'Conservatives often don't tell the full story' and more letters to the editor

RTC on the ball with storm information

I want to thank the Ringgold Telephone Co. for the proactive job they are doing with the storm information they are publishing on Facebook.

They started Thursday morning with information regarding needs and supplies for those hit, where to take them, photographs, videos and all sorts of other information and public announcements.

I'm not sure how they obtained all of their information but am glad they did! They continue daily with information as to what is going on with the recovery, and how to find and interact with governmental, commercial and other entities. Thanks RTC!

RAY MILLARD

Ringgold, Ga.


Youths' deeds show hope for the future

Reading the paper every day and watching the news, it is easy to despair and think there's little hope for the future. But events of the last few days, while they've been tragic, have brought out the best in people and have shown us beyond any shadow of a doubt that there's hope for the future.

The class in South Pittsburg who donated their hard-earned money for burial expenses to the family who had lost their son is a shining example we all can learn from.

Equally touching is the way others have stepped up to, in-turn, help them have their trip to Tybee, which they so selflessly sacrificed out of compassion for their fellow man.

An example closer to home for me is the fact the staff and student body at Rhea County High School, where I have proudly taught for the past 37 years, raised in a single day more than $1,600 to help tornado victims of Rhea and Bledsoe counties.

There's hope for tomorrow because there are young people who bear the light of love and compassion in their hearts and actions. Love them, encourage them, pray for them and lift them up, for they will do great things.

RICHARD DAUGHERTY

Dayton, Tenn.


Share miracle of insurance

I have heard people comment on how they have suffered, how they are trying to cope with the loss of property ... the loss of life. I have a profound sense of sympathy. However, I am always perplexed about how some suddenly have so much expectation for their insurance company to step in and take care of everything.

Having done the responsible thing ... managing our personal risk, I am aware that many of those suffering are the ones who would not return calls when an insurance agent tried to call them or made jokes about and belittled insurance professionals. When I have been asked by agents to refer them to my friends, I have done so. I never wanted my acquaintances to suffer the insecurity that goes along with the loss of income or personal property.

Insurance is the only way some homes, automobiles, etc., will be replaced. Life insurance makes the emotional loss of life more palatable. With enough capital on hand, some semblance of normality can be maintained while the survivors cope.

If your agent wants to meet your friends, take the opportunity to share the miracle of insurance ... the spreading of the risk of loss amongst a multitude of policyholders.

PAUL W. FITZGERALD

Signal Mountain


Panel members too shortsighted

It is obvious that all the county commissioners who voted against the Family Planning Program at the Health Department are men.

They are too shortsighted to see that taking away prevention measures for women who will no doubt continue to be prodded, coerced or cajoled into having sex with the men in their lives will produce more children without stable families.

Most of these children will come into homes that do not have the material resources to care for them, and they and their mothers will wind up requiring assistance from programs like WIC and Families First.

In the long run, the costs for their care will be infinitely higher than the cost of condoms and birth control pills. Further, if the children result from casual encounters and not committed relationships, the children will suffer the loss of a nurturing relationship with a significant male as they grow up.

If, after the Health Department makes its presentation to the commissioners, they still vote to cut funding for this program, these men illustrate once again the old adage "Penny wise and pound foolish!"

SUE Y. HYATT


Conservatives often don't tell full story

I often criticize conservative writers for neglecting to tell the whole story. That neglect screamed across this paper's opinion page the day after Osama bin Laden was killed.

On the Free Press side, where information tends to be printed in smaller bytes, and cartoons are captioned so we do not miss their conservative message, we read about Bin Laden's personal evil. It was all true. However, the conservative writer neglected to mention the president who occupied the oval office during the time when our national enemy was exterminated.

There are many other examples of neglect. A recent letter told us that evolution never happened because the Bible told him it did not. He neglected to mention how millions of Christians do not see a conflict between evolution and the Bible. Millions of Christians know that the conflict arises when an impossible, literalist interpretation is imagined to be absolute.

Furthermore, when I read what conservatives write about unions, my mind races with awe. Not only is the information often distorted, but the verifiable good done for workers for decades is cynically ignored.

Conservatives say Reagan caused communism to fall. Will they acknowledge Obama for those missions accomplished during his administration?

WILLIAM D. HEARD

Ringgold, Ga.


Scholarships a good showing

Hurray for the public schools and their teachers in Hamilton County.

I noticed that two high school students won the Leonore Annenberg College Scholarship, which is only two out of five won in the entire U.S.A.

It is so thrilling to hear a good word about our public schools, with so much bad press from the so-called liberal media and the lunatic fringe network.

DR. GEORGE MILLER

Ooltewah

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