Stop heaping praise on celebrities after deaths
WHY is it that whenever someone in the public eye – rock star, footballer, politician etc – dies, they somehow seem to have saved the world in their lifetime?
We have had two cases in recent days. The first was Chuck Berry, a rock star of some note, without whom there would have been no rock ‘n’ roll apparently and who is said to have been a guiding light to other up and coming stars.
Yet reading through some of his history, he seems to have been a nasty piece of work.
He was once jailed for two years for sex with an underage girl yet on his release was still lauded as a fine and wonderful man. That would not happen nowadays.
Now this week we have the death of Martin McGuinness, a leader of the IRA and responsible for the murder of many innocent people with his bombing campaigns.
The pious, sickly sentiments poured out have been sickening and must bitterly upset the relatives of those killed. Norman Tebbit was the only voice of reason when he said that McGuinness only became a peacemaker when he realised that the IRA had been deeply infiltrated by British Intelligence and that he was very likely to have been arrested and charged with multiple murders. His sudden calls for peace put a stop to that for some reason.
Let us stop eulogising these people when they die and simply report the news of their death with none of the so-called wonderful deeds/sob stories they are supposed to have been involved in. Sylvia Seeley Nuneaton
Thanks for your pennies, Coventry
OVER 30 local volunteers took part in shaking buckets in Coventry throughout July 2016, for a charity called Penny Appeal. An amazing £999.81 was raised to support our tailored projects in UK and across over 30 countries around the world. Our UK projects provide hot meals to the homeless, food packs to families and counselling to abuse victims, so we’re caring for our communities in many ways. Penny Appeal was set up in 2009 to provide poverty relief across Asia, the Middle East and Africa by offering water solutions, organising mass feedings, supporting orphan care and providing emergency food and medical aid.
Since then they have transformed lives and empowered communities around the world, helping to break the poverty cycle and build brighter futures. Our work and our teams have grown considerably in the past few years and we wanted to take this opportunity to send a heartfelt thank you to the community in Coventry for their generosity. Feel free to visit our website to read more about us and our campaigns. You’ll find more details at pennyappeal.org Yaseen Sheikh Midlands Fundraising Officer Penny Appeal
500 years passed since Luther’s act
THIS year is the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther pinning 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenburg, Germany.
He was originally a Roman Catholic friar but was appalled at some of the practices of the church and hence this act.
He was addressing the wrongs he was observing, such as the buying of indulgences to ‘help people get to heaven’.
In effect, this was the start of the reformation.
I am sure there are not many people who realise that we have a number of Lutheran churches in England and one in Coventry itself.
We are celebrating this anniversary locally, in the UK itself and all over the world where Protestant churches exist due, in part, to Martin Luther.
Many people have heard of Martin Luther King who was named after the German reformer. Sharon Edgar Mount Nod