This is Viewpoints for Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016

Anyone else?

Presidential candidates Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are bickering with each other like grade school kids. None of the candidates inspire confidence. It makes me wish we had someone else to choose from. Is there anyone else out there that's willing to run for president besides these clowns?

— William D. Carter

Bonaire

Beware the 'Christian' candidate

I do not believe Christians are under attack. Catholics and Protestants can worship as they please. I can wish people Merry Christmas. I can respond to God bless with God bless, even at the base. I can celebrate St. Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day as I please.

I believe many white, older, conservative, evangelicals feel their core biblical values are under siege. The courts have ruled that Christians can not impose prayers at public events. The courts have redefined marriage. The courts have declared abortions are legal. Health care provides free contraception. They feel their way of life is under attack. Diversity is the new normal. And nowhere is it more evident than in the presidential candidates. One is a socialist Jew, one is a black Seven Day Adventist, four are Catholic, two of them are Cuban-Americans and two are Protestants, one is a woman.

Young Christians are more open to change and are less judgmental. Therefore, they do not feel threatened. They believe people should be treated equally. They are more about Christ's message than maintaining a Christian culture.

I do have one concern. That is, an opportunist candidate could manipulate the anxiety and anger of Christians to gain a political advantage. Voters need to be leery of anyone who promises they will make this a Christian nation and reverse all of the courts decisions.

— Jim Costello

Perry

Sage advice

I could write an expansive book about my opinion of the statements/comments/promises made by those campaigning for elected offices and some of their supporters. Many of these obviously are in need of a heavy dose of history, from whence and where we came while acknowledging that none of us are perfect, having come a long way toward achieving even greater excellence as a nation, second to none. (Use caution as you try to compare us with others lest you expose your ignorance and or bias.)

FROM Father: (1)Think you are paying too much taxes, make less money. From the man who quit his oil truck driving job in the midst of the Great Depression because his employer told him he would be required to work everyday instead of the 13 out of 14 days he was working. ("If I work every day it will be for the family, not someone else.") Another entrepreneur created at the intersection of opportunity and risk.

(2) Do not make important decisions based primarily on taxes.

FROM Father in Law: (A proud lifetime carpenter) If you earn $1 and spend $1.01 you will be forever in debt. If you only spend 99-cents you will be financially secure.

FROM Grandparents: (1) Do not ask others to do for you what you are unwilling to do or try to do. (The grandfather with the small farm and store who sent his seven daughters to college, the eldest born 1900.) (2) Help and assist friends and neighbors, but do not treat them better than family, your first responsibility.

FROM Great Grandparents: Your inheritance of country and community is "yours" in trust, to pass on. Do not mess up.

To our Children and Grandchildren: We have all been blessed beyond what we have deserved as citizens of the United States of America. Pass it on with honor via your talents and work ethic.

— Arthur D. Brook.

Macon

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 9:47 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 ."