Are you big enough?
Dear editor:
My dad was a captain and a World War II veteran. I learned about disciple, life and parenting without verbal or physical abuse. Sometimes when I asked permission to do something, he might ask, "Are you big enough? You can do what you are big enough to do, but if you are big enough to do it, you are big enough to accept the responsibility and the consequences for your decisions and actions."
The question "Are you big enough?" was not referring to my size but about my mental maturity and capacity to assess the situation and the results and consequences that might go with those decisions. This developed critical thinking and assessment ability as to what might be the results and trade-offs. I knew if I made the decision to do something, I was also big enough to face the consequences of that decision. These consequences were not to be pass on to my parents or anyone else. My decisions, mistakes and poor choices were mine to take care of and solve.
Others could benefit from this. People are not accepting responsibility for their decisions. They expect others to come to their rescue and even to risk their own lives to cover their poor choices and unwise decisions. If they were held accountable for this and not able to pass the problem on to others, they might learn to assess the situation and ask, "Am I big enough?" Following this step with answers before a decision is made will provide a better decision, more self-confidence, independence, and prevent them from passing the consequences they generated on to others?
Jerry Wayne Davis
Hot Springs
Appreciates Fauci
Dear editor:
After reading an "ignorance is bliss" letter, I so thank God for Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Dino Paparella
Hot Springs
Trumpian 'hypocrisy'
Dear editor:
I rarely read Lloyd Hoffman's rambling missives, much less allow myself to be irritated by someone with such myopic, tunnel vision. His letter Sunday using Biblical text and referencing Christian values and morals to support Donald Trump, however, was the ultimate in hypocrisy.
Donald Trump is no more a Christian than he is a Republican. This three-time married, admitted adulterer who has bragged about grabbing women in the genitalia does not represent the Christian tenets I'm familiar with. Perhaps Lloyd Hoffman's church has a different set.
There are numerous versions of the Bible, but every one I've been exposed to does not condone lying, something two other letter writers have recently pointed out Donald Trump has been documented doing over 20,000 times publicly in only his first term.
I don't have an issue with gambling, but some forms of Christianity frown on it, and Trump is a former casino owner, ironically one of the few casino operators who managed to be unsuccessful doing it.
And as a veteran, I've been disgusted with Trump's treatment of military personnel who have chosen to put country before him. The list of transgressions is too numerous to list.
Hoffman obviously, by his condemnation of The Washington Post and other news outlets that print anything that might be judged as negative toward Trump, lives in his own little world, oblivious to the fact that our commander in chief is nothing more than an opportunistic charlatan without an ounce of decency or integrity in his body.
So I leave Hoffman (along with Ed Cherry) one question: If not illegal, do you believe it's morally right for Trump to have spent $130 million in taxpayer money to play golf at his own resorts, effectively transferring the wealth of taxpayers into his own pockets? As a matter of fact, isn't that the definition of socialism? Does Mr. Hoffman see that as Christian values?
Semper Fi.
Gunnery Sgt. Ron Collins, USMC retired
Hot Springs