Flaw in the judgment
Recently, I witnessed a debate between a minister and a freethinker. The minister made one of the most asinine statements I have heard in a while. He said, "atheists and agnostics could know nothing of morals or ethics, because good and evil are independent of human opinion. In other words, God is the standard of what is good, and goodness has no meaning apart from its existence in God."
I have yet to hear an ethical statement or witness a moral act made or accomplished by a person of faith that could not have been made or performed by an atheist, agnostic or skeptic. And furthermore, just because a person of faith behaves well because they fear hellfire is not proof that they are personally moral or ethical.
If I find certain religious beliefs morally inadequate, a generous quantity of believers will insist we cannot judge God, because our moral judgment is flawed and we must rely on God as our moral guide. If we cannot rely on our faulty judgment in judging God to be less than moral, then it should be apparent we are unfit to judge him good. One is as judgmental as the other.
If there is a God, at the present we cannot comprehend such an entity. In all history of religion, man's deities have been cruel, barbaric gods. All were gods of a small world, and were ignorant of even that world, much less the universe.
Maybe our judgment is flawed after all.
AL CASE
Onia
Just needs one thing
I am happy that Ashton Miller III has wealth and successful businesses and can purchase good health insurance.
It would seem he has everything, except maybe compassion.
FRANK MENDENHALL
Rogers
It's that silver spoon
I'm pretty good at spotting a Type A personality and compassionless person across the room, and Mr. Ashton Miller III's recent letter sure rang the bell.
There are those out there, Mr. Miller, who have not had the luxury of being born into a successful family you allude to, as you quoted: "We own numerous businesses ... my grandfather buys a new Mercedes every other year ... should my family vacation be in Branson instead of Hawaii"?
You also go on to state that you entice your employees with a bonus to take fewer than three days sick leave a year. What fun it must be working next to someone who has come to work hacking their lungs out who then gets to go home and pass it along to their entire family. I'm sure you see it as "by God, we're still cranking out the widgets so grandpappy, go ahead and pick out the color for that new Mercedes and let's book that flight to Hawaii!"
Granted, there are some out there who can't break the cycle of poverty, but the overwhelming majority of people want to work and be paid a livable wage that would afford them the luxury of taking any type of vacation or simply being able to not have to work a second job.
This is not some conjecture I came up with on my own, sir; I worked for six years as a consultant with them in the Arkansas Delta.
Talk to a hardworking, family oriented man who mangled his arm working in a lumber yard for minimum wage whose employer (like yourself) offered no health benefits and is suddenly faced with $30,000 in medical bills. That man, Mr. Ashton Miller III, deserves our help, and shame on any of us who would deny it to him.
RUSSELL LEMOND
Little Rock
Voters will remember
This is a letter I sent to Arkansas' two senators. Other readers might be interested in reading it and encouraged to speak up to those who represent us in the Senate.
I realize how difficult it is for most Republican members of Congress to oppose the program of President Trump and the congressional leadership in pursuing the the president's promise to Make America Great Again. True leadership requires courage, integrity, imagination, and a mind that can go beyond clichés and slogans to find and embrace the truth. Our present-day politics could not survive if many men and women fulfilled those requirements. That is why most politicians are followers rather than leaders. Voters can only hope that the leaders are going in the right direction and that the rest will have the good sense to follow them. And that when the leaders are going astray, someone else will call them out on it.
Fortunately for the Arkansas delegation, other members of Congress have already taken the lead in opposing the contents of the Senate bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. You need only go along with those who have taken that first step. They have stuck their necks out. I believe you have a better chance of surviving if you follow them instead of hanging back, ignoring the interests of your constituents and of the country. Follow those leaders and announce your opposition to the bill and work for a health-care law that will address the needs of all citizens at a cost they can afford.
I think the voters will remember what you do.
ETHEL C. SIMPSON
Fayetteville
Take back community
Wake up, United States of America. Crime is out of control, our educational system is a mess, and job growth is horrible. People are losing their heath-care benefits, and we may have to go to war. Our leaders do not have their priorities in order.
It's my belief our leaders are not in control as they once led us to believe because President Donald Trump treats women like hookers as if he is no more than a pimp or a john.
Some people do not want to get involved in their community organizations because they are too interested in whose husband is sleeping with the sidewalk Shayanns and/or the sidewalk Sallyanns of the world. Who cares?
People need to get involved in their communities and tell their leaders that we are priorities and we are not going to take it anymore!
MARQUITTA J. CORBIN
Conway
Editorial on 07/11/2017