Letters to the Editor (Jan. 4)

Invocations have meaning

There was a time in the history of Wichita and Sedgwick County that prayers prior to City Council and County Commission meetings were different.

In 1992, when I received the honor of becoming the executive director of Inter-Faith Ministries, there was already a practice in place that fostered inclusivity at meetings. Inter-Faith Ministries had been given the honor of inviting religious leaders to share a prayer.

With the help of religious leaders of diverse traditions, Inter-Faith Ministries designed guidelines that helped religious leaders share a prayer inclusive and respectful of all. It worked quite well for decades at City Hall, but was discontinued by the county, which wanted to select its own religious leaders.

Perhaps there is an appropriate rationale behind not having prayers prior to a government meeting. But if so, it will be a loss. Much of the hatred and religious prejudice experienced today is because we do not understand the other. It is important that our government leaders experience the common ground and differences within the religions of our world.

A compromise could be to invite religious leaders to share a short meditation. I hope we would agree the content of a prayer at a government meeting should be inclusive.

At fault in the swatting shooting

The idea that Andrew Finch is dead due to the prank caller is irresponsible logic. It is clear to me that the police who shot him are at fault, and it is truly telling that a person can’t answer their front door without fear of being “accidentally” shot by the police who are supposed to be protecting them.

Whatever methods Kansas is using to train their police are irresponsible. We’ve seen this in Ohio, too. Excessive anti-terror training have made police incapable of doing their job within the confines of societal approval. They took a job where they knew the dangers, and if it’s an innocent man or a police officer to be shot, it’s clear that the police officer should take the hit, even if that means his own death. This is the job they agreed to take.

Slow down the nation building

It seems that the protests in Iran have a lot in common with the populist movement in the West. The leaders in Iran, upon receiving the windfall from the nuclear deal, spent the money on forwarding the Islamic revolution, ignoring the economic difficulties that the sanctions have put on their countrymen.

What they need is an Iran-first policy. Worry less and use their resources not on the spread of the Islamic revolution and more about the price of eggs in Tehran and all the other domestic difficulties that the revolution and the support of terror groups has brought them.

There are a lot of our problems with our leadership. It is more concerned with the spread of democratic values and human rights around the world and not enough about unemployment in the Rust Belt. The U.S. and Iran should respect the sovereignty of each nation and understand we have different cultures.

We should stop trying to police the world with countless military bases around the world and do nation building at home. Iran should stop funding terrorists around the world and also do nation building at home. We would both better off.

Highway helper

We cannot let 2017 go without a shout-out for the gentlemen who helped us out when we were en route from Arkansas to Colorado for Thanksgiving.

After an unfortunate encounter with what turned out to be a truck's brake shoe, our car came to a complete stop on the shoulder of U.S. 400. Sitting there, safe but with no cell-phone coverage, we waited for help that came in the form of a stranger named Rusty. He thankfully stopped as the traffic whizzed by.

Rusty jacked up the car, pulled out the brake shoe, and put on the spare so the car could be moved further off the highway. With his phone, Rusty called the only available tow truck, who arrived an hour later. One more hour and Andrew had us in the capable hands of Troy at Eddy's Toyota in Wichita.

In an Enterprise rental car, we continued on to Colorado. Our gratitude to all involved for making a disaster into a reminder of how much we all depend upon the kindness of strangers.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Letters to the Editor (Jan. 4)."