Recently, we sat outside on a glorious spring day at the Daily Ration. Two moms were seated nearby with several children. Within minutes, a young girl girl climbed on a bench near a beautiful large bush covered with blooms. She began picking flowers off until it looked sparse. No adult looked or paid attention to her the entire time. One was absorbed in her smartphone, and the others focused on conversation.
We were shocked, which likely appeared on our faces as disbelief, at the lack of adult supervision. One asked if we were watching them. I responded, “No, I’m watching the little girl pull all the flowers off that bush.” I thought surely an adult would realize the damage and redirect the innocent child – but no.
At this point, the other said, “You really shouldn’t judge us,” and they went back to ignoring. Before leaving, we noticed other children had joined in, and now, where beautiful flowers once faced us, was a bare spot.
This poor little girl is being brought up with no boundaries and no parenting. Very sad for our city if this is common place – hope not.
Rick Julien
Failing miserably at protecting kids
Again, I read with shock about school gun violence. Every time this happens, I wonder how we got here. I think a reasonable person could assume there is an assault on our peace and prosperity by deranged, violent people who believe they have the right to end the lives of our best and brightest. I disagree.
Is the Second Amendment so precious we cannot enact common-sense solutions to this problem and diminish the grieving of families over the loss of their child? Those who watched the father of the Highlands Ranch student who lost his life in saving his classmates should ask themselves how to stop this carnage. Why can’t we have universal gun registration? We register cars. Why can’t we have mandatory gun education? We have drivers’ education. Why can’t we have universal background checks and deny abusers? If you declare bankruptcy and begin paying your bills on time, your good credit eventually is restored. Why can’t we adopt the same philosophy on domestic violence and mental health patients?
We cannot allow this violence normalization to continue. We cannot continue to allow our children to protect us. Aren’t adults supposed to protect children? We are failing miserably.
Paul Orth
God blesses us all; why anti-Semitism
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son (born of Mary, a Jewish virgin) that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
God wanted to bless his creation. He created the Jewish nation for this purpose. The Jews were chosen to write both the Old and New Testaments. In these two books, God reveals to mankind everything we need to know about our world and our destiny. He said to Abram, who became the father of the Jews, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee and in thee all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3
So from where does anti-Semitism come?
Rachel Decosimo
Signal Mountain