LETTERS: Change must come from terror’s source
To the editor:
Imagine someone has an unlimited pile of stones and is throwing them at you. You can find some kind of shield to block some stones, and you dodge and duck to avoid many more, but not all. This can go on forever.
Or you can go to the heart of the problem and challenge the thrower. Change must come from the source. Saudi Arabia, the font and primary (though not sole) funder of Islamic teaching all over the world, must lead the way. The Saudis must act swiftly to replace radical mullahs in their madrassas with those who teach tolerance and respect for the non-Muslim world, especially within the countries they call home. If that does not happen, if they refuse to do so, each country must act on its own.
This will be a difficult step to take for a democracy, because for superstitious reasons, we have all granted religion a special place outside of society’s rules that cover every other activity. If we declare Islam an illegal religion and its followers “criminals,” we open the gates wide for future attacks on our own religions, repeating the Spanish Inquisition. That path is fraught with undesirable consequences.
But society can, should and must demand that leaders behave civilly and refrain from teaching and condoning anti-social behavior, with regard to both religious and secular organizations. Teaching hate and inciting violence should not be constitutionally protected as a form of free speech or worship.
The really hard part, for the U.S., especially, will be to insist that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and several other Middle Eastern countries join civilized society by ending the exploitation of women and ceasing the exportation and support of terrorism.
STANLEY R. GOLDFARB
LAS VEGAS
California egg laws
To the editor:
Regarding the recent op-ed on egg laws (“California’s egg laws scramble farmers nationwide,” Tuesday Review-Journal), when California’s Proposition 2 took effect on Jan. 1, it required that egg-laying hens in the state have enough space to “lie down, stand up, turn around, and freely extend their limbs” — hardly a radical animal rights manifesto.
In 2008, California voters overwhelmingly endorsed that proposition. Since then, many players in the egg and food retail industries have taken that sentiment to heart. Burger King, Marriott International and Nestle have already pledged to switch to cage-free eggs nationally.
Some food retailers have undoubtedly taken advantage of the implementation of the law, inflating prices for cage-free eggs, not because of underlying costs, but simply because consumers were willing to pay a premium.
Prop 2 gave egg producers six years to improve their facilities. If they chose not to prepare, they may realize now they made a bad business decision. You don’t have to have an MBA to know that ignoring consumer demand will result in a bumpy road for your business. Some egg producers are investing in cage-free systems, and buying new housing systems is something they must do periodically, so why not invest in the systems that are best aligned with consumer sentiments?
One day, we’ll look back at this 50-year experiment of intensive confinement of animals on factory farms and wonder how good people could have allowed it to persist. But we’ll also be proud of the consumers, voters, farmers, businesses and legislators who saw a better way forward and made it a reality.
WAYNE PACELLE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The writer is president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.
Mallard Fillmore
To the editor:
As a daily reader of “Mallard Fillmore,” please add my name to the ever-increasing list of those who want the comic strip moved to the editorial page. I’m sure that I’ll be able to enjoy it in black and white just as much as in color. It’s too bad these people upset with the comic strip have not learned the simple trick of ignoring the things they don’t like.
If being funny is a criterion for being on the comics page, the page would be half blank. (See “Wumo”). Perhaps the name of the page could be changed to “Weirdics” instead of Comics. To those who want to impose censorship in any form, to borrow a saying, “Je suis Mallard.”
SUSAN HICKS
LAS VEGAS
