Thanks to CityBeat for printing another article on Buddhism ("A Buddha Way to Live," issue of Oct. 19-25). As a student of Buddhism, I appreciate the time Margo Pierce has taken to explore area Buddhists.
That being said, I believe we must continue to espouse separation of church and state. I don't want to see Buddhists get involved in politics any more than, say, conservative Christians. I think that, if taught the precepts of a valid belief system, people will eventually learn that zero tolerance is skewed way of thinking.
— Marilyn Schirmer, Hamersville, Ohio Thanks to CityBeat for the great mention of Howard Lyman, who spoke on Xavier's campus Oct. 17 (Porkopolis, issue of Oct. 12-18). Dr. Lyman is touring the country promoting his new book and video, No More Bull. If anyone doubts the sincerity of this man, they would only have to view the number of videos that he gave away to XU students who had come to his talk without sufficient funds to purchase them. But he's admired by many of us for a multitude of other reasons.
As founder of Voice for a Viable Future, his message of how we're destroying America with our reliance on meat-based diets isn't exactly refutable when one can see firsthand the topsoil erosion and desecration of our country's waterways from the huge cattle "farms" and feedlots. And, for the first time that I've ever seen, there was the video of the young people who can no longer stand from having their brains eaten away by Mad Cow Disease.
His is not an animal rights message, but the slaughterhouse footage isn't exactly appetizing. I was intrigued with how many students turned their heads away rather than watching the torture of fully-conscious animals. My head was turned too, but I don't support these industries and I have a sad hunch that many of these same students who don't want to see it continue to pay for it at each meal.
There are so many overwhelming stories of human tragedies from around the globe that sometimes the animal compassion message might seem to be subservient, but one can still work on all these other great issues while not eating corpses.
— Jayn Meinhardt, Walnut Hills
