Our state’s rights shredded
I read, with passing interest, Wendell Griffen's diatribe. It is sectarianism that underpins the ruling of Judge Chris Piazza. Sectarianism may be defined as the actions of a group under economic or political pressure to attack members of another group it regards as responsible for its decline. In this case it seems a judge took it upon himself to champion a cause clearly out of step with a majority of the state's voting citizenry.
There are instances where voters have approved gay-marriage initiatives. In Arkansas' case, the voters said no. Active support for gay marriage has yet to break above 44 percent in the state, but attitudes are changing, with 39 percent strongly favoring, and an additional 24 percent somewhat favoring gay equality.
The trend here is that if the LGBT community, all of 78,000 strong in a state of nearly 3 million, will but bide their time they will eventually achieve the majority outcome of opinion they desire. But they want it all, and now to boot.
So Judge Piazza tells the voters to take a flyer, state Sen. Jason Rapert complains about judicial activism, a point I'll grant he made in an inarticulate manner. Then Wendell Griffen, who seems to never pass up an opportunity to display his opinion, backs Piazza's play by trying to castigate Senator Rapert in print. Both Griffen and Piazza hold the opinion that the 14th Amendment trumps the 10th Amendment.
If Piazza and Griffen feel their true calling is to legislate, I would suggest they run for office as Senator Rapert has.
In all this, Arkansas' 10th Amendment rights get shredded once again. I think that's the actual constitutional tragedy here.
BILL WAVERING
Bonnerdale
Thought-provoking
I am an unabashed Paul Greenberg fan. Even when I disagree with him, I enjoy his style, syntax, and clarity.
Sunday's column, "Marriage and its discontents" hit it out of the ballpark. He presents both sides of a contentious issue, brings them together as the column progresses, and then, in classic Greenberg style, he closes with a thought-provoking sentence that implies, "No matter what you feel, you know I'm right!"
JIM SMITH
Benton
Subject to approval?
Wendell Griffen, while claiming to follow the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself, does not hesitate to brand state Sen. Jason Rapert as a "bigot" and "hypocrite," and with other hurtful expressions.
Rapert's sin, in Griffen's view, apparently is his daring to defend the biblical and traditional position on marriage. Griffen says that objection to marriage equality (which in his view must include same-sex marriage) is "theologically unsound and scripturally incorrect."
If one wants to reject the Bible as God's word, one should just say so. Many do today, even some pastors, to their own peril. But in the light of the plain teaching of, for example, the first chapter of the biblical letter to the Romans, how can any serious student of scripture say that believing marriage means only the union of one man and one woman is "theologically unsound and scripturally incorrect"? And I think anyone who believes that way must be a demagogue and a bigot.
The anvil of the word of God has worn out many hammers, from Nero and Diocletian down to the present day. And such will be the end of hammers wielded by present-day spiritual leaders who rail against what God has said and against those who believe him.
If God says something is right and something else is wrong, I really doubt that this is subject to man's approval. We don't get to vote on it. And I believe the opinion of one judge or 10,000 of them matters not at all.
HAROLD B. CHILTON
Fayetteville
Fans deserve better
Football season will soon be upon us, and before Wally Hall and his fellow SEC sycophants start their puffering about the "best" football conference, I have a question.
Why does this great football conference find it necessary to schedule the likes of Charleston Southern, Furman, South Alabama, Utah State, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Idaho, Eastern Kentucky, Sam Houston State, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, Nicholls State, Alabama-Birmingham, Louisiana Tech, Samford, South Dakota State, Presbyterian, Tennessee-Martin, Western Carolina, and Lamar?
This is the year of a modified playoff system and the SEC, and others as well, may find that scheduling diddly-poo teams may rise up and bite them in the behind when the playoff committee starts making hard choices for the small number of playoff teams where weight of schedule will play an important part.
I mean no disrespect for these outclassed teams that go to play in the lion's den, but the college game needs to be competitive every Saturday, and their fans, including those of the SEC, deserve this.
MARSHALL WADE
Bella Vista
Its staff is wonderful
My dad lost a leg to PAD (poor blood flow to the foot) at age 87. This caused his dementia to get worse, with him "chanting" loudly (repeating words or phrases over and over). This was a problem at three nursing homes. We were told that he must be "fixed" or heavily drugged, or he couldn't stay.
After a hospital stay at the VA hospital in Little Rock, he had no place to go as his chanting could not be fixed. So he was transferred to the Fort Roots VA facility in North Little Rock.
There, his chanting was not a problem. He was given excellent, loving care from the staff. I was there every day, and saw the staff treating the clients wonderfully. They were not troubled at all with his chanting, and tried interventions without drugs.
Had the VA not taken Dad, we have no idea what would have happened. If only all nursing homes could be like Fort Roots!
GAYLA CHAPMAN
Greenbrier
Start with the parents
Money. Broadband access. Healthier lunches. Money. After-school programs. Money. None of this working? Okay, more money. So sayeth the teachers unions, legislators, and those with "educated" opinions about the state of public schools here in Arkansas.
I'll never forget the conversation I overheard as a student 20 years ago, when a parent had come to school to plead for her child not to fail and to be included in graduating. The veteran teacher pointed out that she had had the same student in both 10th and 12th grades, report cards and interim grades had been sent the entire time, and this was the first time she had ever met either of the parents, and no, she wasn't going to pass a failing student. Summer school was the only option.
To his credit, the veteran administrator sitting in on this last-minute conference backed her up.
Sadly, those types of teachers and administrators are long-gone, and students are simply passed on. I believe the problem Arkansas public schools face is parents who don't want to be involved until "Little Johnny" is deemed a failure, and no one has the backbone to admit that and make him or her earn their education. Thus, those teachers/administrators have moved on, and those children have been simply pushed through like in a factory.
Oh well, they are still eligible for a state lottery scholarship.
ANTHONY LLOYD
Hot Springs
Have waited too long
How long would Paul Greenberg have us wait for equal rights? He calls for the observation of what he seems to deem holy, while ignoring that this discrimination causes a terrible harm to LGBTQ people. I'm sure straight people don't kill themselves because of being bullied and discriminated against over sexual orientation or gender identity.
He apparently equates the marriages of same-sex couples with the crumbling of civilization. I beg to differ. Same-sex marriage in no way contributed to Arkansas' high rates of divorce, teen pregnancy, children in poverty, or low wages. If our civilization is crumbling, I believe it is at the hands of those whose greed outstrips what is just, not because of taxpaying citizens seeking full equality. To endow a culture of bigotry and discrimination at the expense of LGBTQ Arkansans in the pursuit of your interpretation of "holy" is the true source of the rot that grows in our culture. We have rooted it out before and we will once again.
This isn't new, the divinely ordained moral superiority of some over others. But we no longer drown or burn people as witches, we don't enslave people anymore and women have the right to vote. And we are all the better for it.
I believe marriage between consenting, loving adults only strengthens our culture. And lest you forget, just as we have the right to freedom of religion, so do we all have the right to be free from religious-based oppression.
RANDI M. ROMO
Little Rock
Stance is still elusive
Mr. Paul Greenberg's June 15 column was enlightening as he, writing in the third person, appeared to articulate his personal internal struggles with the issue of homosexual marriage. Unfortunately, with his unconnected digressions and questionably germane historical examples, like his earlier rather muddled commentary on the issue, it seems his current stand on whether homosexual civil unions should be defined as "marriage" remains elusive. He appears to be suggesting that, keeping with cultural tradition, the designation "marriage" should be reserved for those who "want to satisfy something within themselves, ... their souls." Then adding: for those who "want to look into each other's eyes and promise each to the other: 'you will be sacred unto me.' "
It seems either Mr. Greenberg is agreeing that homosexual unions should be considered bona fide marriages or he unwittingly is expressing a blatant bigotry by suggesting that homosexuals should not be entitled to that same sacred and spiritual commitment as heterosexuals.
While he continues his struggles with this issue, I might suggest to Mr. Greenberg that, while in the mode of personal and thoughtful introspection, he revisit his rather uninformed and intellectually questionable position on global warming and climate change.
JOSEPH LOMBARDI
Greenbrier
Feedback
Party preference
The age-old question is sometimes asked: "What political party Jesus would belong to?"
Everyone makes their case either/or. But what about the devil? What party would he like?
He'd want to destroy the family unit. Legalize drugs. Give aid and comfort to our enemies. Probably even play the role of Pied Piper and lure countless children from their countries and (more importantly) their parents to come here illegally. And, of course, he'd want to enjoy political cover from the media.
So what party would the devil like?
ROBERT BEMIS
Little Rock
Congress' neglect
A congressman says he has evidence that someone in Washington said to tell the media that Benghazi was caused by a video; to say that so Obama could get re-elected.
No one knows 100 percent if the attack was or wasn't caused by a video. In the meantime, Congress neglected the VA problems which have been known for a long time.
Many congressmen did not support the financial bailout and could have caused another Great Depression.
I think it's time to cut salaries in Congress.
STEVE WHEELER
North Little Rock
Editorial on 06/20/2014