All religions deserve respect
Leave it to consummate Bible-thumper Clint Cooper to sully an otherwise excellent Free Press editorial in the Memorial Day edition of the paper. All is well until the first sentence of the last paragraph where he cannot resist invoking Judeo-Christian religiosity to the exclusion of all other beliefs.
Ironically, the sentence is an apparent attempt at inclusivity of gender and race, but the unnecessary inclusion of "Christians, Jews ..." is a slap in the face of all the other veterans laid to rest at the National Cemetery, all of whom earned their place of honor equally to Christians and Jews.
There are 58 "Emblems of Belief" that can be placed on a veteran's headstone or marker. No less than 20 of them represent various Christian denominations, which serves as a reminder that even people who claim the Bible to be the inerrant word of God cannot agree on what it says.
Jews have two symbols. Those who lie beneath the Christian and Jewish symbols are no better or worse than those under the other 30-plus symbols.
There is no better place than a secular national cemetery to demonstrate that all men are created equal. If Mr. Cooper wants to feel bigger during his visits to the cemetery, he should leave his prejudices at home.
BILL HARRIS
Complaints about Memorial
Over the years I have had three surgeries at Memorial Hospital. These were all prior to 2010, and I was very satisfied with the care I received at the time. In fact, I praised the hospital to everyone and strongly suggested they use their services if required.
Recently, within the last several months, my wife had a hip replacement performed at Memorial, and her experience was quite different.
The operation went very well, but when she went into the care of the hospital, and its staff, the situation became worrisome. Not only were most of the nursing staff incompetent, but the medical doctors appear totally ineffective, if not dangerous. If we had not sought outside assistance ourselves, I feared for my wife's well being.
It would appear that these people not only do not have the requisite medical acumen required for their position, but they also are unable to communicate the simplest information to concerned parties. I could never use, or recommend, the use of this hospital again under any circumstances.
These are just not my observations regarding the Memorial system, and its satellites, but is also felt by a number of people in the profession who use this facility.
RICHARD W. YOUNG