Abandon pagan word Easter

Easter only appears once in the Bible in Acts 12:4. Look up the meaning in the unabridged dictionary, third meaning. Easter was and still is a pagan goddess of the Easter-n sky, worshipping with the sungod rising at dawn in the spring. Read Ezekiel 8:16, all the King Herods were pagans, not Jews, as were their Roman masters.

The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread occurred at times with Roman worship of Easter, a fertility festival. The egg and rabbits were pagan symbols of fertility and were used in the worship of Easter. Satan and his sons, 1 Corinthians 11:13-15, tricked the church over centuries into using the word Easter and its pagan symbols.

Spiritual Christians, please abandon the pagan word Easter, candy eggs, Easter bunny, etc. Worship the Risen Lord Jesus every Lord's Day, Sunday. Worship Christ in Spirit and in the truth, not Satan and his pagan lies.

Honor God and his Son, Jesus Christ, and you will not be judged by Him on that day, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 and 1 Corinthians 16:22. Maranatha or will you be anathema?

Jesus is Lord of all.

BOB STANLEY, Hixson

Boards will decide fates in Medicare

On Tuesday, a reader makes the subtle case that Medicare is an inalienable right.

Medicare? According to the Declaration of Independence: ... "they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

I don't see our Founding Fathers mention surgery, doctors, hospitals, let alone government-paid health insurance. The reader extols the magnanimous nature of Medicare as it was 15 years ago.

Let's look at it now.

Under the new health care regulations, there will be:

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. It was created within CMS by Section 3021(a) of PPACA "to test innovative payment and service delivery models to reduce program expenditures." This is a direct quote from the Congressional Research Service, a report prepared for members and committees of Congress, dated July 8, 2010.

Our fates will be decided by boards who want to "reduce expenditures." Read further and you'll learn that members of all these boards are political appointees. Where do think their loyalty will lie? With you and your family, or with those who appointed them?

Demonize the insurance industry if you want, but I trust a person with a profit motive far more than I trust a politician.

PATRICIA O'CONNOR

Support needed to save honeybees

Tennessee Valley Beekeepers Association (TVBA) Mentors Course students placed their queen and honeybees in their new hives on April 10 at the Bonny Oaks site.

This year's course includes parents with children. The excitement and energy of Sunday was profound. For years, there have been few new beekeepers raising bees due to the die-offs. It is becoming a community effort to keep our bees alive and teach beekeeping without using antibiotics or miticides.

Buying local is important. Supporting our honeybees will allow the farmers to continue to grow clean food for our community. Without the honeybees and pollinators, farmers won't have the pollination needed to grow all their crops.

Be sure and catch "Queen of the Sun" movie (www.queenofthesun.com/about/trailer/), part of the Awake and Engaged Film Series, tonight at University Center at UTC, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

We applaud TVBA, Gaining Ground (Benwood Foundation), Natural Awakening Magazine, and Slow Food on Campus for their community support to help save the honeybees.

LOU McKENZIE