Burning of Quran was negligence

There are serious problems when those in charge (or who wish to be in charge) call the recent burning of the Quran "an honest mistake" or "inadvertent," as stated on TV.

No, it was "negligence" and "incompetence," and with no understanding of consequences. Deaths resulted! Just who was in charge of the order to burn? Just following orders?

Who of us would go into our home office and pick up whole boxes, files, or shelves of stuff and discard or burn them without checking what we had, to see if something should be saved or handled some other way?

What office manager in a corporation that is moving an office would do the same so as to avoid extra boxes being moved?

There must be a huge bunch of Americans who obviously have little or no understanding of anthropology, cultural and religious differences, historical track records, tribal and religious significance, or sociology!

Often they are the same people who lack any understanding of the impact of poverty and lost jobs, the amount of religious variety in Christianity in our country, anyone outside their own ethnic group or "class," and even the differences from region to region in our own country.

SHARON McINTOSH

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Vote Republican to keep tax cuts

Almost all taxpayers will get a big tax increase if the Bush tax cuts are repealed in 2103, so to keep them, vote Republican!

BARBARA DUNN

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Obama policies aim toward world order

As the race heats up for the GOP presidential nomination, one thing seems clear. The hopefuls are at a disadvantage.

They dare not criticize Obama's stand on anything lest they be called racist. Not ObamaCare, religion, oil prices, economy and foreign policy.

That bastion of free thinking, none other than Jimmy Carter himself, had the temerity to suggest that those who criticized ObamaCare were racist.

I don't care whether the man is black, brown, white, green or yellow, I don't agree with his policies. I think he has a vision of a new world order with him being atop the totem pole. Why else would he traipse all over Europe and the Mideast apologizing and bowing to any dictator and head of state for all the misdeeds, real or imagined, that the U.S. had committed. I dare say that he is more popular overseas than at home.

The zeal to soak the rich is just another attack on capitalism, which he cannot stand.

This country was founded on capitalism, the opposite is Communism.

Every child, when I was growing up, knew and was taught that if they studied and worked hard, they could succeed.

GEORGE THOMPSON, Blairsville, Ga.

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Bible isn't a scientific text

Rick Santorum's statements about college indoctrination show his own indoctrination.

Santorum supports ideas that are founded in religious doctrine, not in observable, replicable facts. He has been indoctrinated in these ideas somewhere in his past, since they couldn't come from education.

Colleges should teach facts and critical thinking, not doctrines. Santorum's remarks are projections, the psychological theory that people with a problem see the problem in others, but not in themselves.

During my undergraduate years, I attended a Bible college that focused on indoctrinating students in fundamentalist Christian doctrine. I left after one year and went to a Christian liberal arts college, because I wanted an education. These are the same doctrines I fled at the Bible college. I didn't give up my Christian faith, because faith is in things that cannot be seen, not in observable phenomenon.

Republican cultural conservatism results from indoctrination by ministers, radio personalities and political leaders telling people what to believe. Conservatives must examine ideas that go against science. They won't lose their faith, just doctrines, many of which go against the Bible when read with an open mind. The Bible isn't a scientific text.

Science is confined to factual observable events and religion is confined to faith.

ROGER A. MEYER

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Auto tests hurt low-income people

Emissions testing: Designed to hurt low-income people:

No one can give any proof that this testing actually improved anything because it was combined with 19 other measures. Yet emissions testing is still a requirement in order to get tags renewed in Hamilton County.

This testing does not affect people who can afford newer vehicles, only those who can't afford them.

I have been told "this testing will stop when we get all the old polluting cars off the road."

How sorry is that? Who drives these "old polluting cars?" The people of this county who can't afford new cars drive these "old polluting cars."

They told me, "There is a waiver set up to help those who can't afford it." True, but they have to show proof of $75-$650 in parts and repairs by an ASE certified mechanic in order to get that waiver which is only good for a year.

That's not a lot to some, but for hard-working people who are struggling to put food on the table, it is.

I am very disappointed in our current officials for allowing this type of attack on our low-income citizens to continue.

EVA MILLIGAN, Signal Mountain

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Chamblisses, city deserve better

I was very saddened to learn Reflection Riding no longer exists as designed by John and Margaret Chambliss. I was among the last employees of "Mr. John" to work at Reflection Riding the summer before he died in 1972.

John chose the English term "riding" for the land they started acquiring 86 years ago because it refers to a place known not for its elegance or greatness, but for its "pleasantness." Margaret added "Reflection" because its mirror-like ponds reflect the natural beauty of Lookout Mountain. They wanted generations to enjoy "the mental and spiritual reflection that a visit to this special property brought."

As soon as Jac Chambliss and Bill Crutchfield died, a vote was taken to erase Reflection Riding from Chattanooga's history and to relegate founders John and Margaret to footnotes. The national award-winning arboretum into which they poured their lives for 50 years was literally "merged" out of existence. They deserve a lot better than this. So does Chattanooga.

To the current board of the so-called "Chattanooga Nature Center and Arboretum": stop trying to justify something that is wrong and restore this arboretum to what its founders intended -- a "Reflection Riding" to be preserved and enjoyed forever.

SAMUEL M. CHAMBLISS III, Atlanta, Ga.

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Don't take shoddy trash from China

About the commerce secretary -- we can all hope that he will get some fire in the belly and enough spine to stand up to the Chinese and all other nations we trade with.

For each million dollars of goods they ship into our country, they will take a million, with no more trash!

It will be as good as good American products or don't send it. Our landfills are already full with their shoddy trash.

Let us all work to take our country back.

MARCUS HILL JR., Beersheba Springs, Tenn.