Stabbing crime could have been prevented
What is a life worth? About $46,000 apparently, according to a local judge.
That's the amount of the bond required for a 17-year-old member of the Gangster Disciples accused of a murder last October. The killing occurred in the parking lot of the Brainerd area apartment complex that my company manages. (Neither the victim nor the gang members that allegedly shot him were residents.)
The Gangster Disciple met bond and was released to the care of his grandmother. On April 11, he returned to an apartment about 100 feet from the scene of the first murder and is now accused of stabbing to death a 66-year-old, 18-year resident of that apartment.
Our other residents are traumatized by the slaughter of their neighbor. It would be bad enough if it were simply a horrible coincidence: two murders at the same location six months apart.
But it's worse than that. The second killing was preventable, and the fact that it occurred is at least in part the responsibility of the authorities who decided to allow an accused murderer to return to the streets for a mere $46,000.
Philip H. Lancaster, Lookout Mountain
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Same-sex partners good, says God
David Cook's columns "Domestic Partner Theology" and "Reconciling Faith With Gayness" are so on point in the acceptance of those who are gay, lesbian or transgender.
Humans, chimpanzees and dolphins are the only mammals that opt for sex at any time and with no concern for the sex of the partner. Since God created all things and found them good, then why do these three types of mammals out of the entire world have this behavior?
None of the types are inherently monogamous, either. Evidently, sex isn't just for procreation.
There's no doubt it gives pleasure or these three types of mammals wouldn't be doing it. Maybe God was experimenting and found it good.
It may be that sex is wired to pleasure in all animals, so they engage in it, but the higher the cognitive ability in whatever creature, the more of "sex as social behavior" and not just "instinct during certain times" may be the case.
It may also play into the male/female dichotomy based on not just instinct but a subconscious understanding of the risks, which is why males have the urge more than females on average.
Susan & Albert Spurgeon