To the editor: I am writing in support of Ahren
Bader-Jarvis for his handling of the controversial song he sang at the Youth in
Arts performance. It seems all are in agreement that the venue was not the
right p1ace for the song. Ahren has very impressively offered his explanation
for the chain of events (The Record, Saturday, May 19). Venue controversy aside, I am
impressed that Ahren was able to use the arts to express his concerns for a war
he docs not believe in. We are living in conflicted and controversial times;
the arts have always been used as a vehicle for expression of feelings and a
way to communicate about a wide variety of controversial issues. War is hell - people on both sides of this Iraq war readily
admit this. Ahren's song about peace was his way of sharing some of his
thoughts and feelings about a war that is on our minds. As I celebrated Mother's Day this
year I had many feelings about my oldest child going off to college next year
at 18 years of age. I thought back to my mother's
celebration of Mother’s Day when her first-born was 18 years old; instead of
college he was heading off to Vietnam. I can only imagine what she (or
mothers of children in this Iraq war) was (are) going through. Al what place
can we come together to simply mourn the sadness that is part of this war? Or
share our thoughts and feelings over the tragedy of war. Ahren used his words to poetically
express his thoughts and feelings. They may not have been sentiments agreed
upon by everyone in our community but here was a young man exploring and
communicating his hope for peace and love in our world. I can only hope that
all the young people in this community feel a freedom to bring up their
concerns and hopes for a better world. BARBARA DUNN Clinton
Youth need the freedom to
speak