Thursday, October 3, 2013
I have been very quick to criticize editorial cartoonist Clay Bennett for his terribly offensive drawings and comments.
Considering my advanced age, I was convinced I would never live long enough to agree with anything this man offered. However, his Sept. 28 cartoon about the reinstated police officers was right on the money, and I applaud him for it.
To say that I was shocked to see these men have been absolved of all blame and reinstated with full pay is a gross understatement. The only thing more surprising would have been if they were appointed school resource officers.
I saw the video and it was like something in a Third World prison. How the man survived it I do not know. This judge is either an incompetent or a sadist.
These two guys do not need to ever be in positions of authority anywhere!
CAROLYN R. McCRARY, Hixson
The 150th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga was commemorated in grand style at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
From the time-line walks, bus tours, and children's programs, to ranger-guided hikes covering the battlegrounds, the staff of the Park Service came through with flying colors.
In addition, the Friends of the Park did a wonderful job with the rededication of the Lytle Monument (honoring the Union General/ poet) and the weather-blessed Pops in the Park presenting the Chattanooga Symphony.
The Park, a great economic asset to this area for decades, drew tens of thousands of visitors from over 40 states and several overseas countries. Hats off to the dedicated park staff, the Friends, over 3,000 volunteers, and others who joined in.
Finally, the Times Free Press is to be commended for its 56-page Sesquicentennial insert with its rich collection of articles, biographies, and maps of this unforgettable historical experience.
MICKEY ROBBINS
Looking through my calendar of national observances, it appears that October is turning into "food month," beginning with World Vegetarian Day and World Day for Farm Animals on October 1-2, continuing with National School Lunch Week on October 14-18 and World Food Day on October 16, and culminating with Food Day on October 24.
World Day for Farm Animals Day (www.WFAD.org), on October 2nd, is perhaps the most dramatic of these. It celebrates the lives, exposes the abuses, and memorializes the slaughter of billions of sentient animals raised for food. Recent undercover investigations showed male baby chicks suffocated in plastic garbage bags or ground to death, pigs clobbered with metal pipes, and cows skinned and dismembered while still conscious.
Moreover, a recent Harvard study of more than 120,000 people confirmed once again that meat consumption raises mortality from cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Animal agriculture accounts for more water pollution than all other human activities. A 2011 United Nations report recommends eating less meat to reduce greenhouse gases.
The good news is that our meat consumption has been dropping by nearly 4 percent annually! Enter "live vegan" in a search engine for lots of useful transition tips.
LEE SHUFF
As a rebuttal to the writer of a recent letter titled "Evolution evidence grows and grows," I would like to say this proves nothing.
This supposed evidence by fish called Tiktaalik found in a fossil layer is hardly evidence that fish evolved into land dwelling creatures. It's all about your belief system.
Go to answers in Genesis web site and type in Tiktaalik and you can will get some answers! I don't think that creation of fossils is very difficult either - rapid deposition lack of oxygen not millions of years. (What does that prove?)
You might want to believe in God's word and not man's.
P.S. You might title this "No proof of evolution."
CARROLL WADDLE, Fort Oglethorpe
I have noticed numerous times lately the automatic option of your paper's spellcheck needs to be turned off. Surely your reporters are not that illiterate.
Is there not an employee who proofreads your articles before they go to print? If not, then you need to hire someone, and not a machine.
DEBBIE PATAKY, Lookout Mountain, Ga.
The case of the Collegedale same-sex benefits and church discipline has faults in several areas.
Collegedale offering health care benefits to same-sex partners is a statement of believing same-sex unions are of the same benefit to society as one-man/one-woman marriages. That simply is not true. Countless studies show the best environment for children is a home with their married, biological parents. This is why marriage is rightly promoted by granting certain benefits like tax breaks and health care.
According to the Bible, the homosexual behavior engaged in by the Collegedale police officer is sinful. While the Bible prohibits me from judging an individual, it also requires me to judge between right and wrong behavior and to choose right. (If your pastor refuses to recognize homosexual behavior as sin, please find a church that really believes the Bible.)
My understanding of Biblical church discipline is to confront an individual found to be practicing unrepented sin. If the individual refuses to repent, then the church may break fellowship with that individual. The case of the parents of the lesbian police officer does not seem to fit this pattern because the parents are not the ones practicing sin - they simply showed their daughter unconditional love.
DENNIS URBANIAK, Signal Mountain