Letters to the Editors

Each Sunday, this page is set aside for our readers. Write or email us about issues that concern you.

Personal pronoun perfection praised

A big thank you to the letter writer for the wonderful letter on last Sunday’s Perspective cover. It states simple rules for use of personal pronouns. All high school and especially college graduates should know this, but these simple rules are the most abused in grammar usage. Gail Marshall

Lookout Mountain, Ga.

Not all benefiting from the largesse

Several of your readers as well as Congressman Scott Desjarlais (4th District) see a rosy, happy America due to the policies of Donald Trump and the GOP. They include great jobs, high pay and benefits, low taxes, great schools and an increased ability to spend. The bad guys (Democrats) are just too negative.

Through my volunteer work in Franklin and Grundy counties, I have talked to many people who aren’t fitting this amazing picture of wealth and prosperity. They worry about their lack of affordable, accessible health care. Small businesses in rural towns remain shuttered. Workers for corporations that benefited from tax cuts have not seen their share of the largesse.

Perhaps Rep. Desjarlais should meet some of his constituents. Americans expect more than a paycheck and a job, like freedom from fear and peace. Daily tweets and rallies that disparage our allies, public officials, heroes, journalists, women, Democrats and other Americans are not made up. They are on display for everyone to see. Remember the days when the president was inspiring, comforting in words and actions and told the truth? We deserve better. Vote. Sandra Futhey Rice

Sewanee, Tenn.

Advocate for better for all our students

To the writer of the Sunday letter to the editor, “Parents, speak up for your students”:

1) There are a significant number of special needs students, including my own, who are twice gifted. Meaning they need 504/IEP services and are gifted/talented. Special needs and being gifted/ talented are not mutually exclusive.

2) In my experience, most teachers teach to the standards set for their grade level by the state and federal governments.

3) Legally public schools are required to offer certain services under ADA and IDEA, laws that define the civil rights of persons with disabilities.

4) With the rise in special needs diagnoses, we, the special needs community, are the majority.

5) So, rather than tear each other down, let us join together to advocate for a better gifted/talented program without calling for a decrease in spending for special needs students. Let us advocate for better budget oversight at all levels. Let us advocate for better use of the funds already budgeted. Should you choose to do either of these, I’ll be right there with you. But what you suggested in your letter is not the answer. Fab Holley

Soddy-Daisy

Clinton condemners now strangely silent

I just don’t understand. I remember when the Republican Party in general and Sen. Lindsey Graham in particular took the moral high ground. It was for all to see. They were adamant condemning President Clinton as unfit to be president. Clinton had lied! He, the cad, had a sexual relationship with an intern! Where have all these high-minded Republicans gone? Where is their morality and high ethical standard now? Let’s make a bet. See how many Republicans will deny POTUS in the next few weeks? “Trump who?”

Also, I recall putting the nomination off of a Supreme Court nominee “until the voice of the people could be heard.” How come we don’t apply the same standards to this nomination? How are the voices going to be heard in this day? “The voice of the people” were in emails from my senators concerning this other travesty. The reply from my congressman was not readable, being written in crayon.

Promise, it will take two generations to undo this trip into “Greatness.” Like a friend of mine says, “If I couldn’t do any better than this, I’d put on a wooden bill and go peck with the chickens.” W. A. Reed

Dysfunctional? We need more of this

Liberals constantly skewer Trump for the way he administers his presidency and want to impeach him. Let’s look at Trump’s record of less than two years compared to Obama’s eight years.

Lower taxes. A roaring economy growing at more than 4 percent, where Obama’s was less than 2 percent. Record employment of blacks, Hispanics and women. Fewer on welfare and food stamps. Over 4 million new jobs created. The U.S. now leads the world in energy production. Withdrew from the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal. Eliminated and reduced job-killing regulations. Trillions of overseas dollars repatriated back to the U.S. Negotiating fair trade deals. Got our hostages and military remains back from North Korea. Got an agreement for North Korea to denuclearize. Got NATO countries to pay up. Record number of Appeals Courts judges approved.

And this is not all. Yet, the left claims that Trump is dysfunctional. Just think of what Trump could do if he was functional. Gary Hayes

Ooltewah, Tenn.

‘Accidental prophet’ not the ‘surer’ guide

Contrary to “Demystifying Death: the Accidental Prophet” (Sat. Sept. 5), out of body experiences like Peter Anthony’s are common. Wikipedia reports one in 10 individuals have experienced one.

These occurrences are tied to irregular sleep and happen at some point between wakefulness and full sleep. However, one type of out of body experience is associated with severe injury and surgery; sometimes, frightening sights and sounds are reported. These are classified as near-death-experiences.

Thus, it is nervy for anyone to make his own experience the basis for a claim that beyond death is only light, joy and acceptance. Others would contradict him.

If his experience brought him to accept the existence of a loving God, that is one thing. It is another to accept that this makes Anthony an authority on the hereafter and what it takes to safely pass to there. We need a surer guide.

Christians claim this surer guide is Jesus Christ, who went not just to the gates of death but experienced death in full. The New Testament teaches that in rising from the dead, he “destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light” (2 Timothy 1:10). Kenneth J. Stewart

Lookout Mountain, Ga.

‘Breath of life’ ends speculation

The editorial “Abortion vs. Fetal Homicide” on last Sunday’s Chattanooga Free Press editorial pages takes as a given that the fetus is a person with legal rights. Since the question of life and death is involved, I submit that the Bible evidence should be in play. In the creation account, Adam “became a living soul (person)” only when he was inflated with the “breath of life.”

When a newborn breathes, there is no question; stillborns do not have life. Before that event all is speculation; the fetus has only the “breath” of its mother. Richard Burns Cleveland, Tenn.