Only stands to reason
I presume that all those young people who protested over the weekend are going to follow up their protests with boycotts of violent video games and movies that depict violence either with modern weapons or futuristic ones, right?
SHARON KORNAS
Morrilton
Words ringing hollow
So the Democrats and the media have relinquished their intellectual dominion over to 17-year-olds. Children who have just learned to wipe themselves. Granted, compared to themselves, these children are Einsteins.
So what are their solutions? Children should be safe at school. We can't let this happen again. Never again. Why? Because we say so. Has anyone heard one single rational proposal?
Out of the mouth of babes comes blah, blah, blah.
ROBERT K. KITTELSON
Powhatan
Group's lost its focus
The NRA was founded in 1871. Its early focus was on hunting, conservation, and marksmanship--no mention of protecting the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
For about a century the NRA actively lobbied for gun control and co-authored gun restrictions with the government, until the 1970s. The NRA backed the banning of mail-order sales when it was revealed Lee Harvey Oswald purchased a rifle via an NRA mail-order advertisement. Things changed in the late '70s when gun-rights radicals took over with a new approach of no gun legislation.
The NRA used to pride itself on its independence from gun manufacturers. Now it receives millions of dollars from them and seems more interested in protecting the freedom of the gun industry as opposed to the freedom of individual gun owners. From some companies it makes a dollar or more on every purchase. And its answer to every mass shooting is more firearms.
It grades politicians on gun-control legislation, giving money to those with the best report cards. I would imagine our senators receive money from them.
It's a shame the NRA lost its original focus.
BETTY IRENE McSWAIN
Fort Smith
Locking up drug lords
I'm all on board with Jeff Sessions putting drug lords and pushers into prison, including tougher sentencing and guidelines for punishment. Of course this must start at the top, not the bottom.
Which is to say I'm all for this if he first goes after Big Pharma and its upper management and lobbyists who are responsible for the overprescribing of opioids to begin with.
To ignore this and go for street sellers only is grossly negligent. Because addictions don't all start in streets--they begin in people's homes. Generally with a prescription.
RHONDA PATTON
Roland
Model for Christians
This is a very important week for Christians. It began with Palm Sunday. This is the day celebrated for Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem for his last Passover celebration. His entrance was foretold hundreds of years before, down to the donkey he rode on. Maundy Thursday marks the day Jesus was betrayed to the chief priest and the Pharisees after the Last Supper. Good Friday is the day marking the crucifixion, and Easter Sunday is the day Jesus' tomb was found empty.
Jesus commanded Christians to love others as they love themselves. He told them to feed the hungry, care for the poor and sick, visit the prisoners, clothe the naked, and care for widows and orphans. These are all things he demonstrated in his life as a model for Christians to come.
Over 2,000 years later his church still exists, though it seems to be shrinking a little more each year in attendance and influence.
Growing up in the '50s I remember the compassion people had for one another. My grandmother lived in southern Illinois on a major highway to Chicago. It was not unusual for men walking that highway looking for work to stop at her door to ask for food. She always offered them food, water, rest and conversation before they moved on. My grandmother was not wealthy, but she had compassion for others after raising 10 children through the Depression. These memories shame me for not doing more for others.
What happened to that compassion for one another? It seems to me it's dying a slow death. Maybe for just one week we can each do our best to show compassion to each other instead of letting "someone else" take care of it.
I hope everyone has a blessed Easter.
MICHAEL SANDERS
Little Rock
Nausea-inducing act
I wonder if your readers felt as nauseated as I did when learning Congress passed the $1.3 trillion, 2,232-page spending bill in order to avoid a government shutdown. So many questions raised. Who, if anyone, read it? How much pork barrel and patronage is included? Why did Congress procrastinate so many months knowing the deadline was imminent? Will the national debt reach $21 trillion this year, and do they never consider or worry about the magnitude of the generational theft being perpetuated?
In response to the bill, Sen. Rand Paul said, "Shame, shame. A pox on both houses--and parties." He added further, "Nobody has read it. Congress is broken."
Who is to blame? Individual congressmen, congressional laws, or our governmental system that has served our country well most of time?
Finally the overriding questions: What must be done to change this situation, and what more can citizens do?
Obviously voting and an occasional contact with our congressmen is not enough.
JACK MURPHY
Little Rock
Editorial on 03/29/2018