Viewpoints

To the Editor:

Americans should be outraged as the Trump administration, once again, violates the Constitution and the rule of law by “disappearing” men to a foreign Gulag. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who fled gang violence in El Salvador in 2011, is married to a U.S. citizen and has U.S.-citizen children. In 2019 he received a court order requiring that he not be deported to El Salvador due to likelihood of persecution.

Despite that, Garcia was arrested along with hundreds of men and sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, in El Salvador. No attempt was made to prove these men were gang members or that they had violated any law despite the Fifth Amendment which guarantees that no person can be deprived of “life, liberty or property, without due process of law.”

To the Editor:

The rule of law is wobbling in America. The Trump administration has taken people off the street, accused them of being a terrorist, and removed them from our country without a hearing or due process.
Abre Garcia was 16 when he came to the U.S. to escape threats and being terrorized in his own country. He was given a work permit, had a full-time job and family, checked in annually with Immigration, and was living a productive life. March 12, ICE agents pulled him into a car, and March 15 he was sent to the infamous CECOT prison in El Salvador that is known for torture, abuse, and killings. (Our government is paying El Salvador $6 million a year to incarcerate individuals there.)

March 31, the U.S. admitted Garcia’s arrest was done by mistake but there was nothing that could be done about it. Since that time the case has moved through the courts, including the Supreme Court, which ruled that Garcia should be brought home.

Why is it called “Good Friday?” It should be called “Bad Friday!” That was a response I received some years ago from an individual after his return from such a service. This conversation did not take place in a church building but in the hallway of a busy professional institution. I was able to share with this individual the true good that actually took place on that historic day.

Many of us know the significance of Good Friday, or at least a portion of it that puts us at ease. Many of us know the price that was paid for our sin on the cross by Jesus the Christ. I’m also aware that many have missed or overlooked another major and significant benefit that was paid for that fateful day before the cross. This event had been prophesied years prior to its coming to pass.

To the Editor:

The current pseudo government is attempting to defund all money for libraries. This type of control has got to stop.

This negative action is backed by parents trying to remove informative books that they are afraid for their children to read. Maybe if they informed themselves more, they would be able to pass along correct information too.

That’s why we need libraries. Please read, be informed and be supportive of our libraries.

Sincerely,
Julaine Keyser
Ferryville, WI
 

To the Editor:

Our veterans gave years, if not decades, of service for the United States, protecting us in times of peace and war. The United States government recognized the vital importance of veterans and in 1865 President Lincoln created a network to care for wounded Civil War soldiers.

Our current president has decided that veterans are “suckers and losers” and that they are falsely receiving benefits, underperforming at their jobs, and syphoning unearned money from the government. In fact, he chose to go golfing, instead of honoring four fallen soldiers killed in Lithuania.
Wednesday, April 3, DOGE canceled 47 contracts worth over $878.5 million from Veterans Affairs (4-3-2025, Newsweek, Rahman). Upgrades to computer systems and research contracts were cut, as well as closing some service centers.

Dr. David Moessner was one of the seminary professors who taught me the New Testament. Though he had the kind heart of a pastor, Dr. Moessner was nonetheless an intimidating figure - not only because his scholarship was so rich but also because he read Scripture in its original Greek with the same ease that you and I read English.

His teaching style always invited seminarians to read aloud the particular Bible passage of the day’s study. My classmates and I shared various English translations, and Dr. Moessner followed along in his beloved biblical Greek. Occasionally, he would interrupt the reading with a bracing judgment: “That’s a horrible translation” - faulting not the talent of the reciting student but the choices of the Bible’s English translators.

Blessings to all who read these wandering thoughts from a wayward follower of Jesus.   Let’s talk about prayer… Praying seems like such a simple thing to do. We pray at mealtimes, we pray at bedtime, we pray during church services, we pray during times of grief, life’s struggles, traumatic events, and at times of joy, thanksgiving, and blessings.

Typically, prayer is used as a defensive tool.  Something has happened or is about to happen and we seek intervention. But when was the last time you used prayer as an offensive tool, specifically in doing God’s work? When was the last time you used prayer as just a time to have a conversation with the All Mighty?   When was the last time you asked God what God wanted you to do, rather than asking God to bless what you wanted to do?   

To the Editor:

As I indicated in an earlier letter (February 19, 2025 edition of The Standard), Presidents Trump and Elon Musk shut down the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID) which finances overseas foreign aid, disaster relief, and international development programs.A federal judge recently ruled their actions “likely violated the U.S. Constitution multiple ways.” Although Musk falsely claimed “no one died as a result of a brief pause to do a sanity check on foreign aid funding,” people died.

One of the programs cut was PEPFAR, a program started by President George W. Bush that saved 26 million lives from AIDS. As Nicholas Kristof, a journalist on the ground in South Sudan reported, one of those who died was a 10-year-old who was infected with HIV from his mother during childbirth. 

To the Editor:

In his letter to the editor printed February 20, Pat Ward rails against  President Trump and what he and the Republican Party have done for the country. We appreciate Mr. Ward’s service to the country, however, he is totally wrong in his assessment of what President Trump is doing and has accomplished.

Mr. Ward fails to recognize that President Trump was put into office  by more than 77 million American voters, many of whom also served this country. I am not sure what Mr. Ward has against those voters, some of whom choose to fly the American Flag.

The United States is enjoying its highest international standing in many years. That has been brought about by the policies formulated by President Trump. The country is enjoying an economic growth that is helping millions of American families. That is something that was not accomplished by the previous corrupt administration.

Why Lent?

We are just about to begin the season of Lent. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, which lasts for 40 days (not counting Sundays). It seems like every year I hear comments from different people who don’t like Lent, such as, “It just makes me feel sad” or “It’s hard to hear so much about the suffering and death of Jesus,” and “Why can’t we focus on more pleasant things?” Today, I want to address some of these concerns and explain why Lent, though a somber and penitential a season, is truly a great comfort for every Christian.

Lent is a somber season. Ash Wednesday reminds us that God created man from dust and one day to dust we shall return. It reminds that we are not invincible. We will not live forever. “The wages of sin is death.” Death is proof of our sin. It makes it clear that we need a Savior.