Memorial tribute leads to time of reflection and other letters to the editors

Memorial tribute leads to time of reflection

On Monday morning, as I read the paper, I turned to the opinion pages. I saw the names on the right hand side and quickly saw that it was the list of soldiers killed in the past year. I don't know why my eye was drawn to only a single name, or a town name near where I grew up, but it was.

After a quick search on the Internet, I found that I knew the fallen soldier's father and uncles. I had grown up, gone to school, and attended church with the entire family. After high school we had all gone our separate ways but have now been drawn back together by your list. May God bless this Marine, his family and all who have fallen for our country.

TIM ANDREWS, Hixson


Tires separate in hot weather

I would like to make people aware that with summer here, the hot temperature will make recapped truck tires separate and come apart. So if you are near trucks with recapped tires, they can be like a stick of dynamite exploding. They can do a lot of damage to your auto. If possible do not travel close to the rear or side of big trucks. Just a message from a concerned truck driver.

JAMES MOSIER, Whitwell, Tenn.


Veterans group maintains cemetery

Kudos to Dr. Anthony Hodges for his article on the historic Chattanooga Confederate Cemetery and the Silverdale Confederate Cemetery. Although the Chattanooga Confederate Cemetery is owned by the city of Chattanooga, it is maintained and preserved by the N.B. Forrest Camp #3, Sons of Confederate Veterans here in Chattanooga.

TERRY SILER, Hixson


Thompson wrong on mortgage plan

Fred Thompson is dead wrong in his TV pitches where he claims the best part of reverse mortgages is that you get to keep ownership of your home. Owners must pay all property taxes, hazard insurance premiums plus the inevitable costs of replacing air conditioners, furnaces, leaky roofs and broken major appliances which will eat heavily into reverse mortgage income.

A better plan is to let mortgage companies, banks and other investors buy homes at appraisal values and rent back to the sellers at 5 percent per year of the purchase price as long as one of the previous owners wishes to live there. New owners naturally assume all responsibilities of a landlord.

Fred, is that not a great plan or what?

BILL LILLY


Flaw could cause misinterpretation

As a creationist physicist, I saw a serious flaw in your otherwise good article, "Between science and the cross" (5/27). The good part told how two creationist scientists, Dr. Todd Wood and Dr. Robert Sanders, formerly at Bryan College, were founding an organization to encourage young Christians to become scientists. The flaw entered when the article implied that Wood and Sanders were endorsing the idea of molecules-to-man evolution, often called Darwinism.

The article didn't quote them directly on that. I'm sure they were only endorsing changes within species, not changes that could make an improved new species. Mutations in long-haired dogs might produce a breed of short-haired dogs. But mutations among dogs could not produce a lion (which my cat would tell you would be a great improvement).

Thus a casual reader of the article would get the wrong idea that the way to reconcile evolution with the Bible is to "re-interpret" Scripture. But since there is no actual evidence for molecules-to-man evolution, neither in the lab, nor in nature, nor in the fossils, the best way to get good science is to reject Darwinism and read the Bible straightforwardly.

D. RUSSELL, HUMPHREYS, Ph.D.


Riverwalk cyclists need to be careful

I went to Amnicola Marsh for a brief walk since the weather was so beautiful. I barely began when there was a yell behind me. I quickly moved to get out of the way, but a bicyclist crashed into me, and we both went down. Witnesses said he was going very fast. The sign a few feet away says that pedestrians have the right of way. I admit I was so enjoying being there that I wasn't watching out for bicycles. It could have been much worse. I have a sprained neck, visited a clinic to have my elbow treated, lost work time, and am spending money on treatment. He was a bit scraped up and rode on after checking on me.

If you are riding a bike on the Riverwalk, especially in areas like that where there are curves and blind spots, please slow down. Ensure the person you are approaching really does see and hear you. And remember you are going faster than any walker, so allow time for the person to move. They may not move the direction you expect either!

SUSANNE M. ALEXANDER, Hixson


Look at big picture on fatal crashes

The National Transportation Safety Board's recommendation to lower the allowable blood-alcohol content limit for drivers should be examined with care. Their claim that almost 10,000 traffic fatalities per year are "tied to" alcohol use is no more meaningful than claiming the other 23,000 are tied to sobriety.

Most fatalities "attributed to" drinking drivers occur for exactly the same reason as the much larger number attributed to sober drivers, namely failure to pay attention to what one is doing. Perhaps the NTSB could offer some recommendations to encourage responsibility among all drivers, teetotalers included. If a device can be installed in a car that disables the ignition upon detecting alcohol, then let's also have a device that jams cell-phone signals while in motion.

And let's stop insurance companies from selling "accident forgiveness" policies. An accident happens when a 3-year-old soils his pants; when an adult crashes his car it's called irresponsibility.

Why is sobriety considered an excuse to kill people with a car? Some of us who have been driving 30, 40, 50 or more years without ever being at fault in an accident, let alone a fatal accident, would hope the NTSB might just once consider the big picture.

ROBERT FAST


TVA here to serve, not make money

Senator Corker and probably several other big wigs do not seem to realize that TVA was never meant to make money. They may not understand this, but government is supposed to be about service to society and not putting money into their pockets. TVA is in debt; but so are other government offices and agencies because they're doing their job: serve, serve, serve until it hurts. If TVA becomes privatized and starts making money, then beware, because it will only be making money if it's doing so off of you. TVA and government is here to serve - not to profit. Let's keep it that way.

WILL LANCE


The Gospel rejects racism

The letter on May 21 began by indicting Christians as racist and ended with the implication that most Christians who oppose President Obama do so because he is black.

Biblical Christianity is not racist. The explicit statements are clear: Gal. 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:11-22 argues that Jesus removes all racist "walls." The very reason why (after the explosion of the church in Acts 2-5) the Good News about Jesus was slow to gain traction in Jerusalem was because the Gospel rejected racism - Samaritans and Gentiles were welcomed alongside Jews.

I am in my 60s and grew out of my racist leanings not in spite of the Bible, but because of it; the New Testament exposed those views as non-Christian and therefore to be rejected. I grant that racism still exists, but I hope we have grown enough over the last 50 years so that the writer's indictment is more the exception than the rule.

I oppose President Obama's policies and practices from a biblical standpoint; the color of the president's skin is irrelevant. I will be delighted when conservatives put the second black (or first Hispanic or female) president in the White House.

W. GARY PHILLIPS, Th.D.

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