Point/Counterpoint

Not everyone loves us. First read this column from the Mesquite Local News. My response, which they were kind enough to include in full in their on-line version, follows:

Dear Editor,

I read with interest Happy Pontiac’s recent screed “Faith Lutheran: The Team I Love to Hate.” For a newspaper serving a small town with some old-fashioned small town values, his article was, appropriately, small. His work is certainly evidence that the power of the pen and the power of the mind are not necessarily related.

That “big shiny bus” was, in part, paid for by a parent. The gas and maintenance are paid for by the tuition dollars of our families. The bus also transports our choir and band on their excursions as well as transports classes on field trips. Our teachers and administrators don’t have access to a fleet of vehicles provided at taxpayer expense. We have to provide our own. Happy, just because you cover teams that proudly wear the green and white that is no reason for you to be green with envy.

While you insist that money must be at the root of our evil empire, were you aware that not that long ago, the school raised over $100,000 to support the victims of hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami? Or that each year our school provides hundreds of gifts through Operation Christmas Child to help those in need around the world?

And thanks for the compliment on our website. We do want prospective students and parents to look at it and consider the advantages of an education at Faith Lutheran. Perhaps if you had attended Faith you would have learned about libel. One definition of that word is “anything that is defamatory or that maliciously or damagingly misrepresents.” Both the NIAA and the NCAA have pretty clear rules about what we can do in terms of helping athletes. All our aid is need-based and that need is determined by an outside company. Nowhere on the form is there an opportunity for anyone to identify themselves as athletes, great actors or accomplished musicians. But I know you are going to consider this defense rather self-serving, so I offer this challenge: find someone. Find that athlete getting a “free ride” at Faith. But please find a real student. Not just one the voices in your head told you about. The notion that we would disregard our integrity for the sake of winning an athletic contest is ludicrous, but you are welcome to pursue your crusade against the Crusaders.

You write our soccer team was disrespectful during a ceremony. Were you aware that no one on the Virgin Valley side let our team know there was going to be a ceremony? Were you aware that our entire student body spent time that day in an assembly honoring our military and those who serve?

I was pleased to see that you survived your visit to Faith Lutheran Friday night. Given what you have written about our school, tarring and feathering might have been appropriate. Congratulations to your football team for their victory and to the volleyball team for their efforts as well. We look forward to continued spirited competition for the rest of the school year.

Finally, might I suggest that readers of the Mesquite Local News take to heart your own words and apply them to you: “…disregard everything I have ever said. Ever.”

Isn't it amazing how our biases can move us past those silly things called facts? I bring this to your attention in part because we sometimes forget that we are a target for some people. People resent our success and look for ways to tear us down. We are always under somebody's miscroscope, whether it is an opposing coach, player, fan or intrepid journalist (used in the lightest possible sense). Thus our witness must be positive.