Was Saint Paul too woke?
Re: the June 12 letter “Upending society over transgenders.”
I want to assure the writer that she has nothing to fear from transgender folks.
Sure, maybe they’re different from how we expect people to be. But life is forever sending us little surprises that upset our preconceptions of reality.
We’ll get over this one as surely as we got over the Beatles and their long hair.
I believe we show reverence to God by cultivating an attitude of trust in the Creation. Remember, these are real people we’re talking about.
The Tao-Te Ching councils us that “the desire to be right must give way to openness and receptivity to what is.”
Closer to America’s spiritual home: Saint Paul said that in Jesus, there is no longer ... male or female, though he may have been too woke for our current society.
People are also reading…
Greg Lewis
Midtown
Stupid Motorist laws
We have a “Stupid Motorist Law” Why don’t we have a “Stupid Hiker Law?” When it’s over 100 degrees outside and you decide to go for a hike and carry a cupful of water and get dehydrated to a point that you need to be rescued, you should be required to pay for your rescue. Don’t be a stupid hiker.
Joseph Paradiso
Willcox
This 2022 file photo shows Sadie, a radio-collared bobcat, grooming herself in the backyard of a home near West Ironwood Hill Drive. A Tucson man who shot and killed the bobcat was sentenced Friday to probation.
Your rights are protected
Re: the July 9 letter “Intolerance.”
The author states that “I believe in my God-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. God gave me those rights, not the government or the bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.”
The Declaration of Independence proclaims that those rights are “self-evident” and “that to secure these rights Governments are instituted among Men”. The Constitution does not mention God but states that “We the people ... to secure the Blessings of Liberty ... establish this Constitution”. Without a just government, you won’t have those rights. Many Christian religious countries have had governments that severely restricted those rights in the last century (Germany, Italy and Spain to name a few). Many current religious societies now severely restrict personal freedom.
God and religious belief do not guarantee those liberties, but a good democratic government created by men does.
If we don’t protect our democratic institutions, we might all lose those precious rights.
Michael Hamant, MD
East side
Bobcat slaughter
Re: the July 9 article “Man gets probation for bobcat shooting.”
The news about the killing of an innocent bobcat mom really disgusts and saddens me! When will people understand that these animals were here LONG before we were? In my neighborhood, we are visited by wild cats, coyotes, javelinas, Gila monsters, and rattlesnakes, but we do NOT get our weapons out to SHOOT at them!
My precious old chihuahua lived to be 16 years old and became blind. We now have two rescue dogs. We do not let them even go out on our walled porch unless we supervise them. Whatever happened to rattling coffee cans with rocks to scare them away or calling in a nuisance report to the proper authorities? Did it make you feel more macho?
To the supposedly retired gent, I strongly suggest that you GET A LIFE! Get a dart board, and practice with that, NOT our precious wildlife. I am sorry you only received a small fine and 18 months probation! You deserve much more!
Janice Campos
Foothills
Freedom Caucus misnamed
The Freedom Caucus should be renamed. This American Taliban believes in taking away a woman’s right to make decisions about her health care, would tell doctors how to care for their patients. They would disenfranchise as many voters as possible, particularly young and minority voters. Tried to prevent a peaceful transfer of government, they want to choose what you can read. Children have to worry about mass shootings due to unwillingness to have sensible gun laws. They would like a return to a fictional America of the 1950s, a “Leave it to Beaver” world.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
Homeless in Tucson
Re: the July 2 article “Solutions evasive as Tucson grapples with homeless camps.”
Kudos to Nicole Ludden for her thorough job reporting on the current homeless situation here in Tucson. She did particularly well describing how the Encampment Reporting Tool and new protocol to better deliver assistance. It’s a hopeful development.
One thing, however, struck me. Why is it we have enough resources for immigrants but not enough for our own citizens? This is particularly disturbing given the number of veterans involved. Maybe this is something that your paper could and should be asking Mayor Regina Romero or, better yet, Congressman Raul Grijalva. He always makes certain there’s enough money for immigrants.
Tom Szudajski
West
We the People: A Reply
Re: the July 11 letter “We the people.”
Certainly, our recent behavior makes it difficult for the world to see us as that country that seemed most likely to bring fairness and justice to a free people, recognized as individuals, equal under the law. I certainly agree with the author we can do better.
However, the amoral behavior of this narcistic, despotic-to-be-person who was our previous president, and the acquiescence and brazen willingness to lie along with him by the Republican Party, continue to be ugly and obvious. The effort and accomplishments by our current president as he continues to work to govern the country for all of us seem to remain strangely unnoted but are just as real.
“Starting over” with some kind of a wonderful “clean slate” simply doesn’t apply ... recognizing ... by ALL of us ... who we are and what needs to be fixed is absolutely required so that we can continue on to what we can be. We need to work hard on this ... intelligently and empathetically ... within our current system!
Frank Parsons
Northeast side
Another new development
The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved a development removing a working floodplain from Pima Wash when common sense and science call for its retention in a time of catastrophic weather events. Another housing development is to be built, one which has been lauded as providing appropriate infill, reducing the housing deficit, and helping to provide affordable housing to the community.
Present? We, the neighbors who protested the density and design vis safety and flood risks; and the politically connected developer/business community who decided it was a great idea in the name of profit. Absent? The median-wage earners unable to afford this project’s housing.
Decision makers? Experts deciding the risk of building in a floodplain for the Catalinas was worth the livelihoods of hundreds of people; that berms and gabion walls would protect against flood waters. Once the floodplain is raised out of existence, Quail Canyon as it existed cannot be restored.
One person listened and rose above the crowd. Thank you, Supervisor Raul Grijalva.
Lee Marvin
Foothills
Russia uses cluster bombs on civilians
Re: the July 12 article “It’s not the right time to admit Ukraine to NATO.”
After careful thought, I agree with the premise of the article. However, the idea of providing cluster bombs being controversial puzzles me. As stated, the weapons are LESS dangerous to civilians, and Ukraine will not use them in civilian areas (a no-brainer, since the conflict is in Ukraine, and they are certainly not going to attack their own cities). What was glaringly omitted was the fact that Russia has been indiscriminately using cluster bombs, on civilians, ever since the beginning of its shameful invasion of a sovereign nation. I have seen only one reference to this fact and none on major media — also shameful.
So which scenario seems more appropriate here — the invaders continuing their status quo atrocities or allowing the defenders to actually defend themselves?
Klara Cserny
Southwest side
