Mailbag: Never forget the Armenian Genocide

The annual Armenian Genocide observance and commemoration at the Alex Theatre reminds us of certain unavoidable facts. As an elected official, let me state them from my heart in words so clear as to command their assent.

We must never forget the Armenian Genocide and the inhumanity surrounding this tragic event. We must bring inexhaustible energy, heart and sense of purpose to ending the unmitigated shame and understated disgrace at the failure of our government in Washington to formally recognize this tragedy as historic fact.

Some ask why we gather together each year, Armenians and non-Armenians alike, to memorialize the genocide as a solemn expression of our collective grief, hope and humanity. We do so because the Holocaust and the genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur all stand as stark lessons of the unspeakable cost of ignorance and indifference with which the first genocide of the 20th century was, and continues to be, met.

We do so because we dare not miss this opportunity to teach the lessons of this terrible history. We do so because the echoes of the voices of the victims of this monumental inhumanity visited upon the Armenian people in the early part of the last century resonate to this day with resounding voice and stinging clarity in the ears and collective consciousness of mankind. And we do so because prejudice and hatred and brutality must never find a resting place safe enough or a grave deep enough to bury or silence the injustice of the Armenian Genocide and its impact upon its victims and their descendants.

As a second-generation American with family members who perished in the Holocaust, I often ask myself how many members of my own family might have lived to contribute to society had the lessons of the Armenian Genocide been recognized? And, therefore, as a person of the Jewish faith, I too, am a descendant of the Armenian Genocide.

We must not forget the lessons of the Armenian Genocide in the hope that others will always remember.

JOHN DRAYMAN

Glendale

Editor’s note: Drayman is a member of the Glendale City Council.

Keep church and state separate

No doubt Martik Abramian (“Faith-related topics OK for textbooks,” April 9) is a sincere and intelligent person, but his remarks about Christianity in textbooks are wrong in two crucial ways.

And his apparent belief in a very recent age for the Earth demonstrates a “religious” mind set that retreats far back to the thinking of the Dark Ages.

He argues that “because the majority of Americans say they are Christians, what is wrong with faith-related subjects in textbooks?” Even though I too am a Christian, I believe that he and the many others who think similarly are wrong.

Stop for a second and think of the millions of Americans who are not Christians and who do not want their children proselytized by Christianity inserted into textbooks. Devote a second to the 1st Amendment, which calls for the separation of church and state. A textbook supplied by the “state” must not promote the “establishment of any religion.”

I’m certainly OK with classes in comparative religion that discuss the history and important aspects of major religions without singling out one for primacy, but let’s not have textbooks promote the ethos of only Christianity.

“I don’t see any proven written history of mankind beyond 6,000 years,” Abramian wrote. Of course there is no written history because there was no systematic writing prior to about 5,500 years ago. Does that prove there was no history before that, or does Abramian believe that there was no Earth at all before that?

It is sad that he and millions of others ignore the scientific facts that show that the Earth is more than 4 billion years old, that multicellular life goes back at least 500 million years, and that the progenitors of man can be traced back more than 4 million years. It seems like almost every day there are new fossil discoveries that help fill the gaps in the long, complicated development of Homo sapiens (and other creatures as well).

I’m not describing theory or myth, but conclusions based on facts established by hundreds of years of scientific study. You can ignore “science” if you wish, but that equates to sticking your head in the sand so you don’t hear, see or read anything that doesn’t fit your preconceived notions.

Christianity has been beneficial in many ways, and so have other religions, but let’s not forget that our Founding Fathers, rebelling against the tyranny of England and its state religion, made it abundantly clear in the Constitution that there should never be a state-sponsored or -supported religion in our nation.

ROBERT MORRISON

Glendale

Thanks to health fair participants

On April 17, Glendale Healthy Kids provided, with the support and sponsorship of many community businesses, a free health fair for more than 300 children.

This is a unique event for kids, offering one-touch diabetes testing, scoliosis screening, dental and vision screening, hearing and pulmonary testing, flu vaccine and much more! There were lots of booths with information for parents.

Thanks to the Northwest Glendale Lions Club, with five volunteer eye doctors, more than 70 folks received eye tests, with three serious conditions detected.

Please note, next year’s event will be April 9. In addition to all of the above, qualified children will walk away with free eyeglasses, and there will be free sports physicals for all kids. Thank you for your sponsorship this year.

And we’d love to see a reporter and some coverage next year. If our kid’s health isn’t important — and the new health bill doesn’t provide any dental coverage help — what is?

CAMILLE LEVEE

Glendale

Editor’s note: Levee is executive director of Glendale Healthy Kids.