LETTERS

And two-fisted suckers

Re new gambling games coming: Heck, if these are approved, why don’t we just bring back Orval Faubus’ one-armed bandits?

SUZIE RIDGLEY Little Rock

Use cash for students

I hear so much about starting Keno games to raise money for scholarships. Why can’t we just reduce the million-dollar payouts on the regular lottery and use the money for scholarships?

LLOYD HENNING Hot Springs VillageHer Sound of Music

A live performance of The Sound of Music was a breath of fresh air on network TV.

Carrie Underwood was panned for not being Julie Andrews. Of course she wasn’t, but Julie was no Helen Hayes. I think Carrie was excellent on the great songs, and she will become a better actress with experience. The production was well-done, and considering it was done live, the network should be applauded and encouraged for airing a wholesome, entertaining show that everyone could watch without fear of having to explain, or with their hand on the remote to guard against the gore and sex that has taken over the screen.

I am most thankful that the show was not sponsored by Viagra or Cialis. DAVID M. PHILLIPS SR. North Little Rock

A whiter shade of pale

Allegedly, A Fox News Channel host recently insisted insisted that both Santa Claus and Jesus Christ are white men. The host did not insist that they spoke English.

WILLIAM C. KRAMER North Little Rock

Seems to be opposite

Dan Layne claimed in his letter calling for comprehensive background checks that “keeping guns away from dangerous individuals would only make our Second Amendment rights stronger.”

Let’s test that with other rights: Keeping keyboards away from dangerous individuals would make our First Amendment rights stronger. Keeping religious texts away from dangerous individuals would make our First Amendment rights stronger. No?

It’s clear to me that Layne is advocating a profoundly anti-rights position. By his logic, I guess people should have to register before buying keyboards or Bibles. He wouldn’t want someone deemed “dangerous” by the state to have access to these, would he? BILL ORTON Fayetteville

A different conclusion

Ninety-three-year-old Rod Grieg informs us that he has learned a lot about religion during his long life. He began at an early age studying to become a minister but concluded that all religions, including Christianity, are man-made and false.

One line of evidence that Mr. Grieg presents to undermine the historical Jesus deals with several pre-Christian stories of mythological saviors who allegedly experienced virgin births, miracles, and resurrections. The Christian writers supposedly aped these stories and applied them to Jesus. Mr. Grieg pleads with all believers to “learn the full origin of their beliefs,” no doubt to reach his conclusions about religion.

Not everyone who seriously studies these specialized issues arrives at Mr. Grieg’s conclusions, however. C.S. Lewis, one of the world’s foremost experts in literature and mythology, was a self-identified atheist for a time. His encounters with the mythological savior, virgin birth and resurrection motifs biased his view of the Bible, supporting his atheism.

But when Lewis began to study the Bible objectively, he was struck by the incredible contrast between mythology and scripture to the point that his comparisons moved him toward Christian belief, not away from the scriptures as Mr. Grieg has done. Commenting on the gospel of John, Lewis said, “I have been reading poems, romances, vision literature, legends, myths all of my life. I know what they are like. I know that not one of them is like this.” JOHN LITTLE JOHN Siloam Springs

Should keep searching

A recent letter by Rod Grieg concerned his doubts about the Christian religion and his search of the literature for answers. I am sure that Rod was sincerely seeking answers to questions that were bothering him, but it seemed to me that he was seeking information to substantiate his doubts rather than to alleviate them.

One of Rod’s findings was that before Jesus there were at least 15 other “saviors.” The Bible warns us of false prophets, teachers, etc., and we still have them in modern times. The Bible also gives us a guide for judging such events: If it is of man, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God you cannot overthrow it. Christianity is alive and well, and it has spread throughout most of the world. Where are the followers of the 15 false saviors? Doesn’t this tell us something?

Rod raises questions about the lack of reports by historians living in Jesus’ lifetime. This is not unusual since Jesus was born under very humble circumstances in a small town in a small country dominated by the Romans. The historian Josephus (37-105 AD), however, mentioned Jesus and the early church in his chronicles.

Rod and I share at least one thing in common-we’re the same age (93). We’ve shared a significant time in history, yet our views on Christianity are completely different. I think Rod should continue his search and find better evidence on which to base his conclusions. If he wants something different and quite challenging, he could try finding an explanation for the origins of the universe and life on earth without almighty God. Tip: Science has not done it.

JOSEPH O. LEGG Rogers

Scientific discoveries

According to a recent story, scientists found an “ancient lake with benign chemistry,” which suggested to them that Mars was broadly “habitable … billions of years ago.”

Added to this, the statement in the same story, “Scientists do not know how life originated on Earth.”

You couldn’t make it up.

STEVE HILL Bella Vista

At the tip of the knife

To the students of Northwest Arkansas: I believe getting an education is like sharpening a knife. You start with a dull knife and it gets sharper and sharper till it is about as sharp as it’s going to get. Then if you keep trying to sharpen it, it starts getting a little dull. LARRY PRICE GABBARD Fayetteville