Letters: Readers discuss the grand old flag, American history, Prairie Village police
Honor the flag
One of my first letters to The Kansas City Star was back in the 1960s or 1970s, when protesters were burning the American flag. I sent a snapshot of the Kansas City dry cleaner’s marquee proclaiming, “We are proud to dry clean your American flag for free.”
My daughter bought an American flag the other day. We unfolded it, and it was huge. Our smaller flag at church was starting to fray, so problem solved. When the new flag was announced at church the day before Flag Day, some frowned.
Please — no politics here. It really is a grand old flag.
- Vi Ruth Lungren, Kansas City, Kansas
Teach the truth
The narrative missed in the removal of Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol is not that Chief Justice Roger Taney is out and Justice Thurgood Marshall is in, but that removing all Confederate statues also removes the storytelling reality of the racist “lost cause” narrative itself, along with the warning for us to remember that how we remember is an essential part of what we remember.
By keeping both statues and adding a narrative of how they came to be, we would acknowledge that we often get it wrong to begin with in public spaces.
I am afraid that removing the vestiges of a systemic racist narrative mirrors the effort to suppress the teaching of the truth about historical racism in our institutions. If we don’t “say its name” in public displays, the narrative behind the lost cause and other vestiges of systemic racism will rear their ugly heads in other twisted ways.
Ironically, it was through that very hall of our Capitol that the insurrectionists paraded, taking selfies and wielding ax handles on Jan. 6, completely disinformed and misinformed about the constitutional story of certifying the transition of power.
- James Heiman, Blue Springs
Thanks, PVPD
I want to give a well-deserved shout-out to the Prairie Village Police Department. We had an incident a few weeks ago that turned out to be a false alarm. However, the officers who answered the call were extremely helpful and pleasant. They made us feel safe and secure and made sure we knew that, even though it was a false alarm, they are here for the people of Prairie Village.
Thank you, officers.
- Deanna Rudd, Prairie Village
Bishops’ call
I appeal to the small group of Catholic bishops who want to deny Holy Communion to President Joe Biden and other Catholic elected officials who they say support pro-choice legislation. Please consider:
▪ No one wants to get an abortion, a very difficult and private decision.
▪ No male bishop could face an unwanted pregnancy and should not lay heavy burdens on others when they have little or no understanding of the situation.
▪ Policies that might lessen abortion numbers — fair labor practices; birth control education to poor, fearful or abused women; affordable housing; uncovering abuse cases against minors — have consistently been unsupported by these bishops, while wealthy donors to Catholic institutions, such as the Koch brothers, have received the bishops’ support in sowing disunity among Catholics.
These bishops who want to deny the Sacrament of Unity to those they judge unworthy must remember we are followers of Jesus, the champion of the sinner who gave himself freely to his followers, including Judas, who he knew would betray him. Biden is a follower and consistently turns to the Eucharist for strength and wisdom.
Be consistent in your support for the common good.
- JoCele K. McEnany, Lee’s Summit
Set it right
Thank you for reporting about the Poplar Bluff High School students who were wrongly criticized in social media for supposedly using a racist hand sign, when they were really celebrating a sports victory. (July 1, 8A, “Students falsely pilloried for white supremacist gesture”)
It’s so easy to jump the gun when we see a post on social media without doing more digging. Journalists do more digging, and so should “social media journalists.” However, kudos to that woman mentioned in the editorial who apologized and followed up with corrected information when she realized her error.
If someone shares misinformation on social media and it turns out to be wrong, it is the poster’s duty to correct it. That’s what professional journalists do. And that’s what all social media journalists (that’s everyone who uses social media) need to do as well.
Own up. If you spread the lie, you are responsible for spreading the truth.
- Zack Goldstein, Kansas City
The wrong focus
A June 30 letter asks “is that sort of language allowed” in the home of a Pennsylvania teenager whose right to use profanity in criticizing her school was upheld by the Supreme Court.
She is a teenager, and she was using social media and probably thought her parents would never see her post.
Don’t blame the parents. As parents, we all hope our children will be responsible adults. We also hope we didn’t raise a robot. Remember how your parents cringed when you played your music.
The issue was freedom of speech and that schools don’t have jurisdiction over a student’s behavior off school grounds.
- Bob Cleary, Overland Park
Many stories
I read with great amusement two recent letters to the editor debating the facts surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion. (June 27, 16A; June 29, 7A) I always get a kick out of religious leaders arguing over what parts of religious myths are true and false.
Through the ages, there have been more than 3,000 deities worshiped by humans. There are still others worshiped to this day. The Abrahamic religions — Christianity, Judaism and Islam —are prevalent today. But in India, there are other deities people believe in.
To me, arguing about religion is a waste of time. There is no absolute proof that any of this is true.
Constantine chose Christianity over other religions for Rome because it placated the Christians of the empire and helped to control the masses. And control is actually the main reason for religion. Children are taught be good or you will burn in hell. Forever.
One does not need an all-powerful deity to be good. Be good because it is the right thing to do.
- Mike Shryock, Trimble, Missouri
This story was originally published July 4, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss the grand old flag, American history, Prairie Village police ."