Readers sound off on Donald Trump, ‘religious freedom,’ Orlando tragedy
GOP welcomed
The Republican leadership welcomed birther Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, to party meetings for the same reason they let in the tea partiers and their ilk. They want to beat the Democrats.
Ah, the life of a politician.
Robert Cayton
Kansas City
‘Religious freedom’
Generally, I agree with separation of church and state. I always wonder whether President John F. Kennedy took advice from home or Rome.
The “religious freedom” laws from North Carolina and Mississippi are silly. I asked my wife if she would be uncomfortable if Caitlyn Jenner walked into the women’s bathroom at a major airport, and she said yes.
What is lost here is that no one has discussed the feelings or rights of the other side and not just those of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
These people can easily go to the family restroom or to a unisex toilet, and the problem is solved.
Religion is a personal preference. No government, agency, person or entity has the right to dictate policy and procedure to a private business.
My mother-in-law ran a small, successful wedding-cake business. If a gay couple had asked her for a cake, she would have refused based on her strong religious convictions.
That’s a small example, but her rights and feelings are lost in all the politics.
Kevin Kuebler
Olathe
Conflicted killer
We have witnessed another “terrorist attack.” Yep.
It was a terrorist attack, all right, but with a twist: internal terrorism torturing a soul (6-15, A1, “Orlando killer may have led secret life”).
This attack at a gay nightclub could well be a classic case of reaction formation, a psychological term for a defense mechanism to handle unacceptable emotions and attractions by adopting an outward opposite opinion. Oftentimes, a homophobic response masks as an underlying attraction to the same sex.
It is far easier to clump all mass shootings as “terrorist” acts than to take the time to understand the underlying issues that created each one.
We are irresistibly tempted to point a finger at Islam as the cause, although all faiths seem to have radicals planting seeds of hatred and self-loathing.
Self-loathing reinforced outwardly by an ethos of hatred for a particular group creates the conditions for a fuse to be lit on a time bomb.
For our own security, we need to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, educating ourselves to recognize the signs and symptoms of silent sufferers before internal terrorism erupts unexpectedly.
Rev. Mary Siegmund
Shawnee
Southwest High
As a graduate of Southwest High School, Class of 1967, it hurts me to see my old high school kicked to the curb by the cabal that has taken over the Kansas City Public Schools.
It seems that, being unable to raise the other high schools to the level of excellence that Southwest was, they have decided to kill it off.
Every graduate of Southwest was prepared for college and success in the world, wherever and whatever that might be.
My father was a blue-collar man who valued education because his own schooling was limited by the Great Depression.
The school district should aspire to re-create the greatness that was Southwest, not deny the students the opportunity to excel.
Dick Davenport
Lee’s Summit
Streetcar armpit
In an assessment of Kansas City’s streetcar downtown, there are just two words — handbags and armpits.
With 64 years between riding the streetcar to school everyday and taking a ride to City Market on a Saturday morning last month, the thrill could not have been bigger for my husband, Bill. He was all grins and ahhs listening for the rail sounds, the bells, the street call-outs and children laughing.
For me, it was a bit more practical reaction as a huge over-the-shoulder bag headed for my head. We were seated in the convenient elderly section. I ducked in time, but the toddler nearby got a face full.
Looking at the sights, I was dumbstruck as my face turned into one of the hairiest armpits ever.
Thank goodness for deodorant. The owner was holding onto an overhead strap and was unaware of my predicament.
But, all in all, our trip was total fun.
I don’t know how soon we will repeat the round trip. But you can be assured our grandkids will bodily be guarded.
Nancy Moylan
Kansas City
This story was originally published June 17, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Readers sound off on Donald Trump, ‘religious freedom,’ Orlando tragedy."