This is Viewpoints for Sunday, May 13, 2018

College is for education not indoctrination

Walter Williams’ column, “2018 colleges: Anti-diversity and pro-exclusion,” (published May 3) appears to indicate a much greater threat to our republic than Russia, China or any other foreign adversary.

(Sounds like “The “Manchurian Candidate” on steroids.)

I was in college when the explosive issue of integration burst upon university and college campuses. Our university president called a student body assembly, paraphrasing 65-plus years ago:

“Men, (no women were in the student body) reach into your hip pocket, open your wallet, and retrieve your student ID card. If your ID is taken by a university authority for improper actions, etc., consider that you are expelled, no longer a student of the institute.”

Riots occurred elsewhere while we attended class without incidents, to my memory.

Higher education should be for educational purposes, to learn and improve knowledge, not provide a platform for indoctrination of immature persons. Administrators must lead with authority or take up basket weaving or some innocuous feel-good self-help course.

Support T-SPLOST

Houston County Chairman of the county commissioners, Tommy Stalnaker, who is running for re-election, recently refused to state whether he will support or not voting for the upcoming T-SPLOST. Many of us remember how avidly he and all his fellow commissioners spoke out against the 2012 T-SPLOST! We all know that a leopard can’t lose its spots, and most of us know that Tommy and all the same commissioners will vote against the new T-SPLOST.

For those like Houston County’s Walton Wood who complain that the new T-SPLOST will hinder our poor residents from buying their food by costing a penny more, they neglect to mention the three cents tax on food in our current sales tax. This actually hurts our poorest residents more than an additional penny tax! Boo hoo!

Unaffordable health care

As the cost of medical care increases, many Americans are unable to afford such care for themselves and their family. It is quite obvious that our current system of delivering medical care to our citizens is not sustainable and is in dire need of major overhaul. As a nation, we need to explore other alternatives that guarantee every American treatment, regardless of the size of their wallets. We need to adopt a nationwide medicorps organization. Such an organization would be staffed by doctors whose educations were subsidized by federal funding. They would receive a decent salary and would not have to be insured against medical lawsuits — the government would be responsible for such insurance. Present Medicaid patients would also participate in this program, resulting in huge savings to the federal and state governments.

The intended point of this letter is to suggest that we as a nation need to explore other acceptable alternatives in guaranteeing all citizens a basic right to healthcare. If a government can authorize the taking of lives in accordance with existing laws regarding capital punishment, then it certainly has an ethical duty to save lives. In fact, the constitution states that one of government’s purposes is to “promote the general welfare” of the citizenry. Those that can afford health insurance should continue receiving care through their respective insurance/doctor. Wake up citizens — flex your political muscles! Don’t wait until one of your loved ones suffers the consequences of inadequate health insurance. Hospice shouldn’t be their only alternative.

Congrats!

Congratulations to the Macon Youth Symphony Orchestra for another great season and an outstanding year-ending concert! Under the leadership of Conductor Jonathan Baker, General Manager Emily Hall and Patricia Baser (string orchestra director), Ken Krejci (woodwinds), Stephen Hoy (brass), Ashley Whittle (strings), and Tyler Watson (percussion) the MYSO provides opportunities for young musicians and is an asset to the Macon and Middle Georgia region!

Proper forms of worship

C. R. Fisher in the May 4 Letters to the Editor in The Telegraph gives his view on the proper form of worship. He says, “I have a strong opinion about this issue.” And he is happy to share it with us. He harks back to a time when everyone “dressed up” for church and worship was “a solemn affair.” There were no “sandals, blue jeans, casual dress, and a band with loud, deafening music.”

I also grew up in an era when the folks I went to church with dressed nicely. I still try to dress nicely, and I prefer the traditional worship format, but I do not disparage those who choose another form of worship. If the manner in which they worship is meaningful to them, who am I to judge them?

And as far as worship being a “solemn affair,” I always thought that Christianity was a joyful religion. In fact I have told my wife and children that I do not wish my funeral to be an event of sadness but a celebration of joy.

So if “flip flops and hitting the drums” keeps Mr. Fisher away from worship, he should look for a congregation using the more traditional form.

I suspect that there are others who share his point of view, and this may be one of the factors that keeps younger people from affiliating with organized religion.

Why Not Hillary

Concerning Robert Mueller’s investigation into the possibility of the Russians affecting the election of Donald Trump as the U.S. president, a question remains in my mind, why would the Russians favor Trump over Hillary Clinton? It seems to me the Russians should be promoting Hillary, who as secretary of state approved the sale of a substantial amount of the U.S. uranium to a Russian interest, ‘Uranium One.’ Evidently Hillary approved this sale due to sizable contributions to The Clinton Foundation. What was Trump going to do to help the Russians if he was elected?

Also, after a year, no concrete evidence has been released due to Mueller’s investigation, which makes it look more like a witch hunt, especially when one considers Mueller is now investigating people and issues that had nothing to do with the U.S. election. Is this whole thing meant to simply make it difficult for Trump to function effectually as our president? An example is the Stormy Daniels’ (porn star) affair, which at a minimum could erode a number of Trump’s supporters, the Christians. If true, other presidents have done worst.

This story was originally published May 13, 2018 at 12:00 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Sunday, May 13, 2018."