Viewpoints

To the Editor:

Senator Charles Grassley, Representatives Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Governor Kim Reynolds have sworn an oath to support the U.S. Constitution which entails protecting and defending it against all enemies foreign and domestic.  And yet, there they were at a rally in Des Moines lending their support to the man who organized and led the failed coup that attempted to overthrow our free and fair election. Trump continues to spew his Big Lie in an attempt to set the stage for a successful coup in 2024.

If elected leaders refuse to defend democratic voting procedures, democracies die. Republicans have truly become the anti-democratic and authoritarian party. The only hope to save our democracy is to vote them out of office.

Thomas W. Hill
Lansing
 

For your meditation: Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrews: 6:1-6;  Mark 10:46-52

The theme of these scripture readings is “Homecoming.” No, I’m not talking about a football game. It’s literally about coming home. We have read in the scriptures that God is someone who loves us and is someone who heals us. In these readings, God is portrayed as someone who calls us to come home.

In thinking of the subject of home, Robert Frost has been quoted,  “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” That’s a little too cynical for me. I would rather call home “anyplace where you know for sure, you belong.”

Look at the opposite. Have you ever experienced being in a place where you feel you didn’t belong? It’s not a comfortable feeling. You feel, well, out of place. You are a stranger, an alien. You don’t feel at home.

To the Editor:

In her letter to the editor October 6, Ann Fields claims that the dastardly Republicans are going to start snooping into your medical records. I do not know where she derived this amazing information, and would really like to know the source.

She then goes on to explain how much she was horrified to learn, in her experience in the Ukraine in 1993, how dangerous it is to have the government spying on everything you do. Then she claimed that Democrats and their policies help everyday people.

Ms. Fields ignores the fact that due to Democrat policies it now costs $50 to fill the gas tank of your car, natural gas is around $6.00 per gallon, the highest in several years, and new government figures show that, due to inflation, it now costs the median income family $175.00 per month more for regular household expenses  than it did one year ago!  How is that helping everyday people?

To the Editor:

On a recent Sunday, my wife and I chose to spend a beautiful fall afternoon at one of Allamakee County Conservation Board’s gems, Stonebrook Park on the Yellow River, accessible by County Road W4B. We brought our bikes along and rode over to County Road B38, a designated Scenic Byway. We rode 20 miles, enjoying the beautiful Yellow River valley and the early fall colors.

While the majority of motorists were courteous and passed us with care, as to be expected, there were a couple of individuals driving large diesel pick-ups with exhaust pipes large enough to hold a soccer ball who somehow get their jollies by flooring the accelerator as they pass bikers in order to flood them with extreme noise and big clouds of diesel exhaust.

To the Editor:

I know this anti-abortion/anti-birth control legislation is religion getting its nose into law. They find Bible verses against abortion, but there’s nothing in the Bible to say you cannot drive your machine as fast as it will go, so they find nothing wrong with the murder and manslaughter that comes from it. The writers didn’t foresee a time when every traveler uses a deadly machine capable of killing other lives, which is something they couldn’t do with horse travel.

To the Editor:

Texas Republicans passed a law enabling people to sue (for $10,000) anyone if they suspected that person was helping or encouraging a person to get an abortion. Many have said that Iowa is to follow.

Do you want neighbors, acquaintances, friends and family snooping into your medical business? Once again, Republicans demonstrate that they are not for everyday people.

I spent eight months in Ukraine in 1993, shortly after the fall of the former Soviet Union. I wondered why my neighbors didn’t smile at me and didn’t engage when I tried to initiate conversation. Then someone explained it to me.

Freedom Comes from God

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?” (John 8:31-33)

It is amazing how such a simple truth can be so hard to understand. Jesus offered truth that could provide freedom from spiritual darkness and bondage. Yet His audience thought He was talking about their economic status as freemen, as opposed to indentured servants. They missed the point.

To the Editor:

I’m shocked at the new laws and policies that Iowa’s state Republican legislators and Gov. Kim Reynolds enacted; many of these are against local control and inflict harm on everyday Iowans.

With COVID positive cases increasing dramatically, it would be reassuring if schools had rapid COVID tests available, but Governor Reynolds turned down over $95 million in federal money meant for COVID-19 testing in our schools. This bad decision affects approximately 500,000 school-age kids, that is $190 per student. That $190 per student would provide many rapid tests, as well as a staff person for administering these tests.

Parents, just think if your student wasn’t feeling well, you could go to school, have your child take a rapid test and know within 15 minutes if your student had COVID or not! Governor Reynolds demonstrated her short-sightedness, lack of leadership, and lack of compassion for everyday Iowans.

In a recent letter to the editor, Dr. Steve Perkins asked us to stop belittling each other, saying there’s just too much anger. He concluded his powerful missive with: “It’s the only life we have together here on Earth… so let’s use it for positivity, kindness and love.”

I couldn’t agree more. It’s an exhausting time for all of us. Emotions run high as we try to navigate our way through a deadly pandemic and an ever-increasing climate crisis, along with an endless array of thorny political issues. Sometimes, it feels like all we have is division.

President John F. Kennedy famously said: “What unites us is far greater than what divides us.” He was addressing the Canadian Parliament at the time so he was talking about the U.S. and Canada, but I believe it can be said of us and our fellow Americans: What unites us is far greater than what divides us.

To the Editor:

South of Waukon on State Highway 76 at Rossville, there is a flag flying with some very offensive and inappropriate script on it. Perhaps if someone has this sort of “whatever” to walk out and place this display, that person should stand there and count the number of school buses and automobiles with younger children in them that drive or ride past this display each day. Let your pride be with you.

Mark E. Young
Waterville