Grand slams for Supreme Court
Woo-whee! The Supreme Court certainly scored some grand slams this term.
* Religious liberty: In two cases, the court declared that religious institutions and individuals may not be discriminated against because they are religious. Atheists will just have to learn tolerance.
* Right to bear arms: The court simply ruled that objective, not subjective, criteria must be used in the carry and conceal application process.
* EPA: Government agencies will be put on a legal "leash." Hey, I thought only legislatures were supposed to make law.
* Roe v. Wade: Best for last, this decision means "federalism." That's the way our system is supposed to work. Don't like a law, vote and replace politicians.
Ronald Williams
Pops and protests on abortion rights
At Pops on the River this year, my wife and I had several experiences around the abortion issue our nation currently faces.
I saw a young couple with a sign which read "My Uterus, My Opinion." When I respectfully asked, "What is in a woman's uterus when she is pregnant," I believe the woman was ready to engage me, but the man encouraged her to just move on, seemingly unwilling to consider a differing thought.
Abortion rights protesters made two or three trips up and down the Walnut Street Bridge. One time the chant was "Bans Off Our Bodies." Don't obstetricians encourage all pregnant women to stop smoking and to drink alcohol only in moderation during pregnancy? Because the human life she carries is totally dependent on her, she needs to consider the well-being of that human life as more important than her own "body" and her desires.
I saw a man yell at the protesters. No argument has ever been won nor has a heart ever been changed by negative actions.
Sadly, I saw a young woman with a sign which read "I Wish I Was Aborted." I pray this woman can find hope and can cherish all human life, especially her own.
Dennis Urbaniak
Signal Mountain
Gun violence victim photos a solution?
After witnessing the carnage that took place on the Fourth of July in Highland Park, Ill., I was reminded about a similar incident that happened on Aug. 1, 1966. A deranged and physically damaged Marine veteran dragged a foot locker full of bolt-action rifles, ammunition and survival supplies to the top of the Main Building tower at UT Austin, and he shot and killed 14 people over 96 minutes. The sick man in Highland Park killed five people within a minute. Imagine if he was a trained killer with 95 more minutes?
Do you want serious gun control? Show photos of gun violence victims. See what a bullet wound from a 7.62 mm bullet looks like when it is fired from an AR-15 style rifle and destroys a 10-year-old child. See what innocent people must witness when they have to identify the bodies of loved ones. See what the police and emergency responders must see when they are called into action to protect and save lives. Just because you have the right to do something doesn't always make it the right thing to do.
Mark Gregory
Hixson