Bible courses get no taxpayer dollars
I have recently read that some people do not want religious courses taught in local public schools. Reading the issues they raise, it appears they are ignorant of the details, so I hope to clarify for them.
First, Bible in the Schools is not funded by taxpayer dollars. No money is wasted. In fact, it is contributed by local community members to help offer the courses for kids who want to take it. A simple glance at the organization's website answers these concerns.
Secondly, Bible in the Schools is an elective course. It is not a required course for any student to take in the Hamilton County public school system. However, I would encourage all students to learn the Bible, even from a historical perspective, as most of Western culture is directly impacted by biblical concepts. One cannot read American literature without touching upon issues and beliefs found in the Bible.
Lastly, I highly agree that we need to teach people honesty, truthfulness, compassion and social responsibility. Please send them to our church. We're all learning to grow in these areas.
Garrett Reagan
Democracy relies on participation from all of us
Aaron Sorkin once wrote, "Decisions are made by those who show up." If you want to a be a part of the decision-making process, you have got to show up. Civic engagement is one of the hallmarks of our democracy. It's time for the younger citizens to realize the importance of voting and civic engagement and to participate in the decision-making process.
Young adults ages 18-24 have one of the lowest voter turnout rates in America. It's time for young adults to ask themselves, "How important and valuable is voting to me?"
In American history, voting was important enough for people to fight for and to risk injury and death. Voting is important enough for modern-day Americans to get in their cars and stand in line to vote. It's time for us to stop messing around with democracy.
No matter where on the political spectrum you fall, you must take part in democracy. Why? Because it's worth it. It works, and it's the one way to get your voice heard.
Seth McKelvey
Collegedale
Race discrimination argument same for sex
The Supreme Court is once again embroiled in argument about freedom of religion versus discrimination. As I read the article in a recent edition to the TFP, I was impressed with the lack of adequate argument describing discrimination based on religious belief.
The case itself involves an individual planning a public business to provide websites for impending marriages. The proposed business owner contends that her religious beliefs would be infringed on by mandating that she accept same-sex couples as customers. The argument counter to this must be that religious belief can and has resulted in discrimination based on race and religious affiliation. Slavery in this country was frequently justified based on religious belief that God had ordained supremacy of white people over Black people. There are people in this country today who hold religion-based beliefs that Jews and/or Catholics are agents of evil.
Our laws have already made it clear that a restaurant owner cannot discriminate against people based on those people's race regardless of the owners' claim of religious beliefs against Blacks. The very same must hold for the sake of civil rights for all diversity in our society.
Discrimination is discrimination.
Robert Landry
Palestinian state must be solution
It is certainly no surprise that Anthony Blinken is supporting Israel, but he has now apparently become wary that the "two-state" solution is in danger (as of course it always has been, what with the continued, persistent diminishing of Palestinian territory). He apparently feels that, since there is now pretty obviously not enough left of Palestine to be a viable state, there is a danger of support for a "one-state" solution (which would give equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis -- as promised in Israel's Declaration of State 1948), and this would be "detrimental to Israel's long-term security or future as a Jewish democratic state."
He is therefore warning that the U.S. should object to policies that marginalize the Palestinians and diminish their "horizon for hope." It is time to show the Palestinians a bit of support for their own state, so that they won't demand equal rights in one state.
In other words, the "dog has caught the car," and now has to figure out what to do with it.
Doris Rausch
Tullahoma, Tenn.
Did Lewis Carroll have advice for us?
A last year's Christmas gift was a page-a-day calendar. Here is a recent page I thought worth sharing:
"The horror of that moment, the King went on, I shall never, never forget!"
"You will though, the Queen said, if you don't make a memorandum of it."
-- From Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass"
There, I thought, is the purpose of the Jan. 6 congressional committee.
Byron Chapin
Pigs in the creek; time to remove them
With the election over and 2022 grinding to an end, the national debt clock quickly passed $30 trillion. As I watched this happen, a John Adams quote came to mind. He said: "There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt." Could this 1826 quote take place before our very eyes and we're too blind to see it? Ben Franklin answered more than 200 years ago when he said: "He was so learned that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant that he bought a cow to ride on." So, did the election change anything?
Is it any wonder Mark Twain said: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." The real idiots are the folks who keep sending this vermin back for more.
There's only one solution to our country's problem: "You cannot get the water to clear up until you get the pigs out of the creek."
Ed Huber
Copperhill, Tenn.
Constitution out; Trump back in?
Trump is now calling for the destruction of the Constitution so that he can be back in power.
He has shown that he likes to make good on his threats.
Where are the voices of our representatives in the Congress and Senate against this latest assault on our democracy? Why are they silent? Why is anyone in the Republican Party silent about what Trump is saying?
How can anyone consider this bombastic, self-serving, would-be dictator, a viable candidate for the presidency?
Katheryn A. Thompson