Letters to the editor: Readers offer thoughts on extremism, politics and hypocrisy

Overcoming hate

More people have died under the name of Jesus Christ than were ever killed by the Islamic State (not that I’m defending either of them ). No religious movement is perfect and Christians, especially Christians, don’t come to the table with clean hands.

Just ask the 7 million Mayan, Inca and Aztec Indians who lie in the wake of those God-fearing missionary Spanish conquistadors who enslaved them and worked them to death in the name of God. Or the more than 120,000 “witches” burned at the stake sponsored by Christians and the Spanish Inquisition in medieval Europe — again, in the name of God.

Most Southern slaveholders were Christian as well. And, privy to the fact that millions of Jews were being persecuted by Nazi Germany, the Vatican said nothing when one word from church officials could have galvanized German Catholics to oppose Adolf Hitler’s final solution.

Extremism has no place in religion, and before anyone can pontificate on the virtues of Christianity, or any religion, he should first, take pause and reflect on his own religious history and try to keep his sanctimonious and superior judgments to himself, and keep things in their proper perspective.

President John Kennedy reminded us that God’s work on this Earth must truly be our own. Sure the Islamic State is evil and like Nazism must be stopped.

And it will be stopped. Not because any religion is better or worse but only because good men will not permit the world to see its shadow of hate endure.

Tom Davis

Merriam

Clinton’s integrity

How can anybody support presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton?

She is deliberately dishonest and massively untrustworthy.

She lied about coming under sniper fire when landing in Bosnia. The fact is there was no sniper fire; she was met on the tarmac by flower girls.

She lied about the Whitewater papers, which about two years after they were subpoenaed, were found on a table in a small meeting room adjacent to her White House office with her initials all over them. But she stated she knew nothing about them.

This person obviously has no honor, no ethics and no integrity. What does that say about those who support her? Do they have any?

Charles Burright

Lenexa

Draft dodger Trump

I am shocked that so many active military and veterans support a draft dodger especially when Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump did everything he could to avoid serving in the military during the Vietnam War era. He received five deferments.

The first three were student deferments, and each time he graduated from college and became available for the draft he went back to school. His forth deferment, 1Y, made him eligible to serve only during a “national emergency.”

His final deferment granted him 4F status stating that he was “medically unqualified for military service.” So, if Trump was “medically unqualified for military service” is he then “medically unqualified to be commander in chief and president of the United States”?

This shows you how the monied and privileged separate themselves from everyday people. I am a Vietnam War veteran, so it makes my blood boil to think that a draft dodger could be commander in chief and president of the United States.

Republicans need to open their eyes and see the fraud that Trump, the draft dodger, is portraying before them because the outrageous things he says will be their legacy for generations to come and difficult to run away from in future elections.

Robert Miller

Overland Park

Liberal nonsense

The hypocrisy quotient continues to climb with former President Bill Clinton being “honored” with an $18 million contract (over five years) as the “honorary chancellor” of a for-profit “university.” One owned in part by a firm controlled by ultra-left wing currency speculator George Soros. Consider the likelihood that the payoff was a kind word or two from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s State Department, opening doors in other countries for this company.

Over the past few years the Obama administration has cast a critical light on for-profit education institutions culminating recently with the cutoff of ITT Tech from federal scholarship funds forcing its closing. When people like the Clintons can make millions, for-profit education is just dandy.

For-profit schools are required to show that they prepare students for actual jobs. How would the liberal state and private universities fare under this measure?

But that would not be a fair measurement because they are overwhelmingly liberal and therefore no evidence of real world success is necessary because (a) liberal organizations by definition do good; (b) if they are criticized they would feel bad and would have to retreat to their “safe zones”; and (c) they are nearly 100 percent Democrat.

Jim O’Connell

Shawnee

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Letters to the editor: Readers offer thoughts on extremism, politics and hypocrisy."