Letters to the editor for Sept. 16

No one could have imagined horror of 9/11 until it happened

With the observance of the events in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, I am wondering if, perhaps, our more liberal citizens will reconsider their welcome to refugees from terrorist-sympathizing countries. No one ever imagined such horror could happen on our soil, until it did. The thought that it could never happen again is fine and dandy, until it happens again. These unknown refugees are migrating all over the country and terrorism plans may well be in the making as we speak.

The government’s terrorist watch list is actually not that effective. Slipping through seems to be fairly easy. We all need to rethink about our security, liberals and conservatives.

Jesus Christ is my moral compass

To the letter writer who touted “shades of gray,” and proclaimed the Constitution as his moral compass: There are those who feel that the Constitution does not include them.

Jesus Christ is my moral compass. He turns no one away. He will never leave me or forsake me. His words are pure as silver, tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times. His words are truth; they are life. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words shall not pass away. His way is perfect. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He changes not His loving kindness and mercies are forever!

“The law of the Lord is perfect: converting the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired than gold, yea, than fine gold: sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them his servant is warned, and is keeping them is great reward.

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but his words shall not pass away.

Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

His banner over one is love.

The fool says in his heart, there is no God.

Let no man deceive you!”

Catholic leadership or lack of?

A recent news release stated the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church, under the current leadership, will be hiring women into positions of power, not just advisory, but they will be the decision makers with full authority.

This is a grievous error and is a direct contradiction with the word of God, who the leadership at all levels has professed to follow. Here are the words of God: “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to use authority over man.”

We have witnessed the destruction of the church since leadership has given up control of the parishes, resulting in its feminization. It is almost as if the pastors are afraid to do the will of God, or at least that is the obvious conclusion.

A learned cardinal commented recently, the only man left in the sacristy is the priest. If the female chauvinists have their way, it is only a matter of time. They have mounted a major attack on the male priesthood, but this caving in on positions in the Curia does not bode well for the future of the Catholic Church as we have known Her, and may result in the loss of millions more of the faithful who are members of the One True Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. God Bless and keep me in your prayers.

Get serious about climate action

Wrong is wrong. It was wrong for tobacco companies to say smoking does not cause cancer or nicotine is not addictive when they knew better. It is wrong to say fossil fuel smoke does not cause global warming.

In my letter that started this exchange with Mark Godwin, I explained how the climate-related disasters we are seeing are a result of the laws of physics. Warmer air holds more moisture. Warmer water intensifies storms like Harvey. Water in the Gulf of Mexico was seven degrees warmer than normal and extended to an unprecedented depth. Winds churned up the water but no colder water rose to weaken the storm’s fury. This was compounded by rising sea levels and changing wind patterns.

Harvey will cost $30 billion. The National Flood Insurance Program is already $24 billion in debt due to Sandy and Katrina. Now, Irma headed for Miami to add to the damage.

There is already too much carbon in the atmosphere. Does Mark Godwin have any good ideas how to fix this problem? If he does I would like to hear from him.

Some Republican Congressmen are realizing the need for climate action. Florida Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo saw Miami flooding and heard his constituents’ outcries. He formed the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus with Florida Democrat Rep. Ted Deutch. The group now has a total of 52 Republicans and Democrats working together. Many have seen climate impacts in their own districts and are ready to get serious about climate action.

Any Biblical time period cannot be interpreted literally

Here we go again — another person who interprets the Bible literally has calculated a specific date for a Biblical event. Thomas Fohne from Columbia wrote, “…Bible student Scott Clarke has determined the Revelation 12 sign as written by the Apostle John will appear in the skies over Jerusalem Sept. 23, 2017.”

Apparently Clarke is using some new software that calculates the future positions of sun and moon. Here’s the problem — time as we understand it is not one of God’s dimensions.

Before going into Revelation, perhaps we should start with Genesis 1:1. How long was God’s day the day before, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth?”

It certainly wasn’t the 24 hours it takes for our planet to rotate once, which is confirmed in the next verse, “And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep ...”

In Revelation 20, John writes about how the angel comes down, binds the Devil (Satan) and casts him into a bottomless pit for 1,000 years after which the faithful “ … lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” After those 1,000 years, “Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.” Now we’re in 2017 AD, over 2,000 years have passed, and this hasn’t happened yet. So 1,000 years in Revelation isn’t our 1,000 years.

My point should be clear — any Biblical time period (days or years) cannot be interpreted literally making calculations using our calendar impossible.

ESPN’s Robert Lee removal from game

The sports network ESPN recently removed one of its sports announcers from announcing a football game because the announcer’s name was Robert Lee. This announcer shares the name of Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general that’s been dead 147 years. ESPN felt the name had some racist connection to it.

Now, I hear, ESPN is considering removal of some of its other employees with the name of Al or Jesse.

This story was originally published September 15, 2017 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Letters to the editor for Sept. 16."