LETTERS

Stand up for marriage

Because of the efforts of a few to have their way at the expense of the truth, I feel compelled to stand up for marriage. I believe marriage was instituted by God when he created a wife for Adam; the Bible explicitly says that she was a woman. This understanding is confirmed by God’s command to Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply.”

Everyone knows that two men cannot produce offspring, nor can two women. I believe that those who say that marriage is also for those of the same sex deny the truth. Some wrongly think that they have a right to change what they did not create. Others wrongly think this can happen without dire consequence.

This is not an argument about anyone’s freedom to have the benefits of marriage. If you do not wish to stay within the bounds of marriage, there is a process available to change laws to include civil unions in these benefits. But espousing the idea that the definitions of words should be manipulated to suit a particular group’s interest is extremely dangerous for the foundation of our society.

Because some refuse to believe the truth does not make it any less true. I think this is where we have erred in this country so terribly; this is why we are losing our blessed nation. As a society, we have turned from God and truth.

We must speak out and fight for truth or suffer the consequence. The consequence is upon us. As it has been truthfully stated, “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” KRIS BUSH Paron

An open heart, mind

In response to the many letters from Mr. Gary McLehaney, I must say I find them ironic.

While Mr. McLehaney professes to be an atheist, he sure seems to feel the need to educate us on the Bible.

He mentioned not seeing the pleas of someone praying for a sick child answered. If he would open his mind as well as his eyes and heart, I think he would see many miracles all around him every day. I personally prayed for my mother when the doctors gave her six weeks to live from cancer, and she died … 32 years later, and not from cancer.

My granddaughter’s half brother was in a severe car wreck and very critical. I told her to have faith and pray. We kept praying and today this young man is beginning to walk.

It is not just my prayers, but prayers from any believing heart. I am so happy that God looks upon the heart and sees what no one else can see.

If Mr. McLehaney will open his heart and eyes, I believe he too will see the miracles that happen every day-some big, some small, but all orchestrated by a loving and caring God. Mr. McLehaney is in my prayers. DONNA SLATON Eureka Springs

Need senior discount

Re Sue Roberts’ letter about her subscription cost: I would gladly pay $83 a year for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

My subscription cost for 2013-2014 was over $300. After I called the billing office, they dropped the price to last year’s charge of $216.

Why the great difference in pricing? Get with it! A lot of newspapers have a senior discount.

They tell me that in 2014 my rate will go up to over $300, so in 2014 I think the Times-Record from Fort Smith will be my new reading pleasure.

DON MANSKER Mena

Ready to march to war

Recently President Barack Obama essentially declared a war on coal. Thank heaven! It’s about time.

Not only is coal one of the dirtiest forms of fuel we use (thus the reason for the “war”), its extraction from the ground has become an enormous environmental and public health burden.

The predominant form of coal mining in the Appalachian Mountains today is mountaintop mining, where the tops are literally blown off mountains to extract coal. By 2009, over 1.1 million acres of mountaintops in the Appalachians had already been destroyed.

This shocking level of destruction has not only destroyed wildlife habitats and natural beauty, but the waste from this form of mining contaminates streams and is linked to drastically higher cancer rates and birth-defect rates in parts of Appalachia. Mortality rates are higher in areas where this mining occurs, and incomes are much lower. In addition,the states pay more in subsidies than they make in taxes.

The environmental and human costs of modern coal mining and coal use are simply unconscionable. Relying as it does on explosives and equipment, mountaintop mining employs a fairly small number of people, so while some jobs will be lost by the “war on coal,” others will be created as cleaner energy sources, such as wind and solar energy, take the place of coal.

If this war required foot soldiers, I would enlist.

KATHY CURTIN Fayetteville

Seek proof of claims

In his screed against the Bible, Rick Burry made the bold assertions that the biblical texts are a collection of conflicting stories written and rewritten by men with agendas and little education, and that the gospels contain tales about Jesus purposefully inflated to mislead the masses.

Burry says he is guided by the lofty principles of logic and reason. Consequently, his claim that the Bible has been “written and rewritten” needs solid proof. Since he is driven by rational inquiry, Burry surely has evaluated the textual documentation necessary to substantiate his claims. Burry’s manuscript evidence would allow us to trace the course of the supposed revisionist history of the rewrites to their final form.

I have offered my atheistic friends a thousand dollars if they can furnish proof of these so-called rewrites. So far, no takers. I’m not interested in regurgitated speculative drivel from the Internet, but solid manuscript evidence.

Lastly, Burry impugns the motives and belittles the educational level of the biblical writers. Was Paul uneducated? And Luke?

Renowned archaeologist Sir William Ramsay studied the historical accuracy of Luke’s work, and after many years of fieldwork concluded: “Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy, he is possessed of the true historic sense … in short, this author should be placed along with greatest of historians.”

I think it is Burry’s work that needs to be rewritten.

JOHN LITTLEJOHN Siloam Springs