Sunday's Letters to the editor

Confusing reference

Dear editor:

Since I am not a biblical scholar as a recent Trump apologist evidently is, I admit I am confused by his biblical reference (Romans 13.1) to contend that Trump is God-chosen. His recent epistle to The Sentinel-Record said, "God has chosen all those who are in positions of authority." Therefore one must assume that God has chosen Russia's Putin, China's Xi Jinpin, North Korea's Kim Jong Un, and I guess, even Adolf Hitler as "persons of authority."

Strange though, when Barack Hussein Obama was president I don't recall the aforementioned biblical scholar (and now Trump apologist) quoting Romans 13:1 to state that Obama had been chosen by God. As I recall, his comments usually referred to Obama and Satan being in cahoots.

My how times can change some folks' biblical interpretation.

Gary Grogan

Hot Springs

'Ridiculous' opinion

Dear editor:

This is a response to retired Sgt. Ron Collins (USMC) letter on Wed., Jan. 15th. This is also a response to Casey Alexander's letter (Fri., Jan, 3).

I really, really cannot agree with your (Ron's) ridiculous opinion that President Trump makes the Clintons look like good, honest people!

Lloyd Hoffman

Hot Springs

Fox: Biased and proud of it

Dear editor:

Fox News gets less than 1% of the news viewers and consists of 94% white, over 65, 53% Republican and 60% conservative, 44% middle class, only 3% of those well-to-do, and 70% have less than a college education.

Roger Ailes, founder in 1996, used the power of television to generate feelings of anger and resentment to an ideology of a cultural and a political approach that appealed to ordinary people feeling left out. He set out to demonize and generate hatred for the liberal establishment. Ailes set forth the methods and message that would steer conservative attitudes and generate distrust of the Democratic Party and liberals. Reporters that have departed Fox News say it was their charge and mission in every newscast to generate hatred for the Democrats and liberals and bias the news to the right of center. Objective viewers can see this. Those with similar mindsets as Fox have their thinking reinforced.

Bruce Bartlett, economist under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, says that Fox News is brainwashing even the Republican Party into becoming a right-winged extremist version of itself. That the channel's biased coverage of major news events had allowed the party to believe that the country was more conservative than it was. A new study found that Fox News is hurting the Republican Party by brainwashing millions of conservatives with misinformation.

Heather Hogan (Sept. 2, 2015) stated what "people fail to understand is that Fox News is not only uninterested in being fair and balanced; it is also uninterested in being a reliable source of news. That's because Fox News is playing a zero-sum political game in which every major news story is an opportunity to use their viewers as pawns to advance the power and agenda of the most extremist ideology of the Republican Party."

Why would people want a news source that intentionally biases what it reports? It is sickening and biasing society. It is proud to tell all its intent is generating hatred for the liberals and Democrats. It does not care if it is not an impartial, unprejudiced, reputable news source. The addiction of its viewers is as addictive as any opioid medication and generates a psychotic state that opposes rational unbiased thoughts and accurate information. Those psychologically addicted may not have the mental resolve to know what they are hearing. It generates hatred and national divisiveness as extreme as terrorist actions. It is done so smoothly that even Christians are sucked into the venomous programming which is as toxic as a cobra. It is a brainwashing, biased, extremists news media. It should not be supported by those wanting reliable unbiased news and want one that does not generates hate and division in America.

Jerry Wayne Davis

Hot Springs

Ideology above humanity

Dear editor:

It's not new. For several decades, the nation has become more and more divided, intellectually, financially, in politics and religion. In my lifetime I have never experienced America as divided as what we are experiencing now. We have become a nation living in a culture of hate.

Something is not right! Something is dreadfully wrong when a person's ideology becomes more important than how we treat our fellow humans. It's not good when an ideology becomes more important than compassion and love. That's when we have lost our way.

Something is wrong when whites kill blacks just because they are black, and blacks kill whites for revenge. Something is wrong when Arabs kill Jews and Jews kill Arabs. Something is wrong when Christians hate Muslims and when fundamentalist Muslims hate Christians and when Sunnis kill Shiites and Shiites kill Sunnis. When Democrats and Republicans hate each other to the point of destroying our country, something is very, very wrong. Something is wrong when "ISIL" terrorizes, maims, tortures and kills innocent people because their ideology is more important than humanity.

Something is wrong when we naively look at the world through an ideology. Living this life is much more. People who are stuck in questionable ideologies are forever searching for a new meaning to life. Ideologies separate us, yet in spite of this fact, if we can mature by acquiring open minds and caring for each other, love, compassion and understanding will fix the something that is wrong. When beliefs create hate and destruction we best question whether it's a belief worth holding. Our thoughts and beliefs must have goodness and merit and not hurt others that may believe differently. We need to seek the humility to become the best we can be accepting the fact that we could be wrong.

An old American Indian quotation declares there is a way to understand the beliefs, actions and opinions of others. "Never criticize a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins." The truth is, no matter how convinced we are right, we could be wrong. The realization that others disagree with us more often than not causes us to respond in the negative only to widen the divide. Instead, it's vitally important we become capable of identifying and understanding another person's view, opinion, belief and feelings, we desperately need to experience the world from another person's perspective by simply "walking in their shoes."

"If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." -- 1 Corinthians: 1 and 2 RSV.

George Lindholm

Hot Springs Village

Editorial on 01/19/2020

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