LETTERS

On Walker Railey

And His Church



It seems that your writers have once again done a fine job of reporting a sensitive issue [“The Silent Spring of Walker Railey.” October 1987] with grace and tact. Mike Shropshire appears to have left judgment to the legal system by reporting the facts as he uncovered them. But the cover artwork by Daniel Maffia is a hideous, hateful caricature. It accuses the man with every brushstroke.

As a one-time secretary to Dr. Railey. I. too, must leave judgment to the courts and, of course, to God. When I first heard of the threats, then the attack on Peggy, I was haunted by something Walker had said to me eight years ago. “When I was young, my faith was strong, very strong. Then [seminary] destroyed it. . . and [then] rebuilt it to suit themselves.”

Why do we set preachers and physicians on such a pedestal? It is not fair to them or to ourselves to make them out as some kind of god and expect them to never be wrong. Of course, the things Walker preached were (are) true, no matter how great or small his sin. Truth does not change with the winds of human frailty.

Bettye Martin McRae

Garland



In the wakes of the Walker Railey and Finis Crutchfield scandals, one wonders whether more emphasis should be placed, in the seminary studies of Methodist ministers-to-be, on the life, upright character, and example of John Wesley, the founder of this interesting creed-not to mention the humility of Christ himself.

R.G. Cardwell

Austin



With the many bad stories about the Methodist Church, I have to tell you my good one. I am single with an adopted little girl, and 1 have always worked hard to support us. Then I injured my hip and was faced with surgery and being off work for three months-with no health insurance. All the people who have really tried to help me have been Methodist-the everyday type- helping someone who really needs it. Those people make up all the good Methodist stories you don’t hear about.

My friends have given me more support where it counts (rent, utilities, food) than the government I’ve supported since I began working at age nineteen, and I’m thirty-eight now. Thank God for my friends.

Marlene Spencer Dallas

Family Violence: No Excuses

In “Blood Ties” by Sally Giddens [October], a particular statement disturbs me. After describing some extreme examples of family violence, she writes: “These women are not Just being slapped around by some high-strung guy who’s had a bad day. Their horror is real.” When exactly does the horror become real? The psychological effects of abuse are devastating at any level. Let us not excuse the abuser because it may be easier to relate to his or her rationale. We all have plenty of bad days. We do not all assault our family members.

Roberta Schwartz Dallas

Ethnic Slurs, Ugly Americans

One must question the motives of your editorial board in publishing a piece that would fit perfectly well in a Ku Klux Klan backwater journal. Many quotes in Brad Bailey’s “Blue Skies, Lotsa Problems” [October] ridicule Micronesians and Arabs in every possible way-their looks, their behavior, what they eat. what they wear, their manners, etc. If this isn’t outright racism, it’s the closest thing to it. Replace the word Arabs with Israelis or Italians or Mexicans, and see how it sounds. The moral question aside, racism makes for bad journalism, of which D Magazine stands guilty in this case.

Maan R. Al-Ubaidi Dallas

This article is the epitome of extreme bad taste, filled with racism and ignorance. No wonder Americans traveling overseas sometimes complain about the rude reception they receive while guests in another country, When this city is so desperately seeking new industries to help bring our city out of its recession, the publication of such an article shows a decided lack of judgment and foresight. Surely the citizens of our city deserve better representation from a magazine that supposedly represents Dallas.

Carmen L. Seda-Morales Lewisville

Five years ago, more than 1,000 Palestinian Arabs were massacred in Beirut. Why should we care? After all, Arabs are disgusting, we read it in D Magazine. Two years ago, Alex Odeh, chapter head of the American-Arab Ami-Discrimination Committee in Los Angeles, was blown to pieces by a bomb planted in his office. Why not?

Arabs are disgusting, the bomber could read it in D. What’s next for D? “Gooks in Dallas”? “Niggerloving in Deep Ellum”? “Those Homely Hispanics”?

Matthew C Hogan

National Association of Arab-Americans

Dallas



It is not surprising that bigoted and pompous people exist-people who enjoy trotting around the globe comparing their handsome looks to the ugliness of others and generally showing their contempt for other cultures and ways of life. What is surprising is that D Magazine would allow these kinds of ethnic slurs to appear in print.

Issa Kamar

Secretary, American Arab Society

Irving



Commitment: The Other Side



I feel sorry for the Dallas male who is insecure because he is on some sort of financial schedule that prevents him from making any lasting commitment to a relationship [“Redefining the Dallas Male,” October]. Even sadder is the fear that marriage could interrupt a career or personal achievement.

Believe me, there is no “right” time for marriage. My husband and I married in a great heat of passion. Yet he’s gone through “Women’s Lib” with me, gladly allowing me a teaching career and currently welcoming my contributions as vice-president of our own business.

Only through individual effort and joint perseverance have we grown together. We began a new business in 1978 and it is now worth over two million dollars. We have two children. College for them is around the corner. We struggle to make a house payment on a nice home, and we still manage to take a good vacation every other year. All of this only took seventeen years.

Before all that, we traveled to California in a hippie VW bus on $500; skinny-dipped in Lake Travis; met Willie and Frieda and the Firedogs; watched eagles in the Grand Canyon; and tried surfing. In short, we grew up together. We’re different people than when we started, but we’re still happy.

We both wanted financial success and security, but weren’t afraid to gamble along the way. So grow up-fast! At thirty, your time is definitely running out. We had a huge fortieth birthday party last weekend with joint friends of experiences accumulated over seventeen years of trials, tribulations, separation, and finally, success. But you know what? We didn’t miss a beat-all it took was commitment.

Marilyn Neely

Grand Prairie