Leaders elected to make the hard decisions
The referendum is the sledgehammer of political delay tactics.
Climate action plan. Carbon neutral aspirations. This career environmental attorney has opinions. But they only matter insofar as I share them with, and they are heard by, the officials we have elected into office.
The idea that every time a hot button issue arises, which some or many people find objectionable, that we, as a constituency, should demand a voter referendum at the polls to approve or deny the controversial proposition fully and completely ignores the fact we have elected nine, or in the case of the county, 11, humans to make these hard decisions. That is the litmus test when you cast your vote. Do they have the skill to analyze, and to decide, in a manner that is in the best interests of our city and county?
Punting the hard decisions away into the voter referendum ozone (no pun intended) enables neither efficient nor effective leadership.
Michael Mallen
‘Thoughts, prayers’ just pious words
“Thoughts and prayers.” When they piously mouth these words after every murderous mass assault with military grade weapons, I wonder if our Republican representatives in Congress are perhaps really thinking about the number of times they have refused to address meaningfully the gun mayhem rampant in this country and praying that their constituents don’t hold them accountable for their obstinate refusal to safeguard Americans from this needless epidemic of violence.
Ted Tumelaire
Signal Mountain
‘God’ should be capitalized
It is very obvious that Mayor Weston Wamp was praying about the Nashville school tragedy last week. Therefore, the Times Free Press should have capitalized “God” in his reaction comments published on page A5 of Tuesday’s edition.
Most of the other comments were “canned” statements. His was truly a prayer.
Margo Daugherty
Churches must stand, proclaim God’s truth
As we stand in the midst of yet another firestorm of hate asking all of the usual questions, I propose to you the one true answer: Christ. Local churches have failed miserably.
So many pulpits are filled with motivational speakers and not the absolute truth of God. This watered-down, me-centric gospel has resulted in a generation of people who place more value in their feelings than in the truth. Life has lost all purpose, meaning and sanctity. Our youth are wandering around in their own respective deserts with no idea of how to escape because they have been fed the lie that their “truth” will make them happy.
It is time for the church to rise out of the ashes and proclaim the truth and light of Christ to their congregation, neighborhoods, communities, cities, states, countries and world. It is time for us to start becoming a reflection of Christ instead of the world. I believe that the church should reflect Christ the way a pristine mountain lake reflects the beauty around it. Instead, the church looks more like a carnival house of mirrors in which it is hard to discern the right direction to go.
So, to the church: Wake up, stand up, and be the leader in truth and love that God intended you to be all along.
Jenn Terry
Dayton
American has no one religion
It’s true that the students with the lowest scores on entrance exams to the university are found in the school of education. But the Hamilton County Board of Education members make the teachers look like geniuses.
Larry Grohn, the Founding Fathers of this nation were deists; they were not Christian. Their objective was to keep all religion out of government. The Constitution has secular origins, not the least of which was the Iroquois League. Eisenhower adopted our motto, which endorses no one religion. “God” was inserted into the pledge in 1954. Of course, the conservatives accuse the liberals of rewriting history.
Tom Peck
Biden weakness allies Putin, Xi
As Americans, we need to focus on the broader overview of what is transpiring with lightning speed. Sure, we have a lot of individual crises going on now. These include our economic crisis with the staggering spike in inflation, banks collapsing, the disaster at our Southern border, the war in Ukraine, and the abuses of the Justice Department and FBI.
But something bigger and broader is transpiring. It has to do with the recent face-to-face meeting of Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi in Moscow. For decades, American leaders have worked tirelessly to prevent these two superpowers from being allied.
Biden’s ill-constructed foreign policy strategy has resulted in this. It is a serious development. The ramifications of these two powers together have staggering implications for the control of the Euro-Asian land mass. Many smaller countries now will want to unite with this new dual superpower for economic and security reasons.
U.S. influence, standing and efforts to expand liberty, freedom and democracy abroad now have been dealt a staggering blow because of Joe Biden’s weakness, ineptness and faulty judgment.
J. Johns
Ringgold, Ga.
Tennessee legislators are ignoring science
While I was in line at a store waiting to check out, I overhead a young woman in front of me telling the clerk that she and her family were having to leave Tennessee because her 10-year-old son is trans. They were discussing places to move that would be more accepting of trans children.
Some Tennessee families will be uprooted because of the passage of House Bill 1, which bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors and requiring transgender youth a year to detransition.
The ignorance and cruelty behind the passage of this bill is beyond comprehension. Both the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics support gender transition health care, but Tennessee legislators once again choose to ignore science and believe they know more about transgender health care than doctors.
Rebecca Rochat
We want to control what God controls
I believe God made man and woman. Now, some folks are not happy with how God made them. Some folks want to change their bodies to please themselves. They can move things around, take meds, apply lipstick, buzz their hair, wear different clothing. Whatever makes them feel better about themselves.
Many folks have tattoos, some covering the whole body. Some tattoos are small, some medium, some with all colors and very intricate. I have seen seniors with tattoos; that is a real mystery to me because that permanent art is going to look different with each passing year.
We have rings in our noses, belly button, ears, lips, tongue, anywhere.
We want to control what we put in our body, and especially what must leave our body.
God made babies too. We want to control that also.
If you do not want to have a baby, just end its life.
You can end the birth before it is born. You pay no fine; it is not a criminal offense in the state of Tennessee.
What else does mankind wanted to control? Only God is in control of all things.
Ruth Cote
Hixson