Letters to the Editor 01-03-2006
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Religious Freedom - Responds To Wolkins - Questions
Religious Freedom
Editor, Times-Union:This is the third part of my letter dealing with with the subject of freedom of religion. The previous two parts were printed in the Times-Union Sept. 8 and Oct. 14 with a list of 27 sources of information that were used to develop a definition or guiding principle, most of those sources of information are available at the Warsaw Community Public Library for those who would be interested in doing their own research.
The definition or guiding principle that I came up with is the following: Freedom of religion is the inalienable right of each person whether alone or with others to peacefully, openly and freely practice a religion or no religion at all and for each person to be free from having persecution, forced conversion and the establishment of a universal state religion inflicted upon them by any part or whole of any local, state, national, continental or world government.
I will now go into some detailed explanation of the definition that I came up with. First, the inalienable right means natural freedom or action that cannot be legally or morally taken away by the rulers of a country. Second, all Americans, whether by themselves or in concert with others, are free to choose whether to be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, pagan, atheist, etc. Third, peaceful practice of religion does not include the duty to wage a holy war against the infidels and heretics. Neither does it include such assault, theft, fraud, kidnapping, vandalism, arson, trespassing, obstructing traffic, disturbing the peace, etc. Fourth, open practice of religion means one does not have to conceal their activities from government officials and informants out of fear of being punished. Fifth, to freely practice a religion means to be free from undue restrictions on one's activities so long as they are peaceful and do not infringe upon others' rights to do the same. Sixth, real religious persecution includes such unjustifiable acts as extermination campaigns, executions, torture, imprisonment, forced manual labor, deportation, monetary fines, property confiscation, sham court trials, etc. Seventh, forced conversion includes either the direct approach of being coerced into swearing an oath or performing a ritual where one renounces their current faith and pledges allegiance to a new one. Or the indirect approaches of compulsory church attendance/non-attendance, mandatory funding of churches, coerced compliance to the tenets and decrees of a particular religion, etc. Eighth, the establishment of a universal state religion means the selection whether by law, decree, or action of a particular religion or even militant atheism as the official religion of a country which is the only one that can be legally and openly practiced while all others are forced to go underground.
Hopefully, readers of the Times-Union will find this guiding principle to be of use when considering current controversies over freedom of religion and separation of church and state.
Alexander Houze
Leesburg
Responds To Wolkins
Editor, Times-Union:Regarding Dave Wolkins letter: "Wow!" Name recognition by a local politician, what an honor!
I wrote three letters over several months criticizing daylight-saving time, apparently he never read any of them. I never advocated Central time, I never advocated Eastern time. I just don't want DST. However, several errors appear in his letter.
He stated that I make weekly anonymous call-ins to the local weekly publication, whatever that is. I don't believe in anonymous calls to anyone, I will sign my name to anything I say, right or wrong.
Dave, we never had a side, we were just totally ignored. Also, why drag the county commissioners into this issue? I don't have any argument with them, they said we did not meet the criteria to change to Central time, no problem.
You accuse me of having a jihad. I think that means a holy war. There is nothing holy about my disdain for Mitch Daniels.
I am willing to drop this matter if Dave apologizes within one week of receipt of this letter to the Times-Union, in writing. If not, I will consult an attorney over these false and libelous statements to see what legal action may be brought against you. I wasn't the first to call you a wiseguy. I was referring to an earlier letter written by Mike Ragan.
To the lady who wrote in from Claypool, who knew more about DST than the politicians, there is a simple test to tell when a politician is lying - watch their lips. If their lips are moving, they are lying.
To Mr. Wolkins, keep your eye on that dead horse you wrote about, I haven't even used my spurs yet.
Tom Morehouse
Milford
Questions
Editor, Times-Union:Where are we going?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Prov 8:22, John 1:1 and Prov 8:30.
All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was not made. Ps 33:6, Eph 3:9, Col 1:16.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:4
Without God we are nothing. God gave us Christ to better our lives by following Him. Why take Christ out of Christmas? Do you shop where you can not use his name? Do you buy Christmas cards or shop where Christmas is written with an X?
If you take Christ out of your vocabulary, what is left? We would have nothing to look forward to in our lives.
What would happen to our children, grand- and great-grandchildren if your country was to turn to communists? It looks like we might be headed in that direction.
What are they teaching our children in school? It is not the teachers as much as it is our government telling them what they have to teach. Look at ISTEP test scores. Give them time to teach the basic skills needed to succeed in life. What would happen if we lost our electricity? The children and some adults could not even figure how to add two double figures together such as 42+49.
Can our children write so it can be read? They are not taught penmanship. They are taught how to push buttons. The schools are too big. We need smaller and more schools, more individual attention, and having time to know each other, including the teachers. How can children know each other when there are more than 400 in a grade?
Do children have heroes to look up to, to pattern their lives after when we have such poor leaders in higher places? Do they set their sights on better things or just enough to know how to get what they want? Do we let our children wrap themselves around our little finger? Do they whine, cry and beg until we give in? Are we spoiling our future generations? Do we want them to think life is handed out on a silver platter? Do our young people know how to prepare a balanced meal without a microwave? Can they bake without, or cook without boxed food?
Are we taught to work for our neighbor or family and not expect to receive cash for it? What happened to good neighbors and friends that helped you in time of need instead of going to the government for handouts? Do you know your neighbors? Do you speak to them? Do you make yourself known when someone new moves in your neighborhood?
What about manners? Where are the "thank yous", "please", "sorry", "may I help you?" and etc. Do you open a door for the elderly? Do you step aside to help someone get something off a top shelf?
Do I really earn the dollar I make?
Do I cheat my employer on time worked?
Do I push and shove?
Stop, think, listen, do!
Isletta M. Carwile
Warsaw
[[In-content Ad]]
- Religious Freedom - Responds To Wolkins - Questions
Religious Freedom
Editor, Times-Union:This is the third part of my letter dealing with with the subject of freedom of religion. The previous two parts were printed in the Times-Union Sept. 8 and Oct. 14 with a list of 27 sources of information that were used to develop a definition or guiding principle, most of those sources of information are available at the Warsaw Community Public Library for those who would be interested in doing their own research.
The definition or guiding principle that I came up with is the following: Freedom of religion is the inalienable right of each person whether alone or with others to peacefully, openly and freely practice a religion or no religion at all and for each person to be free from having persecution, forced conversion and the establishment of a universal state religion inflicted upon them by any part or whole of any local, state, national, continental or world government.
I will now go into some detailed explanation of the definition that I came up with. First, the inalienable right means natural freedom or action that cannot be legally or morally taken away by the rulers of a country. Second, all Americans, whether by themselves or in concert with others, are free to choose whether to be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, pagan, atheist, etc. Third, peaceful practice of religion does not include the duty to wage a holy war against the infidels and heretics. Neither does it include such assault, theft, fraud, kidnapping, vandalism, arson, trespassing, obstructing traffic, disturbing the peace, etc. Fourth, open practice of religion means one does not have to conceal their activities from government officials and informants out of fear of being punished. Fifth, to freely practice a religion means to be free from undue restrictions on one's activities so long as they are peaceful and do not infringe upon others' rights to do the same. Sixth, real religious persecution includes such unjustifiable acts as extermination campaigns, executions, torture, imprisonment, forced manual labor, deportation, monetary fines, property confiscation, sham court trials, etc. Seventh, forced conversion includes either the direct approach of being coerced into swearing an oath or performing a ritual where one renounces their current faith and pledges allegiance to a new one. Or the indirect approaches of compulsory church attendance/non-attendance, mandatory funding of churches, coerced compliance to the tenets and decrees of a particular religion, etc. Eighth, the establishment of a universal state religion means the selection whether by law, decree, or action of a particular religion or even militant atheism as the official religion of a country which is the only one that can be legally and openly practiced while all others are forced to go underground.
Hopefully, readers of the Times-Union will find this guiding principle to be of use when considering current controversies over freedom of religion and separation of church and state.
Alexander Houze
Leesburg
Responds To Wolkins
Editor, Times-Union:Regarding Dave Wolkins letter: "Wow!" Name recognition by a local politician, what an honor!
I wrote three letters over several months criticizing daylight-saving time, apparently he never read any of them. I never advocated Central time, I never advocated Eastern time. I just don't want DST. However, several errors appear in his letter.
He stated that I make weekly anonymous call-ins to the local weekly publication, whatever that is. I don't believe in anonymous calls to anyone, I will sign my name to anything I say, right or wrong.
Dave, we never had a side, we were just totally ignored. Also, why drag the county commissioners into this issue? I don't have any argument with them, they said we did not meet the criteria to change to Central time, no problem.
You accuse me of having a jihad. I think that means a holy war. There is nothing holy about my disdain for Mitch Daniels.
I am willing to drop this matter if Dave apologizes within one week of receipt of this letter to the Times-Union, in writing. If not, I will consult an attorney over these false and libelous statements to see what legal action may be brought against you. I wasn't the first to call you a wiseguy. I was referring to an earlier letter written by Mike Ragan.
To the lady who wrote in from Claypool, who knew more about DST than the politicians, there is a simple test to tell when a politician is lying - watch their lips. If their lips are moving, they are lying.
To Mr. Wolkins, keep your eye on that dead horse you wrote about, I haven't even used my spurs yet.
Tom Morehouse
Milford
Questions
Editor, Times-Union:Where are we going?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Prov 8:22, John 1:1 and Prov 8:30.
All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was not made. Ps 33:6, Eph 3:9, Col 1:16.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:4
Without God we are nothing. God gave us Christ to better our lives by following Him. Why take Christ out of Christmas? Do you shop where you can not use his name? Do you buy Christmas cards or shop where Christmas is written with an X?
If you take Christ out of your vocabulary, what is left? We would have nothing to look forward to in our lives.
What would happen to our children, grand- and great-grandchildren if your country was to turn to communists? It looks like we might be headed in that direction.
What are they teaching our children in school? It is not the teachers as much as it is our government telling them what they have to teach. Look at ISTEP test scores. Give them time to teach the basic skills needed to succeed in life. What would happen if we lost our electricity? The children and some adults could not even figure how to add two double figures together such as 42+49.
Can our children write so it can be read? They are not taught penmanship. They are taught how to push buttons. The schools are too big. We need smaller and more schools, more individual attention, and having time to know each other, including the teachers. How can children know each other when there are more than 400 in a grade?
Do children have heroes to look up to, to pattern their lives after when we have such poor leaders in higher places? Do they set their sights on better things or just enough to know how to get what they want? Do we let our children wrap themselves around our little finger? Do they whine, cry and beg until we give in? Are we spoiling our future generations? Do we want them to think life is handed out on a silver platter? Do our young people know how to prepare a balanced meal without a microwave? Can they bake without, or cook without boxed food?
Are we taught to work for our neighbor or family and not expect to receive cash for it? What happened to good neighbors and friends that helped you in time of need instead of going to the government for handouts? Do you know your neighbors? Do you speak to them? Do you make yourself known when someone new moves in your neighborhood?
What about manners? Where are the "thank yous", "please", "sorry", "may I help you?" and etc. Do you open a door for the elderly? Do you step aside to help someone get something off a top shelf?
Do I really earn the dollar I make?
Do I cheat my employer on time worked?
Do I push and shove?
Stop, think, listen, do!
Isletta M. Carwile
Warsaw
[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092