Letters for November 17, 2011
The new deal
Re “Noah’s flood returns” (Letters to the Editor, Nov. 3):
Was Noah’s flood good? Reading Mr. McKnight’s letter about God, overpopulation and the great flood, a few observations:
1. There is no scientific proof that God is real, period! Faith and belief are not proof, they are faith and belief. Proof needs to be concrete, not something based on a book or faith and belief. Don’t tell us there is a God, produce him, or real evidence of him. But religion as a business model is quite successful. It takes in billions and billions of dollars a year around the world.
2. Overpopulation not a problem? Tell that to people who can’t feed their families because food and other necessary supplies are not expanding to keep up with an overpopulated Earth. We can make new people. We can’t make more oil, and other limited resources. We have what we have and as the world’s population grows, our resources shrink, making Mr. McKnight’s view a bit myopic. Also, as the world’s population continues to grow, land that is needed for food production shrinks as all the new people build houses, cities, etc., to live in on that land.
3. The great flood. Hitler was a master of genocide. Stalin, too, along with Mao and some lesser historical mass murders. But they are small time in the genocide business to the Abrahamic God. How is it that we condemn Hitler, Stalin and Mao as genocidal monsters, but the one who puts them all to shame, genocide-wise, is God, and he gets a pass? Well, OK, there was no great flood, according to most geologists, but because some Bronze Age tribal goat herders invented the Abrahamic God and got people to believe in him, he gets a pass because, well, he’s God! This would be the same omnipotent God who can do anything he wants according to those who think he is real. So he didn’t need to kill the entire population of the Earth save Noah and his family. He could have snapped his fingers and made all the bad people behave, or just killed them. Spare me the old, “they were all bad” crap, young children and babies can’t even say sin, let alone commit sin. The great flood myth sets a very bad example of how to deal with people who don’t believe the same things you do, kill them all.
David M. Payne
Reno
We feel ya
Someone emptied my husband’s wallet. He lost his wallet in a McDonald’s bathroom on Keystone Avenue, Monday, Oct. 7, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
When he finally noticed, he went straight over to the McDonald’s because that was the only place he had been besides work. He found his wallet, emptied, on the floor in the bathroom. The person who emptied the wallet got a debit card, a maxed out credit card, a few useless receipts, and the biggest thing of all: our rent money for this month.
Of course, we know it isn’t smart to carry cash, but he had just cashed his check after work that day. We were going to deposit the cash into our bank to cover our already-written rent check. Now our check will either bounce or the bank will pay it. Either way, we will have a ton of fees or be homeless with bounced check fees so I really hope whoever found the wallet is enjoying our family’s rent money right now. Whoever you are: You probably just put my husband and I and our three kids on the street. Thanks!
name withheld
Reno
There’s an idea
Re “Get ready to pay the piper” (Right to Your Head, Aug. 4):
Maybe Incline residents would forgive the debt in exchange for opting out of being part of Washoe County. They’ve wanted out for a long time.
Judy Topol
Tahoe City
Propriety? Us?
Re “7,000,000,000” (Feature story, Oct. 27):
I was interested in your article about the 7,000,000,000 people … until I read the highlighted quote: “And if that doesn’t make humanity’s collective vajayjay hurt, it’s hard to imagine what would.”
At that instant I put down my copy of RN&R in disgust.
“Collective vajayjay?” Excuse me? The saddest thing is that that was the featured quote in the article. Give me a break. That kind of wording might be funny in a film starring Seth Rogan, but in a publication that is supposed to uphold some semblance of propriety, it does not fly at all. How stupid. I read it to my mom, and she did not even understand what a “collective vajayjay” was. Bless her soul. Both the author and the editor need to get some higher standards. What a pathetic line. If you are looking to find serious writers who want to uphold at least a shred of journalistic integrity, please email me. Until then I shall look forward to cringing at the next quote that will undoubtedly reflect the low standards of this publication.
Brytt Adamson
via email
Gov’t out of my vajayjay
Re “IUD ban looms” (Upfront, Nov. 3):
This is hypocritical government run amok with religious ideology and fanatic extremism. No person or government has the right to legislate a woman’s womb. What kind of freedom-loving society tries to pass laws that are paramount to making a woman into a factory for giving birth? These are the same people who run around screaming about too much government intervention in our lives. These same types want to strip funding for any program or entity that provides help and care for babies that are born to parents who absolutely do not want them or can’t care for them.
It will cause more suffering and death to children who have been legislated to be born when the reality is that the parents are not capable of taking care of them. This legislation is completely insane and an intrusive and invasive dictatorial move by the religious zealots to push an idiotic, unrealistic agenda. Why in the world do people let self-righteous and out-of-touch elitist politicians shove personal opinion of how to live life down our throats? That’s no democracy. Get out of my bedroom and get out of my womb. These people seem to think that being against birth control or abortion in any form is a ticket to heaven. I’ve got news for them—unless they are willing to pick up the pieces from an unwanted pregnancy, they’ve just condemned themselves to being partners in the murder of innocent children who were unwanted or starved because of lack of money.
Unless you want to live in a completely fascist state, you can’t legislate sex just because it might or might not produce a pregnancy. Wake the hell up, Nevada. This is insidious and will open doors to a dictatorial state that is already becoming far too involved in our personal lives already.
Shirley AllenDaytonEditor’s note: This letter references Mississippi and Nevada ballot proposals to define the beginning of life as fertilization. Last week, Mississippi voters defeated that state’s version.Buying your free speech
Re “Break the bank” (Feature story, Nov. 3):
Anything you can do (at a bank), I can do better (at my credit union). Thanks for your article. GNCU is the only banking relationship I have had since I moved to Nevada.
The for-profit corporatizing of so many aspects of life seems like an unstoppable force, but anyone who uses money can make choices that can keep capital from being sucked out of their communities into giant monoliths that turn every dollar into a unit of free speech.
Max Hartman
Sparks