LETTERS

LITTLE ROCK — For needy, not greedy

I remember a joyous Christmas morning, I awoke to find a little brown paper bag at the foot of my bed containing an apple, an orange, some nuts and candy. I was told it was from Santa Claus.

I knew it was from my parents, but I played along for years because I knew it made them happy. It made me happy, too.

We were sharecroppers, poor but proud. If somebody had delivered a meal to our door, we would have sicced the dogs on them. We provided our own special Christmas meal like we did all our meals. God blessed us with the ability to provide for ourselves. If we didn’t earn it, we didn’t want it.

I respect the noble poor and the deserving rich.

I have as much contempt for the greedy profligate poor as I have for the nasty, trashy Hollywood rich. Those who make billions from slave labor are literally beneath contempt.

I know a Christian lady who has the Christmas spirit year-round. She’s in her mid-70s, a great-grandmother, comfortably retired. She cleans for the elderly poor at no charge. She works three days each week “for the exercise.”

Be discreet in your giving. Help the needy, not the greedy.

For Christmas, I wish all little children could be blessed with parents who love each other and love them just the right amount less. I was never needy.

WAYNE B. WYATT Sherwood Pack your parachute

Dear Santa,

I have been good, but I am so scared. Those polar ice men in Washington want to push me off a cliff.

For Christmas, bring me a parachute.

Please hurry.

I have cookies.

BETTY HUNT North Little RockDo good for everyone

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father who is in Heaven because he lets the sun shine on the evil and the good, and lets it rain on the just and the unjust. Therefore when you have the opportunity to do good, do good unto all men and women, too. Male and female, he created them in his image.

These words were alive and well during the early biblical days. The question is: Are they alive and well in this 21st Century? The answer is yes, they most certainly are. Organizations such as the United Way, the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and stores like Goodwill and others help make life not so hard for many people.

On the other side of the coin, the people who donate to these organizations are heroes, too. When you have all parts of a wheel working good, things are going to happen.

KENNETH MURPHY El Dorado Reflection of society

How much is the life of a criminal worth to our legal system? Zero.

How much is the life of the man in the street worth to a policeman? Zero.

How much is the life of an American citizen worth to the president of the U.S.? Zero.

From the youngest life to the oldest life, there is a pervading disregard at all levels of government for the sanctity of our lives.

Should we be surprised that in our day anyone may take a gun and start killing without shame?

Unfortunately not. It is a manifestation of the depravity of the society in which we live, a depravity apparently sanctioned at all levels of our government.

FABRICIO DURAN RussellvilleFor good of mankind

America’s character and values have changed over the years, as evidenced by the senseless mass shooting of innocent people in schools, shopping malls, movie theaters, etc. In sympathy with the families in Newtown, Conn .,we must do all we can to stop such killings. America’s children have had access into a new world via computers,smartphones and media that have unquestionable influence on morals and character. We need more traditional families which prepare children at home and public schools with good role models so that as children mature, the weak, lustful, mentally impaired and the violent might not stray beyond their moral teachings.

Moral boundaries have also been negatively affected by many gradual changes empowered by our federal government: removal of the Ten Commandments and prayer from schools and public institutions, removal of Christmas traditions or anyother acknowledgments of God. This same government also enables violent, unseemly, unregulated forms of entertainment, reality shows, video games, movies, pornography, etc. Such actions ultimately lead to loss of respect of parents and other authorities, loss of the sanctity of marriage, more dysfunctional families, more unwed mothers, lawlessness and erosion of civility in general.

The Ten Commandments are God’s boundaries established for mankind’s own good. To quote a wise saying, “Don’t tear down a fence unless you are sure what it’s there for.” JERRY D. POTTER Hot SpringsProtecting own profit

David and Charles Koch have for years financed campaigns against climate-change data, including renewable energy such as wind power. They are also the money and the power behind Americans for Prosperity.

Now the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette allows one of their pawns, Teresa Oelke, to bash tax subsidies to the wind-power industry as an example of wasted taxpayer money.

Nowhere do you find her concern for the tens of billions of dollars in tax subsidies to the oil and gas industry. Why? The Koch brothers made their billions from oil. Her column had nothing to do with taxes and everything to do with protecting the Koch brothers’ income from oil.

Give me a break.

ED HUDNALL Bryant