LETTERS

LITTLE ROCK — Tread carefully on terms

When the Jonesboro school shooting happened years ago, there were people blaming video games before anyone knew who the gunmen were, much less anything about them. We may know who Colorado’s gunman was, but we do not know his state ofmind. Because the gunman reportedly called himself the Joker, Dr. Drew Pinsky on CNN Headline News called him “delusional.”We don’t know the gunman really believed that, though. A medical professional should be careful when bandying about diagnostic terms that might incorrectly predispose jurors (who might claim not to have watched coverage but really did) to find the defendant innocent by reason of insanity.

However disturbed their thinking might be, the world’s greatest fiends tend to be coldly sane. Those with the faculties and self-control to carry out such elaborate plans and make their way through everyday interactions without raising red flags along the way frequently know what they’re doing and know that it’s wrong. The gunman could be delusional and still legally sane, just as you would be if you knew you shouldn’t listen to a hallucinatory elephant any more than you’d obey a neighbor who tells you to do a bad thing, but some jurors will have difficulty grasping that.

However interesting and useful speculation might be, professionals need to tread carefully when their words might shape public opinion.

TRAVIS LANGLEY Arkadelphia

Dr. Travis Langley is a psychology professor at Henderson State University.

Voters being insulted

John Brummett’s recent column about politicians quoting other politicians out of context left out something important, in my opinion: A politician who tries to persuade a voter by intentionally misleading him in this way is being dishonest and untruthful. We have a name for a person who behaves this way. He is a liar.

I suppose we have become insensitive to this form of lying. We are bombarded with it daily in advertising and in politics-“fair and balanced” lies.

No matter how subtle, lying is not acceptable behavior for a politician seeking office. He is not merely insulting the voters: Bearing false witness is a sin.

So, dear voter, whenever you hear any political candidate or supporter quoting his opponent as saying something monstrous, take the time to seek out the full context to fully understand what was said. If the accusation turns out to be a lie, as it frequently does, start taking names.

We voters don’t need to be insulted like this.

THOMAS L. ATWOOD West ForkThe bill is coming due

Our culture is changing rapidly. No longer do children obey their parents, nor do they see after them when they become elderly. Our work attitude is “so what?” The government will take care of our health while all along we continue to smoke, abuse drugs and alcohol, become severely obese and tattoo our skin. A huge majority of Americans do not appear to work or they work very little.

So what will eventually happen? America will fail due to the overall attitude we have so willingly accepted as the norm. Our culture has taught us to ignore the America that was yesterday. So who will pay the price?

J.D. PATTERSON Searcy It’s like losing family

It was with great sadness I read that Walgreens was acquiring an Arkansas-based pharmacy chain. USA Drug has served my family from the time it opened its doors.

USA Drug is like family. We have used several locations and at each one it didn’t take long before the employees called us by name. There is a personal connection that you typically don’t get at the larger chains.

I have been told by the manager of our local USA Drug that nothing will change, but I believe that unless Walgreens adopts USA Drug’s culture of the hometown corner drugstore, there will be a big change.

I thank founder Stephen LaFrance for the years of efficient and caring service my family has received. We are going to miss him.

LINDA ROYSTER Alexander Teach the value of life

Like many people, I am trying to understand the tragedy of innocentpeople being gunned down at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

My father suggested that one answer lies in school counselors and psychiatrists looking out for those who show early signs of having the capacity for cruelty and taking life.From what I’ve seen in the news, the alleged gunman would have sailed through such a screening. He was described as “thetop of the top” of his academic class and had no previous contact with police other than a traffic ticket. He passed background checks administered when he bought his weapons.

I think my roommate has the answer. She said the shootings made her realize how precious life is and how easily and randomly it can be snuffed out. When you hug your children and reflect on how blessed you are that they were not attending that movie premiere, please recommit yourselves to teaching them the value of this gift from God and promoting a culture of life.

If many people do this, even in our shock and grief, I believe we can realize God’s divine capacity to bring great good out of great evil.

TONI LOCKE Little RockCan’t carry it forever

Re Barack Obama and doing it alone: Is there really even a question?

Without contributions from those who have generated more than their immediate survival needs, no government would ever exist. How is it possible for government to come first?

Rather than shame and blame for the 50 percent of taxpayers paying all federal income tax, wouldn’t some focus on the 50 percent paying no income tax be in order?

Most humans can physically carry another adult for a limited time, but not indefinitely. Is there a huge difference between physical and fiscal loads? How many able bodies do we have carrying no load and even being carried?

GROVER KNOLL Clarendon No magical lightning

The Voices letter calling the Blessed Mother Mary “only the incubator for the Lord’s baby” is over the line. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. Believing otherwise makes one guilty of the grave heresy of docetism.

Catholics don’t “pray to dead people.” We believe the heavenly host is available to earthly sojourners. We ask them to pray for us before the Lord. There’s a difference between asking and praying, with prayer reserved for God alone. And yes, we pray directly to God.

Please, before expounding, research the history of the Bible. It wasn’t some magical celestial lightning bolt. The canon of sacred scripture was debated and ultimately agreed upon by a series of early synods of the Catholic Church in the fourth century.

AL KELLER North Little RockReal solutions needed

How sad it is for the victims’ families in Colorado and our nation as a whole. While I have no definitive answers on how to prevent this type of violence, I know there are people who could come up with solutions. Many of them, I believe, fear political reprisals.

How can people hold a Bible inone hand and a gun in the other and swear it is their right to own an arsenal of weapons? They cite Second Amendment rights, but in the same breath strike down others’ rights to freedom of speech, religious freedom and rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, while also ignoring the Ten Commandments. It also seems to me that the NRA tries to promote mistrust and suspicion to further its economic and political agendas. If guns made us safe, we would be the safest country in the world, but no amount of training is going to make angry or frightened people into good marksmen who can act quickly and correctly in tense or volatile situations.

I would give up my right to own a gun, especially a handgun or militarystyle weapon, if it would save one life. (I do own guns, but I have had two shotguns stolen in the past.) Several former students and relatives of minehave had accidental shootings, some resulting in death.

No gun has ever killed anyone by itself-nor hand grenades, but I don’t want them around either. Nor do I want people in my church taking guns into our service. And in a dark Aurora theater, more people with guns would not have been the answer either.

L.D. BINTLIFF Bee Branch Realism? No thanks

Folks, if I could burn ink in my auto, I could drive to the West Coast on the gallons poured into the Ken Aden thing. Give the poor guy a rest! Aden was simply confused about the old cart-before-the-horse adage. He would have been allowed to embellish and/or lie (as most politicians are wont to do) after his elevation to Congress. Just ask incumbents of public office currently feeding at the all-you-can-eat public trough. They probably wouldn’t give you a straight answer, but it’s a real hoot just to see their faces twitching when searching for a reply.

Some folks have dormant ebullient genes that rush to the surface when someone is down. Then a well-placed kick to the downed seems to revive some folks with false self-esteem. Then, if their antipathy genes engage, they will surely be self-reimbursed due to their hasty actions in the fence surrounding a nudist colony located in an unincorporated area of lovely Bella Vista if and when our police,mayor and aldermen are ever finished looking into it. Stay tuned.

Facts such as the above can confuse and startle those of us who refuse to live in the real world. My nurse says I must rest now. See ya.

AARON STRATMAN Bella Vista Rise of the machines

Well, it’s voting time again and the machines are on and running. All electronic equipment is set by humans to do whatever they desire it to do, so skill has no bearing on winning. Skill, according to Webster, is the ability to do something well, arising from talent, training or practice.

The so-called gaming casinos in West Memphis and Hot Springs operate machines deemed games of skill. I have played these machines and others across the United States from New Jersey to Washington State. The Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina does operate machines of skill in which you stop the reels one at a time to win. The machines in Arkansas are likely set to pay off at whatever percentage the owners want to secure their profit; they are not games of skill. You could practice 24 hours a day and I guarantee you would never master these machines.

So insert your money, punch the button and hope for cha-ching if you’re lucky, not skilled. Call it gaming if you wish, but it is gambling by no other name.

JOHN P. BAUMANN JR. SherwoodFeedback Make room for feet

Marlin Hawkins must have been resurrected by the state Democratic Party. Never have I ever thought that a politician could put his foot in his mouth so well as Gordon Thornsberry of Pope County.

Thornsberry, a county justice of the peace, was quoted as saying, “it is better to vote for the worst Democrat than the best Republican,” referring to nowformer congressional candidate Ken Aden.

Obviously, this is a great leader-a future leader with his insight and in-depth research of the problems facing us here in Arkansas and America.

BILL HOLMAN Little Rock Values are showing

Isn’t it ironic? Benton County, likely the strongest Republican county in Arkansas, found it easy to obtain 56,000 local signatures for getting a liquor vote on the ballot. And yet, well-meaning Democrats and Republicans could not get enough signatures statewide for a vote on ethics in government.

That says a lot about Arkansas values.

VERNON McDANIEL Ozark