Letters: Readers discuss teaching the Bible, attacking journalists and EMILY’s list
Heed the bard
When I see so many states choosing to reopen businesses offering nonessential goods and services ahead of the recommended federal guidelines, I am reminded of what my mother would ask me when I was about to join my peer group in a fun but misguided adventure. Namely, “If all your friends decided to jump off a cliff, would you join them?”
Just remember the words drawn from a quote by Falstaff in Shakespeare’s “Henry IV, Part I”: “Discretion is the better part of valor.”
- Joseph Moore, Independence
Question of faith
The Missouri House will soon be voting on an inadvisable bill to authorize an elective social studies course on the Old Testament or New Testament, or both, in any Missouri public school.
At first reading, the bill does not promote indoctrination, stating that any course “shall not enforce, favor, or promote, or disfavor or show hostility toward, any particular religion or nonreligious faith or religious perspective.” Yet the bill singles out the Bible.
By definition, this bill therefore favors a particular religion. Imagine the consternation were the legislature to propose a law solely to study the Quran. What if the legislature were to suggest a social studies course premised on Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion”? This bill is equally misguided.
Truly objective comparative study would require delving into other religion’s texts, such as the Quran and the Bhagavad Gita — not to mention researching the views of the nation’s 26% who are nonbelievers.
A major problem with the bill is that it does not restrict the class to more mature high school-aged students. Such Bible classes are especially inappropriate at lower grade levels, where they transform all too easily into Sunday-school curricula.
The Missouri legislature shouldn’t be pushing a Bible proposal on public schools and should instead be focused on helping them grapple with a pandemic.
- Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Madison, Wisconsin
Stand up
After watching President Donald Trump belittle and attack the profession of journalism daily, I have a fantasy that one member of the press corps might rise, respectfully, and address him:
“Mr. President, may I speak on behalf of my fellow journalists and say what an honor it is to serve the American public in this capacity. We have all earned our positions by being curious and skeptical, by years of education and hard work. Our job is to challenge, research, verify or disprove, and communicate what we see and hear. Our work product must be approved by our editors and producers — and the result is the very best representation of truth we can deliver. It is not fake news. A free and independent press is a historical bedrock of our society and of democracies around the world. Thank you, Mr. President.”
- Carol Rothwell, Lee’s Summit
Put it in writing
All the people who want to open up everything need to sign a “do not resuscitate” form. That should help them focus on reality.
- John E. Bishop, Atchison, Kansas
Some left out
In The Star’s May 1 story highlighting Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District race, the last paragraph mentioned Democratic Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla receiving the endorsement of EMILY’s List, described as “a national group that seeks to elect Democratic women” — a statement that was only partially accurate. (3A, “Kansas Farm Bureau endorses LaTurner over incumbent Watkins”)
EMILY’s List supports Democratic women, but only if they are pro-choice on abortion, a glaring omission in an otherwise well-written article.
EMILY’s List pumped significant money into the coffers of Kathleen Sebelius, Jill Docking, Nancy Boyda, Stephene Moore, Margie Wakefield, Kelly Kutala, Sharice Davids, Laura Kelly and now De La Isla and Barbara Bollier, the leading Democratic candidate in this year’s U.S. Senate campaign in Kansas.
Yet the group did nothing for pro-life Joan Finney when she defeated Gov. Mike Hayden in the 1990 election.
The same thing happened to the late Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, a devout Catholic and devout pro-lifer, in Louisiana in 2003. Fortunately for Blanco, she overcame a distinct fundraising disadvantage, caused in part by EMILY’s List obstinance, against her Republican opponent, future U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, to become Louisiana’s only female governor.
EMILY’s List would do well to use its money to see that women of all persuasions are elected.
- David Steinle, Russell, Kansas