This is Viewpoints for Friday, Oct. 23, 2015
World Polio Day
Oct. 24 is World Polio Day. In 1985 Rotary International resolved to immunize all the world's children against polio. At that time, polio was striking 365,000 children per year. Since then, through the leadership of Rotary and its spearhead partners — the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF — more than 2 billion children have been immunized. Now the number of polio cases is less than 500 per year worldwide.
Polio is still endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Huge efforts are being made to immunize children in the war torn areas in those countries, while at the same time maintaining surveillance in the rest of the world, since polio can strike any country, if an infected person travels there. That is why it is vitally important to finish the job. Contributions to PolioPlus at www.rotary.org will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
— Albert and Bebe Reichert
Macon
Puzzles
I've tried to give your new puzzle page a fair shot. As an older person I cling to my habits. My ritual has always been to read my paper with a cup of coffee and finish off with the puzzle page. This usually takes about 30 minutes. Sadly, yesterday, I didn't even get it out of the box until after noon because my ritual no longer works for me. The old crossword was small and relatively simple. It made one feel better about oneself because you could fill in all the blanks quickly and get on with your day feeling that you haven't slipped mentally. The new one is not. If I wanted to finish, it would take much, much longer. I don't have the time nor the inclination to work that hard Monday through Saturday. The hardest puzzles were always on Sunday, and I never did that one anyway. The crypto-quote being gone really irks me. I've always loved puzzles and to my delight after I turned 50 I realized I could do that puzzle every day. (Never could before) Also, what's up the aces of bridge? Maybe I don't get out enough, but who the heck reads that and what the heck is it all about. Is this a game or a how to? You've carried it for years and I still don't get it. I realize our local people are not responsible for these changes, but I hate them. Am I the only one?
— Jeanna Hayes Cook
Bonaire
Keep checking the page. Changes are afoot.
— Editors
U.S. bends to no religion
Gary McCall and others who believe there is a "war on Christianity" going on in the United States suffer from a myopia that obscures from their consideration what a real "war" on Christians looks like. In Iran, Myanmar and North Korea, a Christian can be executed or imprisoned just for being a Christian. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reports that more than 13 million people have fled seven countries in recent times because of religious persecution. Many of those people are Christians.
Worse than their myopia, however, is their abysmal understanding and appreciation for the secular republic our founders gave us where no law could establish a religion or impede the free exercise of a religion. Any person in America can exercise freely his or her faith and nobody's religion can become the state-sanctioned religion. The genius of the First Amendment provides the most expansive freedom one can imagine for every person in the land to believe anything they want, or nothing at all, with respect to any and all religions.
What bothers them is this: Christianity receives no free pass, no favored status under our Constitution. Kim Davis, Mike Huckabee and most GOP presidential candidates believe the opposite — that Christian beliefs about morality ought to trump the law, that the law ought to bend to Christian beliefs. They couldn't be more confused nor more dangerous to our religious freedom. The history of the world shows how dangerous theocracy, even one dominated by Christianity, can be to freedom.
— Franklin J. Hogue
Macon
Coat and cloak
In the time of Jesus, the poor wore a coat over an inner garment called a cloak. More often than not, the coat doubled as either their bedding, blanket or pillow. Rome's civil law at the time allowed for the confiscation of the coat for non-payment of a debt.
Jesus said, "If anyone wants to sue you for your coat and takes your coat, give him your cloak as well" — Matthew 5:41. Jesus told the poor not to passively submit to the cruel law but to fight it with the only weapon they had, their nakedness. You see, in that world at that time, nakedness shamed the person observing it.
When the poor dropped both coat and cloak at their feet for collection, I imagine the shocked and embarrassed creditor departed forthwith leaving both where they lay.
— Travis L. Middleton
Peach County
Greed and capitalism
The major cause of wars between nations is evil greed. Yet, greed is what drives capitalism. In our country, maximizing profits is more important than heeding the teachings of true prophets who call us to do justice, to love the poor unconditionally, to joyfully share the wealth. We cannot match God's generosity, but we can try to follow God's example as best we, human beings, can.
For the overwhelming majority of the world's population, "enough is a feast." For far too many who worship at capitalism's altar, enough is never enough. Is it possible to substitute something else for greed, capitalism's driving force? Can capitalism and compassion/generosity become synonymous? Where there's a will, there's a way.
— Paul L. Whiteley Sr.
Louisville, Ky.
Crying for help?
I am writing this letter in response to Roberta R. Johstono's letter in the Tuesday, Oct. 20, of The Telegraph concerning the last few columns of Dr. Bill Cummings. I had been planning a reply to his columns for some time but the Christian reply of her letter was far more Christian than I was tempted to write. Cummings seems to be a very educated man, but the Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good education begins there. Documents found by the Dead Sea translates almost exactly as found in the King James Version of the Bible, which was translated by about 50 of King James' most able translators. Some of the most recent translations were done by people whose aim is to change the meaning of the Bible. For example, King James Version versus the New Revised Standard Version, (Isaiah 7:14).
Cummings seems to be a man crying for help. He said he is 80 years old so he doesn't have a whole lot of time to find the answers to his questions. This area is full of preachers. Will some of them step forward? My prayer is for him to find the answers quickly. I suggest he call Ms. Johstono if no one else steps up.
— Harry E. Drake
Milledgeville
Free to debate
It's a free country, so Dr. Bill Cummings is entitled to whatever religious or philosophical beliefs he chooses. He has the freedom to ask questions, wonder out loud, write articles and search all he pleases. His circumstances in no way, shape, or form remotely resembles that of Salman Rushdie as Cummings is free to speak or write his religious philosophical views without fear of reprisal or persecution. On the other hand that same freedom also entitles anyone to challenge his views, especially since he is expressing them in print.
Cummings, as he consistently does, has the freedom to criticize the Bible as he did in his latest column when he stated his New Testament is full of contradictions and errors. I have the freedom to state the Bible is God's perfect word of truth and any Jesus Cummings finds outside of scripture will be a false Christ — an anti-Christ.
By the way if you really want to know him, Jesus said to search the scriptures because they testify of him (John 5:39). By criticizing the word of God that Jesus stated to be truth (John 17:17), Cummings is in fact attacking the Christian faith. He has the freedom to do so, and I have the freedom to defend the Christian faith.
— Craig Giddens
Warner Robins
This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 10:45 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 ."