Anation of hope, hopefully
Regarding “Trump rioters aren’t patriots,” (A14, Jan. 7): Thank you for your excellent editorial condemning what happened at our nation’s Capitol onWednesday. For the past four years, I have scratched my head trying desperately to understand how anyone could possibly believe Donald Trump had one ounce of the intelligence or grace it takes to lead our nation. I was again floored that in November people still believed in anything that comes out of his mouth or that we as a nation were better off than four years ago. If anyone finds themselves still supporting this traitor, I urge them to take a long, hard look at themselves and try to figure out exactly when they became so cynical and misguided. Let’s hope that we can once again regain our standing in the world and be seen as the nation of hope our forefathers saw for all of us.
Mark Gildersleeve, Conroe As a girl growing up in Delhi, I faced the phenomenon referred to as eve-teasing. It’s a South Asian euphemism for sexual harassment of women in public. Sometimes it was men who tried to cop a feel on buses. Often, boys on motorbikes tried to touch me for cheap thrills. I felt violated because my personal space was invaded. These uninvited touches eroded my power. I developed a thick skin and learned to desensitize.
As an adult, I made America my home. I fell in love with so many things America stood for — the sanctity of personal space, the rule of law and order. Slowly, it chipped away the armor I had built around myself. America encouraged me to believe that my boundaries were sacred, again. I felt empowered.
When the Capitol building was stormed by violent mobs, that feeling of being violated came rushing back. In both situations, boundaries agreed upon by a civilized society were threatened, the rule of law was disrespected and angry individuals who do not understand the meaning of “no” tried to push their way through by brute force.
Let us not desensitize ourselves to this assault. Let us educate our future generations to recognize hateful rhetoric and look harder at the leaders we choose. America emboldened me once. It’s my turn now to remind it of the power of its good people.
BIBLE VERSE
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.