I’d like to thank
the JG’s alert editorial board for printing Emory Earl Toops’ letter “Moral
vacuousness’ in freedom claim” of Mar 29, 2020 and in the process exposing
Toops and other like him as the racists that they are. Toops pointing to “white evangelical
parishioners” while excluding all others is the very definition of racist
behavior, no. I can almost hear Toops at
the dinner table, “Those damn uppity white evangelicals are moving into the
neighborhood. There go the property
values.”
Toops thinks white
evangelicals’ only interest in “freedom” of religion is the freedom of “big
box, white evangelicals” to force “their beliefs on everyone else.” Very weird.
The only religion I know of that actively tries to force their beliefs
on others is radical Islam. The other
example I suppose would be the freedom from religion crowd like Toops and godless
communist governments in China, Cuba, Venezuela, etc.
None are willing
tolerate freedom of religion or even freedom of speech in support of
religion. That’s Toops’ real problem –
the freedom of speech of people who support religion. He cannot stand it. Toops ignoring it or changing the channel is
not an option. Toops insists that the
people speaking must be silenced.
I cannot wait to
hear what Toops has to say about black Baptist, Asian Catholics and, oh my, the
Jews – that, no doubt, is a Golden Pen waiting to happen for a bigot like Toops
supported by the JG editorial staff.
Sunday, March 29,
2020 1:00 am
Letters to
the editor
'Moral vacuousness' in
freedom claim
U.S. Rep. Jim Banks;
State Reps. Christopher Judy, Bob Morris and Christy Stutzman; and Fort Wayne
City Council members Jason Arp and Paul Ensley must believe the coronavirus
stops at the mention of Jesus (“Pushback over closing churches,” March 24).
Neither are they and
their big-box, white evangelical parishioners heeding the injunction to “Love
thy neighbor as thyself” when they believe public health rules meant for
everyone don't apply to them.
Finally, their attempt
to fabricate closure of churches during a national and international health
crisis as an attack on religious freedom in Allen County is indicative of their
own moral vacuousness.
I've lived in Allen
County long enough (five years) to know the “religious freedom” espoused by
Banks, Judy, Morris, Stutzman, Arp and Ensley is the “freedom” to force their
beliefs on everyone else.
The three years of the
Trump administration have been a test for churches and their values, a test
many churches in Allen County have failed. For if your God says it's fine to go
out and infect someone else, then you need a new God.
Emory Earl Toops
Fort Wayne
In the face of a
pandemic likely to cost the lives of hundreds of thousands worldwide, it must
be nice to have at the top of your list of things to worry about a metaphoric clock
that, unlike a stopped watch that is correct twice a day, has NEVER been correct.
So it is for Tim
Tiernon (“Politicians must make the choice for peace” letter of Mar 29, 2020) who
worries about the Doomsday Clock sitting at 100 seconds until midnight – the supposed
end of the world. Of course the clock
never moves unless it is manipulated by something called The Bulletin of the
Atomic Scientist.
No one knows the calculus
that goes into the group’s determination of how the clock is set. It used to be a judgement as to how far we
humans were from destroying ourselves through nuclear annihilation. After having
their calculus on nuclear destruction proven wrong every year since 1947, in
2007 the group decided they’d include climate change into their calculus. Why not??
There are never enough things to be paranoid and perpetually wrong about.
It was just a
short 50 years ago “scientists” were warning us about a coming ice age. Since then we have lived through the destruction
of the planet from a depleted ozone, the ruination of the planet due to acid rain, the death of the
oceans due to global warming, the flooding of coastal cities due to melting ice
caps. We’ve been whipsawed from global cooling,
to global warming, to climate change, to now climate disruption.
Through it all we’re
living longer, enjoying cleaner air and water, driving more fuel efficient
autos, etc. yet the doomsday clock moves closer to midnight. Weird, huh.
Lex
Ft. Wayne for Happiness and Chocolate Cake
Politicians must make
the choice for peace
Americans should
beware when politicians promise a “return to normalcy.” Time is linear. There
is no going back.
We have warmed our
planet with greenhouse gases. Denial will not make it cooler.
Democracy will fail us
if we choose short-term comfort over action that can avert catastrophic climate
change. This is no time for half measures. Ineffective greenwashing is a crime
against future generations.
There is a clock we
can turn back – the doomsday clock. We were at nine
minutes to midnight when George W. Bush started the War on Terror.
The bulletin of atomic
scientists advanced the clock twenty seconds over the Iran crisis. We are now
at 100 seconds to midnight (the closest ever).
The Iran crisis
demonstrates how quickly military action can spin out of control.
Our military base near Kirkuk was likely attacked by ISIS. The Iraqi
military warned us of that possibility.
Americans focused on
the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Few people learned we
also killed Iraqi Gen. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and 25 members of Iraq's
popular mobilization force (fighting ISIS). The Associated Press called the
general a “senior Iraqi militia leader” and his troops “Iranian-backed
militia.” We were lucky Iran chose to deescalate.
We need a president
and Congress that will rejoin the international community to combat climate change,
create effective nuclear treaties and advance diplomacy over militarism.
Nostalgia is a funny
thing. People remember that President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Few remember he dropped 26,000 bombs in one year after winning that prize.
Tim Tiernon
Fort Wayne for Peace
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