The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 9, 1981 Page: 4 of 24
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THRESHING-IT-OUT
Science can provide
needed morality
To the editor:
Being a alumnus, I'm not sure
how appropriate it is for me to
write to the Thresher; but I must
reply to K. Lind (3-26). Without
necessarily disputing his
conclusions, I note his argument is
founded uoon an unsubstantiated
claim: "If morals are not absolute,
then morals are either individual
choice or society's whim." There is
at least one other alternative,
objective morality. scie"f: "">"<•
discovered. Even T^~ t
would grant that science provides
knowledge which is more than
individual choice or social whim,
which is objective in some sense of
the word without being absolute.
There is no reason why the
discoveries and techniques of
science cannot be applied to he
problems of ethics to develop a
theory of morality. Bertand
Russell sketched the foundation
for such a theory in 1910 (The
Elements of Ethics), reducing
moral considerations to an
identification of "the good." Ayn
Rand, although most of her work
is seriously flawed, correctly
concluded that "(he good" can be
discovered by a Scientific analysis
of "man qua man." The pseudo-
sexism is hers not mine, "humanity
qua humanity" if you prefer.
Biological and anthropological
studies already provide a starting
point, but only a few individuals
seem willing to apply it towards
this end. Richard Leakey (Origins)
and Marvin Hams (Cannibalsand
Kings) are two notable exceptions.
Their conclusions concerning the
. moral and political directions in
which humanity must progress are
? •' times startling, always plausible,
out never whimsical. Unfor-
tunately, most philosophers view
such attempts as only popular
science and current research in
ethics, with few exceptions, has
barely advanced beyond the work
of Aristotle.
I will not waste the space to
further dispute the details of Mr.
Lind's position, except to admit
that I fail to see the justification in
claiming that a 2000-year-old
book, containing many factual
errors (Common Sense by Thomas
Paine is still one of the best
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debunkers), can provide a basis for
any form of absolute knowledge.
James Freeman
Will Rice '72
Barksdale criticizes
SA election rules
Tn the editor:
1 am writing this letter because I
feel our election policies are
inadequate. In the last five veeko
we have had to have ttvo -
university-wide elections for six
offices. Our first election was
voided because of misunder-
standings about "preferential
balloting", and the fact that
seventy-two of the votes cast were
not matched with student
signatures. Furthermore, the
University Court came out with a
proposal strongly urging the
Student Association to over turn
the elections. As a result, we had a
second election for the six offices
being contested. This election went
very smoothly, and there was no
indication of ballots being
"stuffed."
The reason I have given this
short outline of the last three weeks
is to better explain my feelings
about the elections. In the first
election I was defeated by just over
4 percent of the vote. Needless to
say I was upset at the results, but I
was much more displeased when I
found out that 7 percent of tlie
votes were "stuffed ballots." I
proceeded to go to the next SA
meeting where Paul Check, the
current University Court
Chairman, suggested along with
the other members of the
University Court to redo the
elections. At this point my
opponent made no objections to a
new election. I won the second
election in both rounds of counting
the votes. Only at this time did my
opponent decide it was unfair to
have the second election. So, the
elections are now going back to the
University Court, which has
already unanimously suggested to
have the second election, for
review.
My complaint is that all of this
would not be necessary if the
elections were held correctly each
time they occur.
Jay Barksdale
University Court Chairman-elect
Dow should buy ticket
to Third World
To the editor:
Long-suffering is, they say, a
Christian virtue, and, with David
Dow's recent ramblings about the
life, work, and death of Chester
Bitterman (the one-time Bible
translator), all of us—Christian
and pagan alike—were given a
grand opportunity for unbounded
virtue.
Dow continues to magically
FRIDAY APRIL 10
7:15, 9:30, 11:45
CHEM LEC
A Wiess Film
equate the Christian faith with the
narrow-minded, fundamentalistic
bigotry of the so-called Moral
Majority (which is neither). Some
of us tire of his fanciful
stereotypes. There are many
Christians, world-wide, who have
not mailed in their intellects for
cheap fire insurance. Dow has
clearly demonstrated that he has
little clue what the Christian
faith is all about. (In particular, I
wonder how the Bible, a product of
the ancient Near East, has
suddenly become the mighty arm
of Western civilization.)
Missions. Christians in
America, dear Thresher, don't
understand foreign mission
efforts. But even the little old ladies
who sit in church with hearing aids
and blue hair have Dow beat. I
spent my youth in eastern Africa, a
son of a missionary who knows
more about Africans and African
cultures than David Dow knows
slogans. I have known Wycliffe
Bible translators who (to my utter
amazement) don't fit the Dow
caricature. Simply put, I know
what I am talking about, and, I
assure you, Mr. Dow doesn't.
David Dow is into grand
proposals. So am I. Hence,
suspecting as I do that Dow's
supposed sensitivity to other
cultures is all talk, I propose that
he cap the overflowing stream of
ignorance from which he has
drunk so deeply, that he buy a
plane ticket to a Third World
developing country as soon as
possible, and that he try his hand at
doing something for someone
besides himself.
Will Partain
Petronella College '81
Clark continues tax
for minorities debate
To the editor:
Damn, here we go again. Seems
there's some sort of gut level reflex
around here that anyone who
doesn't want to give minorities
loads of money is obviously a
racist. Hah! I'd rather marry a
black girl than a TRG any day. So
much for racism. But I didn't write
this letter to argue that. I wrote it
to answer the rational arguments
of Mr. Barnes, and the not so
rational ones of Mr. Race. Mr.
Barnes first. Minority status is a
relative thing. At my junior high, I
experienced all the symptoms
listed about Rice. To say that a
difference in skin color affects an
environmental situation is absurd;
what counts is the actual event.
However, it is possible that an
organization founded by a tax as
proposed might solve the problem.
My argument was not directed
toward the objectives of the
proposal, but towards the method
of accomplishing it. I don't think
that throwing money at a problem
will make it go away, and I object
even more when it's my money
being thrown. There are lots of ^
things I could do with my money
that would help eliminate
problems, but those problems
aren't my fault! No obligation, you
see. So let me deal with injustice
and evil my way, Mr. Barnes, and
settle with my maker in my own
way. I will not buy moral security
for two dollars, fiat rate.
Mr. Barnes' letter I liked. It was
well reasoned, and reminded me of
a few points I had forgotten.
Unfortunately, I can't say the same
about Mr. Race's letter. It really
doesn't deserve an answer, but I'll
give one anyway, just to be fair.
First off, I'd like to propose an
argument. Let's say everybody can
mail a letter over to Minorities,
Inc. and enclose a check for two
dollars, knowing it would be
distributed in exactly the manner
previously outlined. I doubt very
much that many people would take
advantage of the chance. In fact,
they could do it now, but I don't
see many of my friends, or
anybody else, madly running to the
mailbox to get those donations off.
Of course, you could always get
Sally Struthers to put in an ad in
the Thresher, asking for money to
save the oppressed minorities. I
mean , I can think of shitloads of
better things to do with that money
to help the world as a whole. So let
me donate as I see fit, and don't
just take and force me to ask for it
back.
Now, on to my favorite topic:
Rice activities. Anyone who holds
up a party at this place as a bad
example has the truth on their side.
They're boring, loud, and filled
with alcohol soaked wieners out to
drown their sorrows. But that's not
all Rice has to offer! With clubs,
acting, sports and lectures all over
the place, it's likely that not fitting
in is a function of not trying. My
friends are of various races, but 1
think of them as people, describing
them by where they are from, not
their racial heritage. That's exactly
how I intend to continue, and I
refuse to try and get to know
someone on the basis of his or her
skin color if we have nothing else in
common.
Finally, Mr. Race wants to
argue numbers and percentages.
His arguments are just silly. The
reason there are so few Black,
Hispanic and Chinese professors
at this place is that there aren't
many of them, period. The ones
who do exist are in high demand,
and Rice just doesn't offer enough
money, or at least that's the
impression I got when all those
articles in the Thresher discussed
the issue. By the way, how will a
blanket tax solve the problem? I
hardly think we'll get more
minority professors if we have a
nifty lecture series or two. In any
case, Mr. Race wishes to visit the
sins of the fathers on the sons, a
point of view that I find totally
revolting. I caftnot be held
responsible for things that
occurred before I was even born,
and I feel no obligation to do
anything on the basis of guilt over
actions long past and men long
turned to dust. However, this does
not make me a racist. A racist is a
person who thinks one race is
better than another. I do not think
that. All people are just people, no
matter what they look like. What
counts is what's inside.
Remember: two wrongs do not
make a right. One cannot correct a
past injustice by imposing another
injustice. Discrimination works
both ways, and is equally wrong.
So do not call me a racist; you
anger me to no end by doing so.
Well, there it is. I'm sorry if I
have offended, but I only speak my
mind. Once again, I plead for
peace and harmony within
ourselves. By doing no more than
our own share, we eliminate the
need for anyone to do it for us.
With respect and love, nothing can
stand against us.
Mark Clark
Wiess '83
The Rice Thresher, April 9,1981, page 4
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Dees, Richard. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 9, 1981, newspaper, April 9, 1981; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245470/m1/4/?q=War+of+the+Rebellion.: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.