Expose child sex abuse to eliminate it
Sexual abuse of children is abuse of society and the human condition as we know it.
Victims are forever kept in a sort of state of not quite belonging and often resort, as adults, to behaviors that harm, hurt and sometimes destroy the individual. Suicide is not uncommon. Sexual abuse of children is kept secret within families. Children are told not to tell.
Talking, sharing and being part of groups help the adult cope with what is a horrible abuse of power by the larger adult and the harmful effects it will have on that child now walking around in an adult body. If we continue to discuss the abuse of children it might allow adult victims to begin to share their stories of horror and how they are coping as adults.
Are you a victim or suspect you have been abused? Talk to someone, see a therapist or find a local support group in town.
The only way society can rid itself of this sickness is to expose it.
Robert J. Brooks
Cook’s anger unproductive
The recent account of a heinous crime committed in our hometown 106 years ago shocked many and brought some to rage. It’s understandable: The lynching of Ed Johnson was an inexcusable injustice against humanity.
Injustice, no doubt, was done that night in Chattanooga. Injustice was wreaked upon the Native Americans during the Trail of Tears, in antebellum America, and likely in Ferguson that night more than 100 days ago. However, the rhetoric contained in a recent column is dangerous and unproductive.
As a lifelong resident of the greater Chattanooga area, and a student at a college named after the Confederate Gen. Lee, I am acutely aware of the injustices of the past and present. Injustice still exists. There is work to be done, and every single one of us has a moral responsibility to do our part. David Cook’s poisonous rhetoric of anger that is beholden to grudge subtracts from this clear call: We must work to accomplish what we will with our short time here, regardless of sex, race or political affiliation, to prevent and remedy the injustices of our time.
Daniel Johnson, Flintstone, Ga.
Erlanger mistreats loyal employees
When does a promise get too expensive to keep? If you ask Erlanger executives this question, it’s when employees get old and have pensions they have earned taken away.
Last year, Gregg Gentry and Kevin Spiegel offered many people a choice. Leave Erlanger or take away their hard-earned pensions. The plan was to place pensions in a fund which would result in lost value. That way, Erlanger would not have to pay out money to employees. Anyone over the age of 55 had two options. Stay employed and lose the pension eventually or leave!
To make matters worse, these executives also sent letters canceling retirees’ health insurance because it to was costly. Another broken promise. Is this the lesson Mr. Gentry hopes to convey? That it is okay to make promises until they get too expensive to keep? Shame on the board for allowing this. Is this the way to treat long-term faithful employees?
Since Erlanger has money to develop hospitals all over town, could they not set up a fund to support the very people who make Erlanger great?
David Fant