Friday, Dec. 7, 2012: MPBN, Jovan Belcher and gay clergy

Posted Dec. 06, 2012, at 4:14 p.m.

Shout for Mitchell

Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s decision to cut Jennifer Mitchell’s weekend classical program prompts me to end my support for the station after many years.

Local programming should be the core of public broadcasting. Cutting the jazz program and Toby’s Friday program of oldies, in addition to axing Mitchell’s unique, outstanding program, weakens the cultural life of Maine.

I remember when Charles Beck tried to drop Saturday afternoon opera from public radio. Opera fans roared back, and the opera was spared the ax.

I hope that classical music fans will shout just as loudly to save Mitchell’s program, one of the best on the radio. If MPBN does not appreciate the gem it has in Mitchell and the need for jazz and oldies, it does not deserve listener support.

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Margaret Cruikshank

Corea

Belcher’s abusive past

I am compelled to respond to a BDN column of Dec. 3 on the murder of Kasandra Perkins by Jovan Belcher and his subsequent suicide. The author described the incident as unfathomable, inexplicable, unpredictable and defying all explanation. I beg to differ. Belcher had a history of violence toward intimate partners during his time at the University of Maine, even while he was charming, personable and respectful to other people in his life. Apparently the women in his life did not merit the same treatment.

Abusers like Belcher often escalate their violence when their control of an intimate partner is threatened. Perkins is described in the media as his on-again/off-again girlfriend.

Far from being unfathomable and inexplicable, Belcher’s actions were consistent with his previous behavior. Suggesting that head injuries or alcohol were responsible for this tragedy is a dangerous distraction from the lethal combination of the abuser’s sense of entitlement to control a partner by any means and the presence of firearms in the situation.

Susan Hamlett

Orono

God hasn’t rewritten Bible

This is for all the openly homosexual clergy men and women out there who, for whatever reason, believe that somehow God has rewritten things as of late, to serve and accept their sexual “preference” and behavior: You see, he hasn’t. The Bible is the same today as it was

100 years ago. Their actions and ideals are an abomination of the Bible’s teachings. They are a farce and a detriment to the people they preach to, so says Leviticus 20:13 and 1 Corinthians 6:9.

Does not the Bible speak out against false prophets and their deception of Biblical law and truth? Does it not condemn them for eternity? Their own self delusion is preposterous, and their ideals blasphemy to their congregation.

David Brown

Baileyville

Uphold ‘Down Memory Lane’

The cancellation of “Down Memory Lane” demonstrates that a once-good public radio network continues its downward trajectory.

Before moving to Maine more than 15 years ago, we visited the state most summers. Maine Public Radio was a delight.

Features included much classical music, daily readings from best-selling books, Humble Farmer Robert Skoglund and, of course, “Down Memory Lane.” In recent years, the best programs have been cancelled and replaced by programs that we consider junk. We rarely listen to the network and never consider making contributions. When I tune in on occasion, there are so many stories (many of a purely U.S. nature) from the BBC that I sometimes think I have crossed the Atlantic and am in England.

Perhaps audience surveys have, in part, led to so many deplorable changes. But a public medium sometimes should lead, not follow, public opinion. I wonder if Charles Beck, who oversees MPBN’s radio and TV programming, has heard this point. Perhaps he thinks that in radio programming, poor taste is better than none at all.

Alan Ginsberg

Corea

Orono ‘right of way’

The article in the BDN on Dec. 5 about the pedestrian hit by a car in Orono tells me that an aggressive and region-wide public-relations campaign is needed to increase pedestrian visibility after dark.

Something like “wear white; carry a light” posted on campuses and street corners might help raise awareness. I travel on College Avenue in Orono after dark at least twice a week, and on two occasions pedestrians have walked out in front of me, exercising their “right of way” and assuming that I saw them on a dark, rainy, low-visibility night.

Les Myers

Old Town

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