LETTERS

LITTLE ROCK — Four were true statesmen

At 83 years of age, I’m getting to be an old guy. During my lifetime, there have been 14 presidents of the United States. I am a political independent and have voted in every election since 1952, for candidates from both parties and twice for a third-party candidate.

I was too young to remember Herbert Hoover, but of the 13 presidents I remember, only four, in my opinion, were true presidential statesmen: Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. They were always honest and truthful to the American citizens. They didn’t make promises they couldn’t keep. They understood that, to be a leader, one could delegate authority, but not responsibility. They never blamed others for mistakes on their watch, nor took credit for accomplishments of others.

These four presidents had humility and showed respect to all elected officials. They never tried to tell the folks in the judiciary or legislative branches of government how to run their business. In their public addresses, the messages were always inclusive of every citizen with the purpose of unifying the country, rather than making divisive statements that cause class warfare. And finally, these four patriots loved their country with a genuine, sincere passion.

Sadly, if future historians judge our current president by the above criteria, they might very likely say that the best thing they can say about President Barack Obama is that he was chief politician-in-charge. At least that is one old guy’s opinion.

DAVID W. TURNER

Rogers

No wool over his eyes

I see in the letters that Christian talk-show host James A. Brettell had invited Al Case some time ago to come on his talk show, but Case declined.

I believe Case’s letters are just common sense, not beliefs from 2,000 years ago. Brettell’s letters make me think of people like David Koresh, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Tony Alamo and others who had millions of people believing in them who had the wool pulled over their eyes. Having more intelligence than other people doesn’t give you the right to outsmart them.

I gave up on the King James Bible over 20 years ago. I also gave up on Christians who tried to do my thinking for me. I will take my meaning that I get from reading the Bible, and I will not be brainwashed.

BILL MORELAND

Rogers

Seeing the unseeable

Al Case and others regularly submit letters vehemently denying the existence of God and the possibility that there could be a master of the universe and creator of all things. Case and the rest of his ilk, the super-intellectuals, all must share the amazing ability to see the unseeable and process the unprocessable.

If one denies the existence of God, I believe the only alternative left for understanding the origin of things is to accept the brainchild of modern physical science, the “big bang theory.” As I understand it, one must believe the universe came into existence when one minute particle of anti-matter and a tiny bit larger particle of matter came too close together (out of nowhere, because at that time there was no universe, and likewise there was no “where”) and exploded, allowing the tiny bit of excess “matter” to form the universe. Equal quantities of matter and antimatter completely annihilate each other on contact, so out of necessity for the theory to make any sense at all, there needed to be a bit more matter than there was anti-matter, seeing that the universe is made from matter and not anti-matter.

Rick Burry refers to those of us who believe in God as capable of believing in the Easter Bunny. I suppose he has no problem with the big bang theory. Given the choice between the reasoning behind the big bang theory, and that of the Easter Bunny, I’m taking the Easter Bunny every time.

May an omniscient and living God have mercy on your souls.

AUSTIN STEWART

Judsonia

Could they be saved?

I certainly wasn’t there to see the situation when the woman and her child skidded off an ice-slickened road into a Little Rock pond, an icy doom, as it turned out. Rescue may have been impossible without the specialized equipment of the dive team, even when the first responders and bystanders arrived within minutes.

But I can’t help but wonder: Could a present-day Lenny Skutnik have saved these people? Even more sobering, as a matter of self-reflection: Had I been there, would I have been willing to be that Lenny Skutnik?

KENT HENDRIX

Hope

Bid sentence farewell

Gov. Mike Beebe has said that he would sign a bill to repeal the death penalty if presented one by the Legislature. For the sake of our state, I hope our legislators provide him with such a bill.

Capital punishment is a failed government program that needs to be shown the door. Every state to examine the issue has found that capital punishment is more expensive than alternative sentences, even life without parole. And we’re getting nothing in return for this extra cost: A 2012 report by the nonpartisan National Research Council found no reliable evidence that the death penalty deters crime.

Instead, we have an unreliable, biased death-penalty system that obstructs justice. Courts routinely sentence innocent defendants to death. To date there have been 142 death row exonerations from around the country, a number that grows every year. Worse still, numerous studies confirm that racial bias plays a prominent role in determining when the death penalty is imposed.

Arkansas deserves better than this expensive, broken system. If members of the Legislature are serious about saving money and giving this state a fair and effective criminal-justice system, it’s time we join the growing national movement against capital punishment.

Let’s move Arkansas forward by saying goodbye to the death penalty.

SAMUEL KOOISTRA

Little Rock

Better use for money

Amid the publicity surrounding the frantic efforts to save the Passion Play from demise, I find myself pondering some perplexities. Looking at the numbers, I see $75,000 was raised in 10 days for about 3 percent of this production company’s debt.

Thinking of the times we are in and the pervasive needs of so many, I wonder why such fundraisers aren’t as passionate in meeting the needs of flesh-and-blood people. Randall Christy proclaimed that God wanted him to save this play; yet God allowed its demise to begin with. Christy wants to raise $6 million to run this play. How many needs could be ministered to with those kinds of funds?

The church has never been a building, but a body of people. If these disciples of Christ and ambassadors of God were truly in knowledge or service of whom they proclaim to act for, should they not live out the message of this play and live the purpose of Christ’s Passion? The people’s needs, to truly tell the tale of Jesus? Would that not be the love of God that people need to see in times like these?

I pray that we open our eyes to the needs of those whose sorrows break the heart of love. If we don’t practice what we preach, then our passion is dead, and we are in danger of being destroyed for the same reasons as Sodom. What the world needs now is love, sweet love.

BEN McCARTER

Brickeys

Constituents ignored

Elected national officials never let me down. They represent their egos, not their constituents’ needs.

They know it is only a month since 20 6- and 7-year-olds and six teachers trying to protect them were murdered in Newtown, Conn. The weaponry used has been decried by a few sincere lawmakers for years. Consider that after Aurora, Columbine and our own Jonesboro, these same weapons were still available to kill 26 more people.

As a result of this latest massacre, our president has introduced a complete package to try and stop this slaughter here in America. Among important tracking measures, he has called for a ban on semiautomatic weapons and huge clips that were used in the tragedies mentioned above. According to polls, the American people are solidly behind him.

The following are representative quotes by Arkansas lawmakers about the president’s proposals: “. . . his push for Congress to bring back the assault weapons ban and to limit ammunition is misguided.” From another: “. . . his focus on restricting the rights of law abiding citizens with tried-and-failed,anti-Second Amendment policies is poll-tested but counterproductive.”

These statements appear to be right out of the NRA playbook. Not once was there a statement of remorse for the families in Newtown. I talked about how shallow our elected officials are. In this case, these lawmakers don’t even reach that level. I only hope that in the next election these people disappear.

BOB WATERS Hot Springs Village Founders warned of it

The deaths of innocent schoolchildren have brought about panic and outrage. The media’s continued coverage hypnotizes the public about the evil of the firearm as the cause, not the last hateful acts of one troubled individual.

I believe today’s media went from reporting the news to supporting a politically correct gun-control agenda, using cartoons and editorials to harass and demonize law-abiding citizens who legally own firearms.

The unlawful acts of an individual should never be used to justify the infringement upon another’s rights,no matter how appalling the crime. Guilt by association is today’s new approach to sway opinion and enslave. Beware-Washington, D.C., has become what our founding fathers warned us about.

CURREN PARSON

Springdale

Hunting isn’t reason

If you think that criminals will obey gun-control laws, then you’re some kind of stupid.

The Second Amendment doesn’t exist so we can go hunting, but so can defend our freedom from tyrants.

BILL NELSON

Mena

For an unbiased view

To those who read the lead editorial in last Sunday’s paper, please go back to page 2 in the Perspective section and read Philip Martin’s column.

It is the best unbiased commentary I have ever read on the subject of guns.

ROBERT WHITE

Little Rock

Feedback

Would disgrace Lee

In response to Cristy Smith’s letter concerning the pairing of Martin Luther King’s holiday with a remembrance of Robert E. Lee’s birthday, I don’t see the problem. Robert E. Lee’s birthday is a state holiday in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi. In these states (except Florida), it is an annual shared state holiday with King’s birthday on the third Monday of January.

Both men made contributions to the history of this country, and limiting the title for the closings to only King would be a disgrace to another man who also made his place in history.

VICKI BARREN

White Hall

He was there first

In regards to Cristy Smith’s rant on the Martin Luther King Jr.-Robert E. Lee connection: She might be interested to know that long before there was a MLK day of observance, there was a Lee birthday observance. I don’t know when it first started, but I do remember that in the early ’70s, offices were closed due to Lee’s birthday.

Big-girl panties, Hon.

LOU MULVANEY

Lincoln