Letters on church bigotry, climate refugees
Contrasting articles about bigotry
While reading Saturday’s Eagle, I couldn’t help noticing the contrasting nature of two articles.
The first article was “Ole Miss band to look away from ‘Dixie’ beginning this fall.” How refreshing that Mississippi, with its long history of racial hatred, bigotry and violence, found that there’s a better, more-productive method of behavior.
The second article was “Gay pastor agrees to leave post,” which dealt with the ousting of the Rev. Cynthia Meyer by her own congregation. How sad for her. But even more sad is the congregation that forced her out.
It appears as if Meyer underestimated the bigotry of her religion.
The pastor had no voice in her sexual orientation. She couldn’t help it.
I’ve no dog in this fight, as I’m neither religious nor gay. But when your group gets beat out by the state of Mississippi in the context of acceptance of your fellow man, inclusiveness and a sense of respect for humanity, well, that’s a sad commentary for your religion and religion in general – which, by the way, purports to teach those very things. Perhaps a collective look in the mirror might be useful.
Paul Peach, Haysville
Climate refugees
We have nearly 100,000 new American refugees, all due to weather-related reasons. Don’t tell me things haven’t changed, or that this is just “a new normal.”
Are climate-change deniers proud that they have kept the cause from even being a part of this election discussion? How many instantly homeless Americans does it take to get through to them? And when their home burns or floods, they shouldn’t come begging the “big bad government” for a hotel voucher, because they fight against anyone else getting one (as part of a well-funded civic disaster-response capability).
Things do indeed need to change. But because science or basic decency don’t seem to work with our Kansas brand of thick-headedness, maybe big enough climate disasters will.
Lee Davis, Wichita
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This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 5:02 AM with the headline "Letters on church bigotry, climate refugees."