Letters

Twisted logic? Check!

Paul Greenberg begins his column about the slayings in Charleston with a completely irrelevant digression about encounters with mentally ill street people in 1980s Washington, D.C.

Apparently forgetting that the dumping of the mentally ill on the streets came about from Republican initiatives under Ronald Reagan to cut federal funding for mental institutions, Greenberg lays groundwork for the argument that Charleston was spawned not by culturally inculcated racism and the easy availability of firearms, but by society's inattention to the problem of mental illness. Ignoring the fact that the culturally sanctioned hatred of others on the basis of racial, ethnic, gender, religious or other differences is (unfortunately) not classified as a mental illness, Greenberg then goes on to suggest that the Charleston massacre was, in reality, an expression of an anti-Christian animus, motivated by the Devil.

So I guess our takeaway is supposed to be that we have too many violent lunatics who are possessed by demons wandering the streets, and there's not much we can really do about this, short of summoning our local exorcist.

Good job of twisting logic to take the focus off where it should be, Paul. Written like a true Devil's Advocate.

ALEX MIRONOFF

Fayetteville

Better use for money

I know people love their Razorbacks, but paying ex-athletic director Frank Broyles $415,926 in 2013 for speaking engagements is really extreme.

Surely the Razorback Foundation could find a better use of its millions of dollars to benefit more than an ex-employee.

NICK PALANGIO

Damascus

Prolongs racial hatred

How convenient for Mr. Paul Greenberg that he can be indifferent to the revulsion most of us feel about the tragic violence in Charleston, S.C.

But I'm not surprised. It's people like Greenberg who have always had the hardest time admitting the degree of harm racial hatred has done--and continues to do--to our country.

Although I, too, believe this nation treats the mentally ill deplorably, there are many, many instances like Newtown, Conn., in which the mentally ill commit despicable acts of violence. He conveniently glosses over the fact that this person--mentally ill or not--was motivated by racial hatred. The facile way he dismisses the topic makes it very easy for white supremacists to continue to perpetuate divisive hatred.

Every person who conveniently allows this ungodly behavior to continue anywhere and in any way is responsible for prolonging racial hatred.

So, not only is Greenberg wrong about this issue, he is the problem.

DEBORAH HIGGINS

Little Rock

The knife in his heart

Mercy me. Never could it be imagined the continual decline in Americanism. It is never a mystery how the Supreme Court justices will vote, except for one wishy-washy one. No one should be forced to comply with absolutely inane decisions that counter historical precedents.

How long--how long will this continuous stabbing, closing in on Uncle Sam's heart, be tolerated? I believe history indicates, by killing previous standards of the American spirit, that the country will fall. Only one way can this decline be stopped. The majority knows, but if the minority continues to stab at our Uncle Sam, all will be lost.

What, then, is the solution?

GORDON SWAIM

North Little Rock

Knee-jerk reactions

It seems people want to ban the Confederate flag because they think it caused that guy to kill those folks in Charleston.

Well, lots of people die every day in car wrecks. Why don't we ban driving? Hundreds of people die in plane crashes. Why don't we ban flying?

Knee-jerk reactions are dumb, stir up anger, and solve nothing.

MARTHA L. CULLINS

North Little Rock

Stewing up a country

Some considerable nonsense has recently appeared on these opinion pages under the heading of microaggression. Most of it needs to pass unremarked. But the identification of one well-known phrase as objectionable got me to thinking.

Maybe it is somewhat misleading to describe America as a "melting pot." Into such a vessel are thrown miscellaneous metals which then meld into an amalgam, a homogeneous mass that does not particularly resemble any of its components, at least visibly.

It might be more accurate, or helpful, to think of our country as a crockpot, or an olla--an earthenware vessel with a wide mouth. Into it is thrown whatever diversity of ingredients is to hand and they all cook slowly together, imparting their various flavors to each other without completely losing their own individual characters.

One of my favorite vegetables is carrots in a good beef stew--they are still clearly carrots, but not just some Bugs Bunny prop.

If the concoction is flavorful enough, and the pot big enough, it is even possible to toss in a few wormy potatoes. As long as they are chopped fine and the heat is kept on, they will not be problematic and might add an interesting savor.

But turn off the heat, seal the pot and let it sit out, and in little more than 24 hours you will have a putrid mess.

STANLEY G. JOHNSON

Little Rock

Hate not always fault

Why is it so many folks today equate racism or same-sex hate (which the Rev. Jesse Turner was accused of) to anyone who has a different opinion than them?

I don't agree with many of the things our president does or says, but I am not a racist. I also find it very hard to look at a man and perceive him as a wife, but there is no hate involved and I know it to be true of the majority of Americans.

Lighten up, folks.

LAVERNE WELCHER

Hot Springs

Editorial on 07/05/2015

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