Veteran deserved salute at funeral
Let this be a salute to a great man who passed away this week. He was a WWII soldier. Clarence King was more than a veteran who had served his time and forgot why he fought; oh, no, he remembered freedom that he and his buddies purchased with their own blood and sacrifice. His soul was grieved every day with the oppressions, tyrannies and stupid regulations put upon the common citizens, just so the elected can drag in a grant, all to “help out,” of course.
I spoke with Clarence often of the hideous tyrannies and burdensome controls of which he was totally unable to find a redress of grievances. He saw the freedom he fought for ignored and trampled on, and his heart was grieved. Too old to start a tea party, though he thought it was a good idea, he hoped someone would listen to him and roll back these nuisances. But none did.
He died of a broken heart for freedom; he grew up where freedom was, where none was harassed, taxed unreasonably, permitted, licensed, certified, even to taxing his little dog, which was his only companion.
Clarence was a patriot and justly deserved the military salute at his funeral.
JUNE GRIFFIN
Dayton, Tenn.
Sodomy was sin of Sodom
There have been two letters on sodomy recently in the editorial section. I have never seen anything so blatantly dishonest as it was. The point they were trying to make was, the sin of Sodom was not sodomy, but not taking care of the poor.
The Scripture they were using certainly added this charge to them as well as others. Look into your English dictionary and see the meaning of sodomy, and notice where it came from.
Then read Jude 1:7, “... having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
They were guilty of many sins, but the one the Bible says is an example is sodomy, and they will suffer God’s vengeance of eternal fire. Read the story in Genesis 18 and 19 and then see what you think their sin was. Then read Romans 1:20-32 and see what God thinks of homosexuality.
ALFRED THOMAS
Chickamauga, Ga.
Balloon landing adds excitement
Saturday’s landing (Oct. 2) of a hot-air balloon brought great excitement to our mobile home park on the Georgia/Tennessee border. First we raw a red, white and blue one floating over. Then a gorgeous multicolored one landed in our park about eight miles from its Coolidge Park launch site. Everyone loved it — particularly the children.
Our residents have had lots of other fun and excitements — from Easter egg hunts to home and lot beautification contests, to weddings and receptions in our Village Center to “Senior Moments,” and weekly bingo games. However, Saturday’s hot-air balloon landing topped them all.
Thank you, RiverRocks and your sponsors, for adding excitement to our otherwise normal Saturday afternoon.
BILL & PAULA TERRY
Managers
Green Acres
Mobile Home Park
Rossville
Re-elect Brown to Legislature
Rep. Tommie F. Brown’s theme “You are my special interest” has been shown to be a proven fact.
She is a very effective legislator with major accomplishments to her credit especially in the field of education, having led the fight to reduce the required grade point average, qualifying literally thousands in Tennessee to be able (to) participate in lottery scholarships. She has brought many dollars to the Hamilton County school system.
These times and changing programs demand experienced educators and seniority as assets at the state level of decision-making as our state system moves to meet the challenge of today in education.
Democrats, independents and Republicans who truly value education should put aside all other considerations for the sake of our children’s future at this time it will pay off.
Join me in voting to re-elect Rep. Dr. Tommie F. Brown to the 28th Legislative District.
JAMES R. MAPP
Patients chose ‘Best’ physician
As the administrator of a medical practice we have very little money to spend on advertisement due to the high operational costs required to run a medical practice and the decrease in reimbursements. We feel the best way to market our practice is through the word of our satisfied patients.
Most of our patients have no idea where their physicians obtained their medical degree or training. In a patient’s eyes a physician who gives them the best care and demonstrated the best interest for their health care choices is the “best” physician for them. This is true in all service businesses. There is nothing unethical in having patients say you are the best physician they have ever seen. In fact many insurance companies now promote patient feedback intended to identify physicians, hospitals, clinics and such based on the service received. This is what the “Best of The Best” is really all about.
Our physician, who was awarded “Best of the Best 2010,” never promoted himself as “the best” and was very humble that his patients would consider him to be so. Congratulations to Dr. Ronald Brooksbank as the recipient of this very special recognition.
LAURA WATKINS
Administrator
Chattanooga
Family Practice
Insurance firms avoid responsibility
As child health advocates for both Tennessee and Georgia, we were disappointed to read the extremely negative comments included in the Sept. 26 editorial “Harsh effect of ObamaCare.”
In referencing the decision among insurance companies to no longer offer child-only insurance policies to families who otherwise don’t have coverage options, the writer overlooks the responsibility of insurance companies and, instead, squarely places blame on the new health bill as the culprit.
In a country with an unacceptably high number of uninsured children, an estimated 7.5 million kids, the new health law offers up a vision for all states, including Tennessee and Georgia. Providing health coverage to children will lead to better health and improved societal well-being overall.
Insurance companies may perceive opting out of child-only insurance policy coverage as economically prudent in the short term, but it represents an avoidance of our societal responsibility to America’s children and also lost investment in the future work force of this country.
In order to take full advantage of the new health law, we need for all players involved in the U.S. health care delivery system — patients, doctors, employers, decision-makers and insurance companies — to stay at the table to make this work. Only when we all work together can we reform our system to reach its maximum potential.
MARK YATES,
Executive Director
Voices for
Memphis’ Children
JOANN YOON,
Associate Policy
Director
For Child Health
Voices for
Georgia’s Children
Alfred Thomas -
Open up your Dick and Jane Reader to Page 12 and 13
Look, Jane. Look, look. See Dick.
See, see. Oh, see. See Dick.
The difference between the Dick and Jane Readers and the bible or holy books?
The Dick and Jane Readers are better written, more realistic and aren't filled with "..verses describing or advocating suicide, incest, bestiality, sadomasochism, sexual activity in a violent context, murder, morbid violence, use of drugs or alcohol, homosexuality, voyeurism, revenge, undermining of authority figures, lawlessness and human rights violations and atrocities."
Alfred Thomas is operating under the false illusion that all are as gullible as he is. What about us out here that don't adhere to his brand of exclusion of human beings that don't fit his particular 'cult'. People like you, Alfred, are a serious threat to our democracy and to the well-being of all humans that populate this planet.
Dear eeeek:
Your observations are ludicrous without your citing chapters and verses and showing that what you cite is taken into context. Otherwise, you are simply nitpicking to justify the obvious -- that sodomy is unnatural and a danger to society.
Just how is sodomy a danger to society? You mean I have been sitting here in my comfy home lulled by a false sense of security when all along sodomites were at my door preparing to......what exactly are they planning to do?.......Do I stockpile food? Do I board up the windows? Lock up my pets? Change my internet passwords? What?
jimcarwest:
Really? Have you never read the book fully?
Apparently not.
Present count of
1,199 instances of cruelty and violence skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/long.html
218 instances of sex skepticsannotatedbible.com/sex/long.htm
218 instances of obscene language skepticsannotatedbible.com/lang/long.html
Here's what the bible says about "family values" skepticsannotatedbible.com/fv/long.html
and about women skepticsannotatedbible.com/women/long.html
oops..
180 instances of obscene language skepticsannotatedbible.com/lang/long.html
Not only do these fake Xtian's not read their holey book, they don't adhere to the basic principles of Jesus' teachings -- just the passages that support their hatred and bigotry. They will always need a scapegoat to take the spotlight off their evil ways. And for those of us that don't believe in fairy tales, they appear to be the mindless idiots they are.
Dear eeeeeek,
Does the Bible contain many of the things you cited. Yes. It is not pie in the sky; it is realistic and truthful about the sinfulness of man. Even Satan's lies are contained in it. Hundreds of millions have found help, hope and comfort in its teachings. Skeptics miss the blessing because they are into critiquing everything in order to express their feelings of intellectual superiority, it seems to me. BTW, I am a life-long, trained student of the Bible. Maybe you should study it with an open mind instead of the "help" of the Annotated Skeptics Commentary.
Dear Anniebelle,
Somehow I missed all the love and understanding in your letter that you accuse the fake Xians of not having. Are there hypocrite Christians? Yes, just like there are atheists of convenience. Gays do not hurt me; I love them inspite of their behavior. But the gay agenda does hurt society as well as themselves -- higher incidence of disease (HIV), higher rate of suicide, universal unacceptance by society of their lifestyle, higher rate of permiscuity (multiple sexual partners), etc. Maybe you should cite all the blessings of being gay, i.e. how gays are benefitting society because they are gay. Oh, yes, maybe you can explain the fairy tale of evolution. Many Darwinist are jumping ship because of its unscientific basis.
Dear lkeithlu,
They may not be at your door, but they are in the classroom of your school. In some states the gay agenda is being introduced favorably to kindergarten children. This is conditioning children to accept the gay lifestyle as normal, which it clearly is not. If you feel "secure" with TV bringing all sorts of unfiltered moral filth into your home, your sense of security seems false to me.
Gay is a normal variation of human sexuality, jim. I don't have TV, as it is an intellectual and cultural wastelnd. Evolution is fact, not fairy tale. Bet you can't name a single credentialed evolutionary biologist that has "jumped ship". HIV is spreading MUCH faster in heterosexual populations. Promiscuity is also prevalent in heterosexual populations. Suicide is the result when young gays are bullied, harassed and called "evil" by the people they depend upon to love and protect them. There are no secular arguments for leaving gays alone to live as they will, with full rights as citizens. Your religious views are NOT what this country is governed by.
That should be "against". Never type in irritation and before coffee. Gay cannot be cured, but typos, ignorance and bigotry can.
jimcarwest
The site is not my main source of knowledge pertaining to that rag you never read. There is also the library, which I can't just put one of the many books on the varied theologies.
It's been my experience, since christains only have the one source, it might be a more logical choice to give the one site so you could be comfortable in the reading.
It's funny you should use the "open mind" cliche, when religions only thrive when reason and critical thinking is closed off when it comes to gods.
godisimaginary.com
So you are a life-long, trained student of the Bible, then you already know your bible's god is an ass, and so is it's bastard son. Which is why many good people throw that trash away.
It's sad that some preachers are stuck in their job when they don't believe anymore.
Is that why you defend it so harshly, cause you know if you let mind take control, you will realize it was all a lie?
Doyle E Duke wrote about his journey in justifying the bible in his book 'The Amazing Deception"
theamazingdeception.com
It's a good read.
So is '10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job)' by Rev Oliver "Buzz" Thomas.
Of course if you "don't read good" The Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy has an old radio show turn podcast at
stateofbelief.com
all that atheist vs. christian show and what does it point out? folks who are so disgusted and threatened by the gay agenda really are just a bunch of sexually repressed, but imaginatively creative visualizers AND somewhat gay themselves according to the kinsey scale.
if you spend so much time conjuring up reasons why homosexuality is so destructive to families and societies, it really just exposes that you have been committing your mind to figuring out what happens during gay intimacy. you don't understand it, so you try to figure it out. and in trying to figure it out you imagine it. and then you realize that you just had a gay thought and you freak out and try to erase it. so you hide your curiosities behind vehement disgust. but secretly, every so often, your imagination takes you there.
if you would just accept and love all people for the human beings that they are, you will free your tormented mind from these invading thoughts. bottom line, and heterosexuals expect the same courtesy, keep your mind out of other people's bedrooms.
chattyjill
what a perverse defense of your idea of love, making others guilty of gay love simply because they are aware (by research) what goes on in these unnatural encounters. Ex-gays have exposed it. One doesn't have to imagine it.
There is no such thing as an ex-gay, jim. True homosexuality cannot be cured or converted.
there's no such thing as an ex-gay just a person with a tormented inner dialogue.
jimcarwest, you obviously do not understand how powerful love and sexual attraction are. you are still hung up thinking about genitalia and not thinking about the whole person when you say such narrow minded things.
seems that whatever research you did really affected you. you are so one dimensional, like so many characters from stories, it seems as though there may be a plot twist. i mean, why are you concerning yourself with what other people are doing? this is a free country and people like you need to eat a heaping helping of live-and-let live and mind-your-own-business.
there is nothing unnatural about the sensation of love. when just the thought of someone makes your heart race, you can't eat or sleep, and you run to get the phone when it rings, you are at the mercy of the very natural cascade of chemicals in your body that let you know you are in love. dopamine, seratonin, testosterone and others are natural chemicals that affect our minds and bodies.
millions of gay people can't be wrong that the sensation of love does not differentiate between genders. that's why coming out is so difficult for young people - there is a struggle between societal definitions of "normal" and the army of hateful people ready to vocalize these judgements, and then there is the pull of love. when a person comes out he or she declares that love conquers and to heck with the tis-tissers out there.
Happy National Coming Out Day!
Not that it should be cured. There is NOTHING wrong about being gay. NOTHING. The APA removed it from their disorders list decades ago. They are not a threat to anyone, nor is "teh gay" contagious. Gay adults will not "make" children gay.
There is no such thing as an ex-gay, jim. True homosexuality cannot be cured or converted. Username: lkeithlu | On: October 11, 2010 at 1:20 p.m.
Hahahaha.....that's not what Sarah Palin's church or it's members ever said !
Actually, what jill says has truth to it. Some of the most reactionary homophobes are repressed gays themselves. Ted Haggard and Larry Craig come to mind. You should no more try to visualize what gays do behind closed doors than what anyone does behind closed doors. Just because someone is different from you doesn't make them wrong or unnatural. The only sex that is wrong is sex that is not consensual; minors, animals, the mentally impaired cannot give consent. Whatever happens between consenting adults is private and none of our business. I personally find adultery improper because it is a violation of trust. But I would not impose that restriction on other adults.
I wonder if Congress will "suffer God’s vengeance of eternal fire." Seems they and Sodom have a lot in common. Especially after the bogus announcement to the Social Security recipients yesterday.
Anal sodomy? For a really big surprise, google The First Scandal Adam and Eve. Then click once or twice to get the surprise.
With all the stuff going on in America, the last thing I care about is whether or not someone is gay.
I care if someone is a good person, honest, trustworthy, good to others and animals, but I don't care who they choose for companionship and mutual and voluntary association.
Have one wife, or ten; have one husband or a dozen; have boyfriends, girlfriends, or no friends. I don't care as it's none of my business.
It's not the government's business either.
Harry Statel http://harrystatel.com
Maybe God's vengeance of eternal fire was syphilis.
Penicillin, it gets the hell out.
badaboomp-tssii
Folks, I'll be here all week.
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