Letters regarding religion

Editor, Not too long ago, there was a letter to the editor by a gentleman who was leaving the area. He extolled the virtues of northwest Arkansas and stated that he and his wife would miss living here except for one thing — the constant flow of letters to the editor regarding religion. He even suggested, I believe, setting aside a section just for these letters so if you didn’t want to read them, you could skip this section. I support this suggestion.

Why? Religion is personal. Whether you have developed your religious beliefs through a church, family, personal study, observation or reading (my favorite) these beliefs are yours and more than likely are not going to be influenced by a letter to the paper. I have a very good friend who is a member of the predominant organized religion in the south. He and I periodically get into religious discussions where we have fairly diverse views. These discussions, while interesting and sometimes a little heated, never change either one of our views. And we leave it at that. We both respect the other person’s right to believe as they wish. I mention this only to suggest that letters to the editor regarding religion change no one’s beliefs, views or opinions. As the saying goes, “opinions are like rear ends, everyone has one.”

A side note: Thank you NWACC for recognizing a problem and dealing with it.

PETE RATHMELL

Garfield, Ark.