LETTERS
To the Editor:

My compliments! You publish a great paper. I'm a new subscriber, now in receipt of my first few issues. But if favorably impressed with your print makeup and overall graphic design, I'm a bit wondrous at a recent letter-to-theeditor in four parts. It was something to do with Union County's failed effort to enable alcoholic beverages in restaurants. I'm told by fellow parishioners that by the writer's seemingly wine soaked reasoning, the Demon Rum was clearly the invention of Catholics and of the Catholic Church. My query, then: How did

all those Catholics slip in unnoticed into the North Georgia Mountains? Were they the ones who set up the stills and sold their sour mash to unsuspecting Protestants? And if not, to whom did they sell their White Lightning? I mean back in the Roaring Twenties when in these mountains the winters were cold, the nights were dark and there was no responsible person to observe when the hooch was delivered, and Bubba slipped over the trundling board. Let's face it, the population was all Protestant. If booze was abounding then the bounders who brewed it were not Catholic. It was in the still of

the night that they operated. And the people we think of today as Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco (ATF) agents were called the "Revenuers," who smashed the stills and sentenced the distillers to time on the chain gang, making little rocks out of big rocks.

I have noted with interest that the stone casters, in their condemnation both of the Devil's Brew and the Catholics who, by their belief, invented it, are fond of citing Old Testament references forbidding its consumption. Throughout Reform history the Old Testament has too frequently eclipsed the New, when harsh judgment was believed called for. "The Lord God's enemies are mine enemies!" said the killer of King Charles I. It's not the first time the Bible has been scoured for passages supporting the researcher's bigoted conclusion. Two terms help to describe biblical research. The first is "Exegesis," in which the scholarly researcher doesn't know the bottom line conclusion, and can only reach a licit, or intellectually honest conclusion, when all premises have been, without prejudice, stacked above; something like adding a column of figures. Its opposite is "Eisegesis," wherein the researcher starts out with a biased, bottom line conclusion and seeks only those premises that support it; an endeavor that is regarded by scholars as 'illicit', or "intellectual dishonesty." The Old Testament is a wonderful library of Hebrew religious and cultural experience, and of the Hebrews through whom God the Father

chose to reveal himself. But it is in the New Testament, i.e., the compilation of handed down traditions of Apostles and Church fathers, that Christianity was formed and the Bible compiled. Would that those who shout loudest follow the teachings of the loving Jesus and his inspired Apostles. Would that they should embrace ALL Christian teachings; and not just those that satisfy their warped prejudices.

The inescapable fact is that church leaders in backwoods mountain communities were faced with freelance whisky distillers whose illicit liquor lured the week minded. It became convenient to blame the absent Catholics, without leveling criticism at non-Catholic still operators, who were notorious for their revenge, involving home, barn and church burnings.

In recent times, Evangelical Protestants and Catholics have found common ground in their shared opposition to issues such as abortion.

It is nearly reminiscent of the late 17th Century England, when Catholics and Reform Protestants shared a common adversity, in their oppression at the hands of the so called Established Church of England.

Catholics today hold to a neighborly attitude toward fellow Christians of other faiths. There is a continuing influx of Protestant converts to Catholicism, and the Church recognizes that converts still hold to fond memories of their Protestant beginnings. Protestants are embraced by Catholics, not blamed. While there are, according to separate, non-Catholic research sources, approximately 1.6 or 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide, most Catholics would feel quite comfortable if the estimate were rounded to an even billion. Yet, Catholics wish only to be judged fairly and honestly, and be left to worship according to the traditions of 2,000 years. Amen.

Tom McKevitt

Hospital gives thanks To the Editor:

Thank you so much for your excellent coverage of the unveiling of Union General Hospital's new addition. We had a tremendous community response to our public open house but your pictures and article will give those who

were unable to attend a better idea of the improvements we have made. We are proud of our new facility and appreciate your support.

Sincerely, Tonia Albright, RN, BSN

Director of Nursing