Read more
Did controversial admiral have an invite to speak at Chattanooga Unite? Sohn: Admiral blaming Chattanooga attack on Obama was not supposed to speak Crowds pack Ross’s Landing for tribute to five slain servicemen
Tribute speaker out of place
The wonderfully planned Chattanooga Unite event was marred by a retired admiral whose politically charged diatribe momentarily caused a dark cloud on an occasion in which we were invited to hug and uphold one another. Shame on him. He should have been vetted – thoroughly – before he was allowed to speak. Someone should have pulled his mike plug faster.
Douglas Schwert, Signal Mountain
Hate speech targets Christians too
To those who are complaining that people like Jim Hammond are stirring up hate speech against certain people, we would like to say that there has been no group of people, for centuries, who have endured more hate speech and horrible persecution from non-believers than those who love and follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. A current example, in April of this year, is the case of a refugee boat from Libya carrying African refugees to Italy, when Muslims threw 12 Christians overboard. Why were voices silent on this atrocity?
Jesus said in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Barbara and Glenn Swygart, Sewanee, Tenn.
Pastor Bo wrong in his comparison
Pastor Bo has made a huge error in his “Faith Focus” column about the Kentucky court clerk who was jailed for contempt of court. His comparison of her to the arrest of Martin Luther King is way off base. Dr. King was jailed for fighting to gain the civil rights of black people that are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and Kim Davis was jailed for fighting to deny the civil rights of gay people.
Davis is no different from the Alabama clerks of the 1960s who would not allow blacks to register to vote. She took an oath to uphold the law and not deny equal marriage rights because of her personal opinion. Davis is not showing civil disobedience; she is promoting tyranny in her office.
Douglas Carson, Flintstone, Ga.
Hammond speaks on Islam threat
I support Sheriff Jim Hammond’s assessment of Islam. He and I at least have read the Qur’an, the Hadith and the Sira and have some knowledge of what Islam proclaims. Have you? The Qur’an defines Kafirs as unbelievers who do not agree with Islam. All Kafirs are to be given the options of converting to Islam, accepting dhimmism (accepting second-class citizenship and paying a yearly poll tax) or death. You may be faced with that choice one day. ISIS is doing exactly that in its captured territories.
Most politicians and media writers have labeled ISIS incorrectly as ISIS has attempted to point out in their written statements. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi stated that its agenda strictly adheres to the Qur’an and it does not diverge from Islamic orthodoxy. They have not kidnapped Islam; they are the true believers.
Their murder of Kafirs (beheadings of Coptic Christians for example), raping and enslaving Yadizi women, etc., are allowed under Mohammed’s instructions. What does it take to awaken the average American to this problem? The German people never recognized the brutality of the Nazis until it was too late. Wake up.
Charles Brewer
Davis case shows inconsistencies
Kim Davis was put in jail by a federal judge, but she has broken no law. Judges cannot make laws. Only Congress can. In 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder refused to enforce a legally passed law, the Defense of Marriage Act. But he was not put in jail. Mr. Holder, for the president, would not enforce a law passed by Congress. Is not our government out of control?
Gerald Whitely, Ringgold, Ga.