Letters for June 1, 2017

Our leader

Open letter to the prime minister of Montenegro:

I apologize for the boorish behavior of my president when he felt a need to shove his way to the front of the group so that he could stick his surly face foremost in front of the camera. I’m embarrassed, as an American and a human being, that our current head of state doesn’t have even basic human decency or regard for anything other than feeding his already over-bloated ego. I hope that you and the other NATO ministers and everyone else who was there to witness this rude display of arrogant ignorance can remember that his tenure is temporary and that it in no way represents the majority of Americans.

My other hope is that as the embarrassments accumulate, it will inspire more of us on this side of the planet to never let this happen again. Again, I sincerely apologize and hope you can forgive us for our sin.

Michael Rottman

Virginia Highlands

Evidence vs. dogma

Re “A Christian view” (guest comment, May 25):

It’s a fairly sure sign that someone has run out of useful arguments when one starts quoting the Bible. The only people who accept the Bible as a valid basis for an argument are true believers who most likely already accept the thesis. Or to put it another way, you’re preachin’ to the choir, Sister!

But even worse, the Bible should give you great pause before you cherry-pick passages for an anti-abortion position. As you should already know, your Holy Scriptures also depict a Hebrew God who on many occasions showed incredibly callous disregard for the value of innocent life. One of the most foundational events in the history of the Judeo-Christian religious traditions is the original “Passover” event. This is also known as the “plague of the firstborn” which precipitated the Exodus. The god of Abraham and Moses, worshipped by Christians and Jews alike, attacked the families of Egypt by killing the firstborn male child in every non-Israelite household, thereby coercing the Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to emigrate from Egypt. According to population and family size estimates for that era, the death toll that night would likely have been well over 100,000 innocent children directly at the hands of their Creator, assuming the Bible is true. When you consider not just the dead firstborn male children, but their surviving siblings who cried their eyes out with grief over the loss of their brothers, plus all the moms and dads who lost a son, it’s hard to square that act of supernatural terrorism with how this Judeo-Christian god is portrayed today as having love toward all.

If you’ve read very much of your Bible, you’ll recognize that its pages depict a Creator who, along with his servants, shows a very spotty record on the value of innocent life, especially regarding gentiles. Sometimes he shows deference for children, and sometimes he kills them in order to bring misery to the families who love them. Some deities are fickle, and most are no better than the people who invented them.

Gary Marks

Reno

Heller & Co.

On the campaign trail, Candidate Trump pledged to “promote clean air and clean water,” but as president his budget does the exact opposite. It takes aim at Nevada’s budget, directly threatening the air our children breathe and the water they drink! With deep cuts to programs we’ve depended on for generations, Nevada and federal agencies will be powerless to prevent or tackle environmental disasters and public safety crises.

Trump’s dirty budget has the EPA funded at its lowest level in 40 years, gutting common sense Clean Air and Water Acts safeguards that protect our air and drinking water from mercury, lead, arsenic and other pollutants. Under the Trump budget, we can expect catastrophes like the Flint water crisis to become tragically routine.

We need our leaders, including Senator Dean Heller, to stand up to corporate polluters and their allies in Washington, and fight for our families and communities first, instead of selling out our children’s health to special interests.

Louise Curtis

Reno

Onward

I’m curious. Is “being a blathering idiot” one of the sins Jesus died for? How about “waaaayyy overreaching theology”? What a waste. I imagine He also had quite a tussle over providing new soldiers to routinely violate the Sixth Commandment.

Religion as science—helluva concept. Oh, we’re already using that one, huh?

Marc Hogue

Washoe Valley