Letters to the Editor

RESIST

“Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” These were the words spoken to the hard-hearted pharaoh after the eighth plague, the plague of locusts, had afflicted Egypt in the days of Moses. God was teaching Pharaoh and his people that He desired for His people to be free from their bondage, and that He alone was in control.

After learning of the latest “plague” on Texas this afternoon, the plague of mandated masks for people in all public places, I can’t help but think America is at that juncture. “Do you not know that we are destroyed?” Now our governor, who has behaved like a Democrat through this pandemic, has mandated to healthy people that we must wear face coverings in public places. This is after he virtually locked us in our homes and shuttered many businesses for weeks before slowly loosening those restrictions.

Where do we begin to resist? I admit the conflict in my soul over this. As a Christian, I am compelled to obey the laws of the land. But at what point do we say we are in a similar situation that the colonists were in when they formed militias and fought the world’s most powerful empire and earned the freedoms we are accustomed to as Americans? When do we say, “Enough!” and demand our government respect individual liberty? Soon, maybe?

To be clear, I do not want COVID-19. I do not want to inadvertently give it to anyone else either. But it is absolutely unprecedented that we have quarantined healthy people and wrecked the greatest economy on the planet over this virus! Why don’t we tell sick people to stay home? And people who are at risk to stay home? And let everyone else keep working.

It is absolutely necessary for the left to keep us in fear of this virus until the election. Look at their attempts this year to destroy this country. We’ve rolled from one crisis right into another for months. And as long as they can keep people at home and in misery or rioting in the streets and setting up little fake cities within cities, they can hope to win the election in November. I say, “Resist.” Get smart. Refuse to fear. Pray. Turn to God for mercy. Perhaps we are not destroyed yet.

Adethia Rudd, Tyler

MIDDLE GROUND

Judging historical figures like Robert E. Lee by today’s standards is inaccurate at best. Yes, he held views consistent with the time and place in which he lived. So do the people who want his name off the high school.

A true historian examines historical persons in the context of the place and time in which they lived. To do otherwise is to bias the information and lead to wrong conclusions. Lee, for example, went on after the war to become a college president and lived out his life quietly. However, in the interest of harmony in today’s place and time, we need to find middle ground. To leave all this black/white divide, how about a significant Hispanic person? From the Texas Revolution, Martin de Leon; from the 1940s and ’50s civil rights, Sylvia Mendez; or more recently, the first Hispanic in space, Ellen Ochoa. All are worthy people and would let us move on from all this bickering over a name change. If cost is a problem, then have some fundraisers to help pay for it. In the words of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?”

Ruby Smith, Winona

CULTURE SHAPERS

Who are the leaders and originators of all this “change-culture” talk? These are the people that mandate ideas such the following: What was good is now bad, certain statues must come down or be destroyed, streets must be renamed, nothing “exceptional” about the U.S.A., the American motto “In God We Trust” must go and “E Pluribus Unum” is eclipsed by diversity, movies must be banned, defund the police, books must be removed from schools and libraries, all the people of a certain historical era (and their descendants) must be demonized, public building names must go, etc. This is not just a made-up list; all have been observed repeatedly in the past several weeks in the printed and TV media — national, regional and local.

The names of the elusive culture-change originators have at last been identified in the Tyler Morning Telegraph (7-2-20) cartoon strip “Shoe.” In that strip, a regular character’s young nephew is in a school room pondering a history test question. The question is: “Name three historical figures who have significantly shaped modern culture.” After a few seconds more thinking about it, he writes the names “Larry, Moe, and Curley.” Eureka, that’s it! The names of the modern change-culture group originators and leaders, better known as the greatest slapstick comedians of all time, “The Three Stooges!”

“Jack” Gibson, Hideaway