Offer respect for admiral
In response to a Sept. 27 letter to the editor, “Lyons Speech an Affront,” the writers seem to be unaware of the fact that Adm. James A. “Ace” Lyons Jr. is a veteran. Maybe they simply chose to ignore the fact that not only is he a veteran, but a four-star admiral who served as commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. These credentials give him the right to speak his mind based on his experience and knowledge of subject.
His was not a hate speech but the shootings were certainly a hateful act. The fact that the five victims were unarmed is an affront to their families and to every American, not the admiral’s speech. If asked, the families just might be among those applauding the speech.
Finally, as to the writers’ comment that the speech was a shameful display before the luminaries who gave of themselves to be here: The admiral and his family gave more than all those luminaries together have given. Thank you, Adm. Lyons, for your service, love of this great country and for your honest, revealing words.
Jeannette Daniels
Wanted: Parents who can parent
Another drunk young woman raped by four men in Tuscaloosa (the four are charged with first-degree rape).
I don’t get it. I don’t understand how girls can lower themselves to this; how boys can be so crude and insensitive.
Julie Baumgardner wrote a column recently about parenting. Someone is dropping the ball with these young people. Who?
Margie Merritt, Ringgold, Ga.
Reader unswayed by TFP arguments
Do both Chattanooga Times Free editors think readers are stupid? Reference editorials on both opinion pages of Oct. 6. On the Free Press side: Fear of gun fights in church, fear a Sunday school teacher would threaten a child with a gun and accidentally shoot him. Really? Does the editor think that people of faith are stupid?
Now the Times side: Liberals try to make you think they are quoting “law,” but they are trying to trick you. Get your computer. Search “firearm transfers.” First hit will be ATF.gov. Find “ATF Form 4473.” Section 11 is a list of questions for the purchaser. Question 11e covers drug abuse. 11f covers “mental defectives.” 11h covers stalking of children or intimate partners. 11i covers domestic violence.
A “Yes” answer to any question from 11b thru 11k prohibits purchase or transfer of a firearm. What about liars? A false statement on the form is a federal crime, tried as a felony. Federal law. This form is used nationwide. Then the TBI is called for a background check. How many more laws do you want?
Mike Henry, Whitwell, Tenn.
Pro-life advocates also help the poor
The author of the letter to the editor titled “Pro-life label is inaccurate, misleading” in the Sept. 6 Times Free Press has it wrong. He claims pro-life believers are only pro-birth, not truly pro-life because of resistance to some welfare programs. No, pro-life advocates believe abortion is a violation of God’s 6th commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”
Welfare programs and the subject of abortion are widely different topics, each with its own unique moral and practical dimensions. Conflating the two leads to confused positions on both. Intentionally terminating the life of an infant developing in its mother’s womb and funding welfare programs are not similar acts.
Pro-life advocates are not averse to programs that help the poor, though there is strong resistance to many state-administered welfare programs. These programs were never intended to compensate for irresponsible, sinful and slothful behaviors. God commanded us to help the poor. The operative word is “help.”
Pro-life Christians take both matters seriously as there are commandments from God governing both, and they clearly recognize the differences between the two.
Dan C. Johnson