This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, April 26,

Clarifying facts

In your April 20 article “How Dems made vote referendum on Trump,” you left out an important fact. On that Special Election Day, Karen Handel had to compete with 11 Republicans, while Jon Ossoff only had to compete with three Democrats. The Republican vote was split three times as many ways as the Democratic vote; thus the win wasn’t as great as the number 48 percent would indicate, without those clarifying facts. So if you are going to quote numbers, please report the entire story of all the numbers, and show the actual significance, not just what one sees on the surface.

Day of prayer

The National Day of Prayer is a vital part of our heritage. Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history, including President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation of a day of “humiliation, fasting and prayer” in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Harry Truman, declared an annual National Day of Prayer.

In 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Ronald Reagan, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of May.

Each year the president signs a proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. In 2015, all 50 state governors plus the governors of several U.S. territories signed similar proclamations. The leader of the National Day of Prayer for our country is Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Dr. Billy Graham.

This will be the third year that the National Day of Prayer is held at the Houston County Courthouse on Perry Parkway. We want people to come out and pray, as our forefathers did, for our country. Especially when the country was in trouble, as we are today. The rally at the old courthouse will be outside so please bring a chair if you need it.

The prayer rally at the courthouse on Perry Parkway will be inside and there will be a light lunch provided. The time is noon-to-1 p.m. for both rallies. This is to make sure the people who work in downtown Perry will have time to gather with others to pray on this special day.

If you would like to help with the planning for these important events, please call me at 478-987-7683. Please plan to join us on May 4 at noon for the National Day of Prayer. Our verse this year is, “O Lord, listen, O Lord, forgive. O Lord, hear and act. For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name.” Daniel 9:19.

Earth Day

As another Earth Day comes and goes the celebration of the earth and a commitment to clean air and water is always laudable. However, it also demonstrates the limitations of our ability to predict the future and shows that science cannot accurately predict the earth’s future climate.

The reality is none of the predictions of the original Earth Day have come true. In addition, Al Gore’s doomsday clock has passed without any effect other than making him and his cronies millions of dollars.

While I am sure that the billions of people who live on this earth have some effect on the climate, at this point, no one knows precisely what that is. The catastrophic warming hasn’t happened and polar bears still live.

Our country has made a lot of commitments and has spent and plans to spend billions of dollars on a promise that science has all the answers and that we should just follow them without questioning any of the predictions.

Science has made many wonderful life changing contributions to our world. But, they have also made many errors. Before we commit our hard-earned tax dollars on future climate related projects, we should make sure they are fully vetted with all sides represented in the debate.

When one side demonizes other opinion and shuts them down by calling them names and dismissing them as ignorant, more often than not, the opposite is true.

America first

President Trump recently signed a “Buy American, Hire American” executive order, directing federal agencies to implement his campaign promises. However, extending the “America First” agenda to the private sector is impossible without proper business certification.

While two-thirds of Americans approve of the “America First” agenda and even more (74 percent) agree that the federal government should adopt a “Buy American, Hire American” policy, the question for patriotic businesses becomes: “How do I let my customers — and the government — know?”

Traditional “Made in the U.S.A” labels reward manufacturers that make products domestically, but they do not incentivize businesses to hire Americans, source their materials and services from other U.S. businesses, or pay taxes to federal, state and local governments. Consumers are currently left wondering if and how a business contributes to the U.S. economy.

That’s why we recently launched the “America First” certification program, which grades businesses on five key metrics: People, products, places, sourcing and taxation. The program allows businesses large and small to prove their patriotism, while consumers can easily identify who buys and hires American.

As President Trump stated in his inaugural address, “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America First.” Let’s certify it.

Anything but ‘wacky’

The Telegraph recently ran a headline about the “wacky” weather in Middle Georgia over the past year. “Wacky” is a spectacularly ill-chosen word, implying something humorous and trivial. Extreme weather, driven by climate change, is anything but amusing. Extreme weather conditions threaten our food and water supply and the living conditions of our children and grandchildren.

The opinion of scientists is all but unanimous: climate change is real, it threatens us, and we can slow or even stop it. Many people choose to believe whatever feels comforting, but The Telegraph’s staff should know better.

This story was originally published April 25, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, April 26,."