand that one yal orien:
tation is not a choice. ‘After ali,

did you choose to be a heterasex-

ual? True, | do choose what sex-
ual lifestyle ! lead, eg.,
monogamy, promiscuity or celi-
bacy, but we all make these
choices, gays and straights alike,
There is a big difference be-

(ween who a person is and what a

person does. Considering what
many homosexuals and lesbians
face loday ~ the hatred, the

discrimination, the intolerance —

Uhardly think so many people
would ‘‘choose’’ to be gay, nor
would we put so much time and

energy into the struggles for equal

rights,
As fay as your reference to

homosexuality as a ‘sexual kick,”’

please realize that there is much
more to it than just the physical
aspect.

There is also the emotion!
dimension — love, companion-

tthe Judy 7 gdition

Ship, and caring, We homeses uals
Have these emotions just as
heterosexuals do,

Referring to homosexuality asa
“sexual Rick’ is just as insulting
as itt were to write (hat the main
reason heterosexuals form rela-
tionships and miurriages is for sex.
ual satisfaction,

We abo do not “choose”
saine-ses renlionships, The desire
(o nivel one special person ty love,
ta care for, and to share a life
with isa human need anda
human desire, regardless of one's
sexual orientation,

i cannot exphiin why, for some,
it will be with a person of the
same Sex.

 upologize for the length of this
letter, but ('m sure you can un-
derstand how i tmiportant the sub-

ject is to me,
ooe

This other letter is from Diane
Selkirk of North Vancouver, and
the only answer { have is: There is
nothing so sad as the man or
woman who, thinking there was
nothing they could do, did
nothing.

Don't despair!

oee
Dear Mr. Hunter:

- Thank you for your many elo-
quent and thought-provoking
pieces on the state of our en-
vironment, | envy the sense of

Sunday, August 8, 1993 - North Shore News ~ 7

hope you seem to have, Carried, |
imagine, from the carly days of
the environniental movement,

What a beautifal tine that musi
dave been, such joyful naivety,
such sense of purpose, such can:
fidence in our future.

LT wish fwas fighting the battle
in those days when one did net
doubt that the chance to win ex
isted,

How do you maintain your op-
tmistic oudook? Et seems people
choose between ignorance and
awareness. When | chose
awareness b became overwhelmed
with the vastness of the problens
we have created, Each direction |
look, | see such destructioa.

Walking the beach shows me
chims and mussels that | dare not
eat, Lush old growth invariably
opens to clearcut, My vegetables,
if not chosen carefully, poison the
drinking water.

And every answer that is of-
fered is crushed by the greed of
those who choose not to look
forward.

Even those who fought for

atters of choice

years seem to grow tired and turn
away from their awareness. They
leave the struggle to the young
and thase who cannot let it go.

The ones who remain are
labelled fanaties, and if the labei
wan't stick efforts are made to
silence them.

Those who choose ignorance
never know these things,

They can drive their cars
without seeing the yellow poison
over the city. They can ridicule the
protester and swear at the tree
spiker without ever understanding
the desperation of the fight,

| cannot close my eyes though
and become unaware, | clearly see
what our planet has become.

What frightens me is that it
seems so many have chosen i ig-
norance, So many don’t see how
near the finish line is.

The answers clude me. But keep
writing, Mr. Hunter; you help me
to believe that they exist,

ees

They do, Ms. Selkirk, believe

ine, they do.

GFFER AUG. 8 TO 14

STEEL-RMIOND 4
RON WORKS ie
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Every once in a while, I get a
‘combination of letters that makes
__me think, saddens me, or corrects
“mei
‘Here are two that arrived at the
same time. Both deal with choices
‘Tregret that our society is so in-

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‘tolerant that I decided not to leave
in the name of the first writer, a
man from Nanaimo, but his point

is well taken.
! ee es

Dear Mr. Hunter: °

. 1am writing to comment on
- your article ‘‘Hang together or

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Inequality of ‘Women

Tolerance to Violence
Lack of Opportunity

Diminished Self- Esteem & Self-

Worth .

Media. Images & Messages
Inadequate Educational:
Opportunities

Loss of Jobs

VIOLENCE

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