toledoblade.com -- The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio

Ronald Randall complained in his Saturday Essay that voters passed levies for Children Services and Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities but turned down the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services levy. He advocates lumping all three of these programs into a Human Services Levy. He can't understand why voters don't support a program such as ADAS. I know why!

The retarded and their families had no control over their situations. Most voters feel they deserve our support. There, but for the grace of God, go I.

While the parents of children caught in dangerous or abusive situations may be at fault, it isn't the kids who should suffer, is it? Most voters empathize with them. Now, let's look at those who ask for treatment through ADAS. Most, if not all, seek treatment after they are arrested for breaking the law.

Why not ask for it sooner? Simple answer: They were enjoying themselves! They want the courts to sympathize with them and grant probation or a lighter sentence. Their court-appointed attorney will advise them that it will go a lot easier on sentencing day if they show that they are trying. Then, given a light sentence, they will return to their addiction.

Don't believe me? Check the recidivism statistics. By the way, we are already paying for the attorney. Who cares about this type of individual? Why should we? They didn't know that they were getting themselves into an addiction?

Nancy Reagan was a proponent of "Just Say No!" This small minority had the same choice as the rest of us, "Just Say No!" And our county commissioners need to "Just Say No!" to Mr. Randall's proposal. This is merely an attempt to skirt the voters' will.

DAVID J. DILLON
Sylvania
Editor's note: Mr. Dillon is a retired deputy sheriff.
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Lathrop House should stay put

Thank you for your articles informing Toledo about the 1835 Lathrop House (former Vogt residence) now owned by St. Joseph Church in Sylvania. I agree strongly with your editorial supporting preservation of the structure on its existing site. The Lathrop House is a local and national treasure. To demolish or move it would be a huge loss to history.

Like Miles and Julia Lathrop, the Harroun family also sheltered runaway slaves in a barn on their Sylvania farm. This barn has been preserved and maintained by Flower Hospital on their Harroun Road grounds. A ravine through Sylvania's Harroun Community Park connects the Lathrop House and the Harroun Barn. Oral history tells of slaves traveling the ravine at night between these two safe havens. These could well be the only two connected Underground Railroad properties remaining in the United States today.

What an awesome opportunity the parishioners of St. Joe's have. The Lathrop House is a tangible piece of history representing early Sylvanians efforts to help slaves gain their freedom. This house should be saved on its original site for future generations, not only in northwest Ohio, but our entire nation.

CAROL R. SCHOEN
Sylvania
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Fantasy movies are just entertainment

Once again the prudish Christians are rearing their ugly heads to protest a movie based on the Harry Potter books. This movie is no different than Cinderella, which had fairies with magic, or The Wizard of Oz with its magic. Did these movies endure the same cries for censorship?

There is no difference. All are fantasy movies to entertain the mind kids have (and it appears some of us have forgotten). It is a wonderful and entertaining movie for children - like the novels. It appears that the whiners feel it is better to shield a child in ignorance than to give him the tools, (or knowledge) to understand fantasy from reality. I feel sorry for any child who has to grow up in such ignorance. No, I do not mean ruining Santa, the tooth fairy, etc.

The Kirk cartoon that drew so much reaction was comparing the close-minded ideas of some religious prudes to the harsh closed-minded thinking of the Taliban. Although this was extreme, the point and overall idea was correct. Censorship will help no one, but knowledge is power, and teaching or giving your children the tools they need to make intelligent choices will help them all through their lives without having to hide them from undesirable things. By the way, I am a born-again Christian and parent of two children, ages 9 and 11.

STEVE PRICE
Penelope Drive
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Wall of separation is a lot of bunk

It's as true today as it ever was. Tell a lie long enough and loud enough and people believe it. For decades history revisionists, the ACLU, and determined secularists brainwashed generations of youth into believing the First Amendment established a "wall of separation between church and state."

What bunk. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, or Declaration of Independence does it make any such statement. Our youth were falsely taught that our forefathers were atheists, agnostics, and deists.

Almost without exception our forefathers were devout Christians. Even Thomas Jefferson, who is always cited as the author of the "separation" phrase, went to church every Sunday of his eight-year presidency in the largest church in Washington - the Capitol. Imagine that: church in a government building.

David Barton and William Federer are knowledgeable men who have studied original documents, political notes, and speeches. They say Thomas Jefferson wasn't even in the country at the time the Bill of Rights was being discussed and passed. He was in France and forbid that his name be used.

It wasn't until 13 years after the Bill of Rights that Jefferson used the phrase "wall of separation of church and state." He used it in writing to the Danbury Baptist Church in Connecticut. Jefferson had received this information secondhand. Then he writes it in a letter to the church making it third-hand information. According to Mr. Federer, no court accepts third-hand information except maybe the Supreme Court. How unjust.

The First Amendment did not establish freedom from religion but freedom of religion. After years of egregious misinformation, Christians have lost some precious rights and are rapidly losing what few we seem to have left. Yet the persecuted Church has always thrived and survived.

MARILYN M. PRYKA
Maumee
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Specific changes needed in education

We need to make some very specific educational changes in order to achieve a higher level of national literacy if Prof. D.C. Neckers of BGSU is right that the number of Americans embarking on careers in science and engineering is small and decreasing.

American literacy has been declining at a time when our changed economy requires that literacy should rise. Schools' reluctance to place tougher demands on students has resulted in a steady decrease of potential engineers, scientists, and technicians.

This is caused in part by the fact that science courses are perceived to be difficult and are therefore to be avoided by students. The maximum science load taken in high school seems to be set by the minimum requirements for admission to state universities.

It has been said that Ohioans have been shortchanged educationally for decades, their public colleges and universities passable but rarely first rate. Governor Taft must pledge more money, not less, to a technology action fund started last year. Educational reform should not be underestimated. Educational administrators must push more for the sciences and discourage the more easily traveled academic paths. Let's stop shortchanging our students!

THEODORE GEORGOFF
Windamar Road

Blame gun owners for misusing guns

Even if firearms makers had electronics or other mechanisms to prevent unauthorized use, criminals would find ways to circumvent them. After all, despite keys and alarms, cars are still stolen.

The idea that the maker of a legal product should be held responsible for the abuse of the product is idiotic. It denies the fundamental responsibility of the gun wielder for its misuse.

DAVID HUNT
Sandusky

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