On Tuesday, a blizzard of graffiti hit my Newport, N.H., community, including applied to a car in my front yard. Ho hum. Other than the annoying clean-up, the unsightliness, the lousy grammar, spelling, poor punctuation … there is the boring, thoughtless, unimaginative choice of both message and color of spray paint used.
Yes, of course, a racial slur was the message. So what? Was it a cultural insult, or a plea for our community to welcome diversity among us, or a helpful but incomplete comment on our small New England census? Clearly, it was nothing new or creative. … Except, to find a descriptive critique on a dirt road with questionable spelling and punctuation; that is just sad. We have not come far, have we? We are showing off our backwardness, our stupidity.
Witnesses: Step forward. Work with your parents, neighbors, local police, classmates, teachers, fellow paint-sniffers. Be the disgusted citizens who normally have far better and more productive stuff to do. Speak. As for cowardly nighttime visitors uninvited to my yard, EAT MY COMPOST! You embarrass me. You do not want to mess with this Old Lady. My friends and I know EVERYBODY in this town of 6,000 souls.
Lucy G. Wells
Newport
Faith and what it’s for
I’ve been thinking about President Carter recently for many reasons; his entry into hospice care, the election of an Evangelical Christian as Speaker of the House, and a conversation from 47 years ago this week. It was 1976 and the presidential election was a week away. I was at a party with some people from Georgia and one of the guests asked, “Y’all voting for the Peanut Man?”
When I think back on both the presidency of Jimmy Carter and these many decades since, I am astounded by what seems to define Christianity then and now. His presidency was marked with sky high inflation, rising unemployment, and international conflicts. Years later he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work seeking peaceful solutions to conflicts around the world. But his work was not limited to global conflict. In 1986 the Carter Center began a program to confront the horrific and debilitating Guinea worm in Africa. In that year there were 3.5 million cases worldwide. Last year, 13 cases. Thirteen!
His compassion was equally extended to people in need in the United States as he and Rosalynn helped build 4,300 houses with Habitat for Humanity. A self-described born again Christian he has lived a life free of scandal, attending his church every week and leading Bible study. Even though he was personally opposed to abortion, he supported legalization. He supported human rights including the rights of women.
As I look, as we look, around the world and in our own communities, it is important to make a distinction between words and actions, between personal belief and the rights of others. President Carter has lived by example not demand. Most importantly, we need to beware of the weaponization of faith, any faith.
Jane Masters
Hanover
US should join God
on Israel’s side
Following Hamas’ deadly, barbaric Oct. 7 attack, which killed over 1,200 Israeli citizens, Israel and Hamas have been blaming each other. It’s disconcerting to see who’s coming down on the side of Hamas: the mainstream media, academic elites, particularly at Harvard, and some members of Congress — primarily members of “The Squad,” several of whom have strong anti-Semitic biases. It shouldn’t surprise us that two of them, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib (who displays a Palestinian flag in her Congressional office), strongly favor Hamas.
Hamas is a blood-thirsty group placing minimal value on life, using hostages as human shields to manipulate Israelis and others who strongly value life. It was a welcome anomaly when a Jewish mother-daughter pair from Chicago were released from captivity for “humanitarian purposes.” Hamas hates Jews and Israel and wants to drive them off the land into the Mediterranean Sea. I was surprised to find that the name “Palestine” was coined from “Philistia” which was the home of the Philistines, who sacrificed babies to Baal and whose champion was Goliath. It appears that Biblical scenario is about to be repeated. “Hamas” has multiple meanings: “zeal” and “fanaticism” in Arabic, “violence” in Hebrew. With its unrestrained bloodshed wrought in Israel, Hamas certainly lives up to its name.
It’s widely believed that military gear left behind during our hasty departure from Afghanistan found its way to Hamas by way of Iran. However, another factor is in play — God deeded Israel to Abraham and his posterity, vowing that He would bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse it. As nations choose sides in the ongoing conflict, America can re-affirm friendship with and support for Israel for self-preservation, if nothing else.
William A. Wittik
Hartford