Truth, as R.D. sees it
My uncle R.D. has been a denier all his life. He has always been adamant that slaves loved slavery and that it was Northern aggression and Yankee mainstream media that made the South's peculiar institution look immoral and cruel. And that the so-called Holocaust was nothing but a myth foisted upon godly Christians by those sneaky sons of Abraham (a name which further justified R.D.'s hatred of that Lincoln monster).
But nothing has made him madder than godless scientists. It is they who proclaimed the ridiculous notion that the earth is 5 billion years old and not the 7,000+ years that God deserves credit for; it is they who falsely preached that his beloved nicotine was bad for him and his offspring; it is they who invented the Satan-worshipping and porn-infested Internet; and, it is they and their atheistic facts that cannot compete with the notion that one day of winter disproves global warming.
Uncle R.D.'s reasoning is as simple as it is sound: If you don't agree with him, you're as wrong and as wicked as boogers in a Baptist hymnal. R.D. says it was a scientist who put humans on the wrong track by saying that because we think, we exist. The truth is that we exist because we believe, is how R.D. tells it. His wife, Aunt Mardie, believes R.D. is nuts. "And that's the honest truth," she says.
JEROME TIDMORE
Little Rock
Not government's job
Annette Williams describes commendable ministries to the needy rendered by St. James United Methodist Church and other houses of worship, and closes her letter by suggesting that if you find yourself "hungry, jobless or without a home ... contact your local houses of worship where ordinary citizens are doing what our government refuses to do."
One might well ask, "Why should government even be expected to perform eleemosynary services?" Professor Marvin Olasky, in his book The Tragedy of American Compassion, laments the fact that modern American public compassion services have never equaled those privately provided (in accordance with scriptural principles) prior to the 20th century.
Public services, of course, became necessary because of declining availability/quality of private services.
Many Americans (including me) are critical of the ever-increasing scope, size, and cost of public/governmental programs, but I believe some of those programs would be unnecessary if all church groups and other private ministries of compassion fulfilled scriptural expectations.
Government/public institutions shouldn't be expected to do (or refuse to do) things that individuals and private institutions should be handling.
KEN MILLER
Little Rock
Be more appropriate
In response to Sen. Jason Rapert's guest column on Jan. 8, how about a monument that shows the similarities of the Ten Commandments to the teachings of other religions? Since we are a multicultural nation, it seems that might be more appropriate.
RITA LOUCKS
Little Rock
About a return policy
Our own Professor Bradley Gitz says many colleges and college towns voted overwhelmingly for Ms. Clinton. Apparently the information acquired in the pursuit of a four-year college degree was of no value when it came to picking a winner in the presidential election. Maybe the colleges should follow the lead of the home-improvement stores. You know: If it doesn't work, return it for a refund.
Semper paratus.
DON SHORT
Farmington
Does not understand
Come on, Jason Rapert, leave the airport's name alone; you and your bill are much more negative than anything I've ever heard of.
And I believe your support for the Capitol monument shows that you don't understand the part of the Constitution about the separation of church and state. It's called the freedom of religion; the government cannot support one religion over another.
One reason our founding fathers left England was because of religious persecution, and many of them had much different views on religion. Some were deists or theists and had no particular church or denomination as a part of their religious beliefs. Jason, please take a course in American history before you start making laws.
By the way, if you support the Ten Commandments monument, you must also give support to any other religions' monuments. I believe in the Ten Commandments--they are great--but whose version is the correct one? For example, thou shall not kill or thou shall not murder? There is a difference.
I believe your very behavior and comments made in your guest column show not only your lack of understanding, but that you don't follow the very tenets that Jesus wanted us to accept.
LARRY D. BINTLIFF
Bee Branch
More preferable bird
It was a foggy and misty Saturday morning as I recently made my way from Fayetteville to Hot Springs. On three separate occasions, I noticed multiple numbers of buzzards roosting in a tree just off the highway.
I wondered if in the collective knowledge of modern buzzards they have learned to operate near highways. If they know that we humans are a messy lot and that soon enough, some rank, rotten morsel will come their way.
I know that buzzards did not choose to be buzzards and they serve a very useful purpose. However, I have grown to prefer the company of hummingbirds.
They seek what is delicate, beautiful and sweet, instead of some putrid heap.
BARRY THOMAS
Fayetteville
Editorial on 01/18/2017