Chattanooga generosity makes its mark on one family
I want to thank the community of Chattanooga for the overwhelming generosity shown to my family.
In late December 2016, my husband Josh had a stroke. From that moment the people in Chattanooga have been heroes to us, swooping in with dinners, fundraisers and countless kindnesses.
We love Chattanooga and have always recognized its abundant philanthropy. Never in our wildest dreams did we think one day that would benefit us so directly. We are so proud to have called Chattanooga our home.
We thank each one of you with all of our hearts.
Michele Warren and Josh Baldwin
Bartlett, Tenn.
Slow down, think what we are doing
Before any Confederate statues are removed, it should be mandatory that everyone proposing to remove a statue should visit Chattanooga and walk the fields at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
I visited Point Park on Lookout Mountain and looked at the numbers of people killed, then I drove to Missionary Ridge. One thousand men were killed in that one battle on Missionary Ridge in one day. In the Civil War overall, 620,000 died. Only 644,000 have died in all other wars. The Civil War number was not exceeded by all other deaths until the Vietnam War. Think on it. Brother killing brother. We as a country cannot forget the horror. There were blacks fighting for both sides. Only 6 percent of Southerners ever owned a slave. People fought to keep an economic system from collapsing on top of them. What do you think middle America fears today?
Susan Spurgeon
Pope: Muslims should coexist
Since December 2015, more than 100 Christians have been slaughtered in Egypt for being Christians. Religion for Muslims is a conditioned phenomenon. They are born into a social order dominated as a learned behavior. They acquire and express Islam like robots. They are forced to memorize prayers in Arabic.
Religion is reinforced by society through births, marriages and deaths. Every noteworthy personal and social event is solemnized by religious institutions, rituals and concepts.
Muslims are restricted from raising questions about their religion. They follow the Quran word by word.
In April, Pope Francis visited Egypt and attended an international peace conference with imams and scholars. The pope's message was basically "How to Teach an Old Dog New Tricks: How to Cleanse the Charges of Terror and Violence Against Muslims and Islam."
The pope accused Muslim leadership of failing to do enough to reform the religious discourse in Islam and cleanse books from hatred for non-Muslims. The pope believes the biggest obstacle for change within the Muslim world is its suppression of critical thinking and training of its followers to coexist with the people of other religions.
Amos Taj
Ooltewah
Let's compromise on local statue
Efforts are continuing to remove the sculpture of Confederate Gen. A.P. Stewart from its place in front of the Hamilton County courthouse in downtown Chattanooga. Other groups oppose the move.
Here's a possible solution. An impressive sculpture of John Ross stands near the northwest corner of the courthouse, near Sixth and Walnut streets. This sculpture, almost hidden by trees, represents Ross, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation at the time of the tragic Indian removal in the 1830s. Perhaps this sculpture could be moved to a more visible spot in front of the courthouse, a location well suited to Ross's major role in our region's history.
Then the statue of Gen. Stewart could be moved to a less controversial location, somewhere in the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park.
Allen Chesney
Electoral College disenfranchises
Does the provision of winner-take-all in states regarding electoral votes violate the principle of one-man, one-vote? If so, is the Electoral College unconstitutional and therefore illegal?
I still do not accept that Donald J. Trump won the presidential election. If he did, then more than 3 million voters in California had their voting rights disenfranchised. This means that in, say, Rustbelt states, votes there counted more than votes in California.
In other words, saying the Electoral College is "our system" is no defense of it at all. To say Hillary Clinton should not be president of the United States is like saying 2+2=5.
We have an illegitimate and corrupt system of election of our presidents. In California, it made no difference if 3 million voters voted or did not vote.
So how can a rational person call this a democracy? Saying the Electoral College is the law of the land does not make it morally right.
Mike C. Bodine
Take interest in John Ross House
I recently attended a talk by the National Park Service at the John Ross House, where I met members of the Chief John Ross House Association, which owns the house, and members of the Cherokee Nation, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Trail of Tears Association, DAR and other organizations.
If anyone representing the city of Rossville or the Rossville Redevelopment Workshop (RRW) attended, they did not make themselves known. Because of recent actions by the city and RRW to exclude the Ross House association and other parties from plans for development of the park around the house, I am not surprised at their lack of interest in the history of the house or support of programs promoting it.
The house is on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and the National Register of Historic Places and is very important to the Cherokees and anyone interested in the history of our region.
I hope the city of Rossville can learn to work with supporters of the house to develop the best plans for the future, and the city will address all protection, safety and access concerns raised about the redevelopment workshop's plans.
Vicki Rozema, Ph.D.
Harrison
Beware the health insurance tax
The health insurance tax is basically a sales tax on health insurance premiums that was part of the Affordable Care Act.
Its implementation was delayed by a bipartisan vote in Congress in 2015 but will be imposed in 2018 if nothing is done to repeal it or delay it.
It will have huge consequences on small businesses, self-employed who buy insurance in the marketplace, Medicare Advantage patients and Medicaid enrollees who are on managed care plans.
It will be very costly to Tennesseans and Americans. I hope this will make people aware.
Marie McDonald
Athens Insurance Agency
Do we value pets over children?
My heart was broken by the tragic dichotomy illustrated in last Sunday's Times Free Press.
On the right hand side of a page was the moving obituary of a beloved pet therapy dog, whose owner's tribute was one to which every loving pet owner could relate.
In an adjacent column was the story of a hospitalized 9-year-old boy whose mother and her boyfriend had beaten and abused him so badly that the investigating officer called it the worst case of abuse he had seen in 20 years. How have we become a nation that loves its pets more than its children?
Marcia Kling