Arming a force
Every day law enforcement agencies across the country confiscate and eventually destroy thousands of weapons.
Why don’t we give these weapons to the refugees so they can go back to their homeland and reclaim their country, their cities, and their homes?
Norman Michael, N. Lakeport
A great job
Yes! Thank you, Rob Brown, for running as Supervisor again! You have done an excellent job as Supervisor in the past, present, and will continue in the future. Thank you for your efforts in the Valley Fire. Have always appreciated you, as a man, a father — was so glad to hear you’re continuing your great efforts — and, yes, shame on you, Joan Moss.
Melissa Bentley, Cobb
Matthew 22:39?
The November 16, 2015, Journal, Current Biology, contained a study by lead author, Jean Decety who writes: There is a negative association between religiousness and children’s altruism across the world. Altruism is defined as the selfless regard for the well-being of others.
An argument often advanced for the encouragement of religion is that it leads people to love their neighbors as themselves. However, the results of Decety’s study reveals the similarity of six countries in how religion negatively influences children’s altruism. The study included 1,170 children aged 5 to 12 years in the United States, Canada, China, Jordan, Turkey, and South Africa.
All of the parents in religious households in these six countries reported that their children expressed more empathy and sensitivity for justice than non-religious parents. However, religiousness was inversely predictive of children’s altruism and positively correlated to their punitive tendencies. This study’s findings are contrary to the common sense notion and theoretical assertion from religious metaphysics that religiosity has a causal connection and a positive association with moral behaviors. This view is so deeply embedded that individuals who are not religious are considered morally suspect.
Decety says: Our findings robustly demonstrate that children from households identifying as either of the two major world religions (Christianity and Islam) were less altruistic than children from non-religious households.
He concludes: Overall, our findings cast light on the cultural input of religion on prosocial behavior and contradict the common-sense and popular assumption that children from religious households are more altruistic and kind toward others. They call into question whether religion is vital for moral development, supporting the idea that the secularization of moral discourse will not reduce human kindness—in fact, it will do just the opposite.
Greg Blinn, Kelseyville
Good old boys
When I talk about “Good Old Boys” (GOB), I don’t mean socialized, rural gentlemen from the South. Or men known for their family wealth and prestige, their upstanding morality, or their generosity and philanthropy.
I mean people in government positions. Prosecutors, police, judges, city-county leaders and possibly the influential and rich. Government workers that have discretion to influence your life; have tons of power, authority and influence.
GOB’s love order and seek to control. They don’t like dissent, being criticized or ridiculed. They always protect their fellow GOBs from scandal. They would just use their government position to subvert justice for their own selfish ends with impunity. GOB’s don’t believe in democracy or choice. They know they can have it “their way.” After all, they control the court of (?) justice.
Nine Green, Nice
A yellow streak
Its time the media changes the color of the conservative Republican states to a very bright YELLOW. They have shown that a mere perceived threat by some sub humans thousands of miles away causes them to run for their bomb shelters, rather then believing in this nation’s military and elected president’s ability to protect them as best they can. The same YELLOW states refuse to pass gun laws that would lesson the carnage caused by home grown nut jobs in our grammar schools and social centers. Those local nut jobs have already killed and injured thousands of our fellow citizens and the Republican’s have done zero to help limit those actions that caused so much pain across the Nation.
Only fools would believe that our government can stop every nut job who might want to do damage to our nation. Only fools would believe that a nation’s citizens divided is better for a bright future then one that is solid in standing together to do the best we can to limit any damage and mayhem humanely. We have spent billions of dollars on high tech weapons and defenses to greatly lesson the need to participate in outdated types of wars of the past.
Now the Republicans show their cowardly views, to close our doors to women and children who seek help in staying alive in their time of need. I am sure that the poor refuges who may end up in one of these YELLOW states will be treated poorly by many of those states citizens, instead of finding a helping hand and open heart to there request for help. A sad fact for sure.
I hope our president continues to call an ace and ace and continues to point out that we are a nation not run by fear but by the rightness of our actions. I am sure, like France who came to our aid during the beginning of this nation, that we are equally capable of bringing swift justice to anyone who steps on our soil and does harm to any of our citizens and also shows deep compassion to anyone who comes in peace and adds their positive actions to make our nation even stronger.
Jim Hall, Clearlake Oaks
