Letters to the Editor

Wednesday, April 17, 1996


Don't tamper with laws on quarantine; they work

Regarding the April 4 article about the disabled teen seeking exemption from quarantine law: I feel sympathetic to a point. But once an exemption is made, where does it end?

Residents who truly care for the people of this state would not try to put an end to a system that works. Once rabies is introduced to the islands, there is no turning back.

Ben Cayetano says he has the authority to change it and that the quarantine is a hardship. Does that mean he is more concerned with a few people's temporary situation and not with the hardship that it would bring to this island? Sounds like a dictator rather than a governor working for all of our best interest.

If the governor has his way then he should be held liable and accountable for each and every animal than is put to sleep because they are thought to have rabies..

The quarantine is for us, the people of Hawaii, not for the animals. It is for our safety and our well being. Hawaii is a rabies-free state; keep it that way.

Adrienne L. Wilson-Yamasaki
Wahiawa



Tragedy of Jessica weighs on conscience of parents

It was tragic that a 7-year-old girl named Jessica was killed in that plane crash. It was a tragedy that could and should have been prevented.

How could her parents permit her to pilot a plane at such an early age? They put their daughter in the most dangerous situation when the plane took off on that cold, windy day.

The pressure of setting the record, the fame and glory must have gotten to the parents. The mother said that her daughter was killed doing what she loved to do and that she had lived a full life. I disagree: Her life was too short. Her parents are to blame.

Randall Fong



Constitutional convention should be avoided

I have watched with increasing concern the debate over same-sex marriage. One repercussion from the debate has gone largely unnoticed. Legislators should understand that the failure to let the people decide by a constitutional amendment same-sex marriage will make it more likely than ever that voters will demand a constitutional convention. By law the question of whether or not to hold one will be on the ballot this fall.

As things stand, either the Constitution or the institution of marriage must change. With three-fourths of voters in opposition to same-sex marriage, it is clear that the Constitution needs to be clarified to more accurately reflect the opinion of the people, of the Legislature, and the position of those who wrote it.. The question is, by which method is it most appropriate for this to be achieved - through a constitutional amendment, or a constitutional convention? It is my belief that it would be better for this issue to be resolved by a ballot for a constitutional amendment.

Unlike a constitutional amendment, which addresses a specifc section of the Constitution, a constitutional convention allows a review of the entire Constitution, and having been the president of the last constitutional convention in 1978, I can tell you that this will open up a Pandora's box of other issues such as term limits for office holders, initiative, Hawaiian rights, county rights and so forth. Do we need this?

The Constitution was written by the people and should be amended by the people. The Legislature still has the opportunity to act, and I hope it does before the move for a constitutional convention gains major support and takes us down the road to a free-for-all convention.

Bill Paty



Marriage may exacerbate problems of gays, lesbians

Anson Chong's April 8 letter quoting statements from the Rev. Danette Poole's same-sex marriage ceremony was moving. No one would doubt Rev. Poole's love for her sister or God's love for the lesbian couple.

However, Chong had no right to infer from these statements that Christians, or Baptists, or the Hawaiian community or even God is in favor of same-sex marriage.

Poole's statement, I feel, is more conciliatory than approving. God's love is so great that he would want a woman to experience the beauty and goodness of her womanhood, and the mystery and fulfillment that can only come in her relationship to a man. God even provided a way for both man and woman to be participants of his creative process by bearing children.

Same-sex marriage denies its participants all of this. So how can God love this same-sex couple and want them to enter a marriage relationship at the same time?

Ray Onaga



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