Civility, common decency
I take exception to the hateful, bigoted letter to the editor of how religions get started by Holli Cooper. Not all conservatives support Trump and most of us are not racist, misogynist, ignorant nor angry.
Surely it would be considered bad form if we stereotyped all liberals as intolerant, religion-hating, family-despising, self-loathing, looting and violence-condoning, anti-business neo-Marxists who hate America and reject all notions of civility and common decency.
J.D. Nickerson
Pullman
Discomfort and Christ
Christ Church and its congregants have a constitutional right to peacefully protest the city’s mandate about wearing a mask in public. They do not have a right to break that law without paying the consequence. That may be why they broke the law — the single purpose of civil disobedience is to be arrested — and as a result, get what they believe to be an unjust law revoked.
Since wearing a mask has been noted in several medical and scientific journals (not just the CDC and the WHO) as helping control the spread of COVID-19, I don’t consider following that law unjust — uncomfortable, maybe.
But discomfort is built into following Christ. He did, after all, suffer the discomfort of death on the cross. By comparison, wearing a mask seems little discomfort in the light of Jesus’ teaching from the Old Testament (Lev 19:18), “You shall Love your neighbor as yourself,” which He repeats in Matthew 22 as the second great commandment.
Jesus also says in Matthew 22, “Pay unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s,” implying that we should follow the law if there is no conflict between a particular law and God. Paul expands on that in Romans 13:1 when he says, “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities.”
In saying that they follow Christ’s teaching, they have not just a right, but an obligation to love their neighbor and to follow the law. If the picture of the faithful in the Daily News (Sept. 26) represents Christ — utter disregard for the law and disdain for the teaching of Jesus to love their neighbor — I would have to question my faith in Christ.
Thank God I know that Jesus is bigger and better than the Christ that these folk display.
D’Wayne Hodgin
Moscow
Small sacrifice, great gains
I moved to Moscow in the summer of 1998 to open a downtown business. Dan Weaver, chief of police at the time, stopped by shortly thereafter to introduce himself and leave his card. He characterized our local police department as a group of civic-minded community members working in partnership with the people.
Now led by Chief James Fry, our police department has maintained that positive relationship with the community over the years and is widely respected across the political spectrum for exercising skills in deescalation and a fair-minded, reasonable approach to law enforcement.
With that in mind, I cannot imagine the difficulty officers must have faced when a large group of unmasked protesters not engaged in social distancing gathered in public to sing church hymns.
In ordinary times, an unmasked, closely gathered choir is a welcome thing. But these are not ordinary times. The U.S. alone has lost more than 200,000 lives to an airborne virus. On Sept. 26, the Daily News reported that Gritman Medical Center’s positivity rate of COVID-19 testing over the past seven days was 9.7 percent. We need local residents, no matter what their faith, to reduce the threat for those who are medically at risk by wearing a mask in public where 6 feet of distancing is not possible.
If there is one thing we can all agree on, it should be this: A small sacrifice is worth exponential gains in public health. We all look forward to a time when unmasked incantations are an everyday act of celebration and not a threat to our most vulnerable neighbors. Until then, let’s work together on snuffing out this disease in our community.
Jeanne Clothiaux
Moscow
Science is not a ‘mantra’
If you’re reading this, thank science. It’s brought you from Gutenberg’s press through the glasses that help you see, to the electric light, the internet, and the underlying software that brings you this message, whether online or in hard copy.
Recently, a letter to the editor lamented having to mask. The writer complained, “The mantra of ‘following the science’ will undoubtedly be invoked here to get all the sheep in line.”
That same day, the presidents of the National Academies of Sciences and of Medicine warned they were “alarmed by political interference in science.” As “advisers to the nation on all matters of science, medicine, and public health,” they stressed “the value of science-based decision-making at all levels of government.”
Our nation is at a “critical time in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic,” they said, “with important decisions ahead of us, especially concerning … vaccines.” Policies must be informed “by the best available evidence without it being distorted, concealed, or otherwise deliberately miscommunicated.”
They found “alarming” the politicization of science, “particularly the overriding of evidence and advice from public health officials and derision of government scientists.” Such attitudes undermine “credibility of public health agencies and the public’s confidence … when we need it most.”
To end the pandemic, decision-making must be based on science, but also must be “sufficiently transparent to ensure public trust in, and adherence to, sound public-health instructions.” Those instructions include wearing masks, regardless of political or religious affiliation.
Science changes constantly, but the nature of science is that it’s self-correcting. It converges on truth. That helps us all. “Any efforts to discredit the best science and scientists threaten the health and welfare of us all,” the statement concluded.
Pete Haug
Colfax
Providing poor witness
I don’t understand what Christ Church is going for. Is it to show contempt for the law and prove their choice of supporting a “principle” over the health of their community? Their maskless protest is not a good witness.
Aren’t Christians supposed to obey the law of the land? (Seriously, this is not that onerous, and does not prevent anyone from believing or worshipping.) And aren’t Christians supposed to love their neighbors?
I am in the vulnerable category because of age and underlying health conditions. I am grateful to the city of Moscow and those who wear masks so that I can feel confident when going to the grocery store, the pharmacy, the veterinarian, and the bank. I feel like Christ Church is giving me the finger and essentially telling me, and others like me, “your life doesn’t matter to us.”
Janice Wall
Garfield
Hardly ‘least touched’
Doug Wilson recently stated that the reason we don’t need to wear masks and socially distance in Latah county is that “Idaho is one of the least touched states in the union. And Latah County is one of the least touched counties in the state of Idaho. We are right at the bottom of the risk territory.”
The logic of the argument is, of course, a common fallacy. However, at least this time the premise of his statement can easily be fact-checked. Here are the numbers related to COVID (from worldometer.com, Idaho.gov, and dnews.com) as of Sept. 27:
Idaho has 40,501 cases and 460 deaths, ranking 20th in most cases (22,663 per million, slightly above the U.S. average) and 37th in deaths (257 per million, less than half of the U.S. average) within the United States. That is hardly the “least touched state.”
Latah county most recently had a case positivity rate of 9.7 percent (U.S. average around 5 percent). Twenty-eight counties in Idaho have reported fewer cases than Latah, and taking population into account, Latah county is the 13th least affected county in Idaho (9,973 cases per million).
Just for comparison — my home country of Germany has about a third of Latah County’s cases (3,432). Spain, the worst affected European country that is considered in terrible shape has 15,723 cases per million (better than the state of Idaho), and New Zealand has 366 cases and 5 deaths per million. So much for the “bottom of the risk territory,” whatever that even means. Facts matter.
Steffen Werner
Moscow
Disappointed by closure
I was visiting Moscow from Kalispell, Mont., this past weekend with the purpose of experiencing the Moscow Farmers Market, which I have heard about for a number of years. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and angry to learn that a few people forced the market to be canceled.
I learned that Jim Wilson and members of Christ Church had defied a city mask wearing ordinance, and that outside demonstrators were encouraged to descend on Moscow to protect their “God-given rights.” My question is, how about the rights of the hard-working Moscow farmers and vendors. Don’t they have a right to make a living at the market? How about the rights of many Moscow citizens and out-of-staters to attend and support a great community event? I don’t understand how Moscow city officials can allow a disruptive and disrespectful vocal minority get away with disrupting so many lives? I hope these disrupters can be brought under control before my next trip to Moscow.
John Hinchey
Kalispell, Mont.
Voted for Tom Lamar
Gabriel Rench is no misnomer. Not only does he blow his own horn, in direct opposition to traditional Christian teaching, but his words and actions are straining and twisting the commonweal fabric of our community
The City of Moscow and Latah County have offered steady and careful protocols to control the COVID-19 pandemic, and his actions this weekend have proven that he doesn’t fit with that kind of reasoned governance. I voted for Tom Lamar against this vainglorious tool, and I hope you will, too.
Michael R. Riley
Potlatch
The climate change fight
There was an important observance earlier this month: Sept. 16 was World Ozone Day, marking 33 years since the signing of the Montreal Protocol. This international agreement restricted the use of ozone depleting substances which were reducing the ability of the ozone layer to screen harmful ultraviolet radiation. It is considered the most successful international environmental agreement ever negotiated.
Unfortunately a similarly effective international agreement on climate change is proving to be very elusive, and we cannot wait on the sidelines as this plays out. Right now our best option is before Congress: HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.
The EICDA will start an effective process of spurring innovation and decreasing our carbon dioxide emissions. Innovation creates jobs. Businesses will appreciate its predictability, and it will be simple to set up and administer. A win-win situation all around.
Twelve of the world’s largest economies have some type of carbon pricing in place or in planning. The EICDA would stand out as one of the fairest carbon pricing methods as the collected fees would be rebated to households. Visit citizensclimatelobby.org to learn more and cclusa.org/call to support this legislation.
Steve Flint
Moscow
Seeing the light
My perspective of our shared experience at 76 is certainly different than it was at 16, 26 or 56. The major change is a growing sense of humility. The traditional mantra about the importance of reading, writing and arithmetic is a legitimate foundation for education. I would respectfully suggest a fourth element. Let us call it the “Classroom of the Night Sky” — astronomy (K-12) and beyond.
Human history is a bundle of virtues and vices: pride in self-accomplishment and vanity. Vanity has thrived in all ages. It is an illness common to all people but thrives when ignorance blinds us to the truth about whom and where we are. In fact in a time when one virus tragically reminds us daily about our shared mortality we are distracted from a greater truth. On a universal scale we are no bigger than a virus and have the lifespan of a mayfly.
Welcome to a clear, warm summer night, scan the heavens, and let your eyes gather in the light that weaves a rich tapestry of light from stars and the moon.
Kneel with believers who celebrate the creator’s work and with nonbelievers who revel in the wonder of the universe.
Use the light to find your humility. A beam of light travels at the equator around the earth 7.5 times a second, in a year light travels 5,878.5 billion miles; at light speed it would take 4.22 light years to reach Alpha Centauri the nearest star to our sun, and then imagine yourself in a light ship knowing that at that incredible speed you will never reach the boundary of a universe that is expanding faster and faster.
Using this universal scale the difference at one light year between a president and a pauper is nothing. The reason we should be humble is written in the stars and so is the message that we must cherish and preserve the miracle of life on earth.
Stan Smith
Moscow
A common sense senator
I am writing in support of Sen. David Nelson’s candidacy to continue to serve in the Idaho legislature. I have known Dave for more than 20 years and have found him to be honest, hard working and down to earth in his approach to service.
I first knew him as the owner and founder of an innovative and successful small business. I enthusiastically voted for him two years ago to represent us in the Idaho senate (District 5), and he has served us well. He is working to improve access to treatment for people in the state suffering from mental illness and drug addiction, an issue which is close to my heart as a physician. He is on a task force to help speed up internet access in our state which is so important with much of education and business depending on the ability to communicate online.
Dave supports public education and infrastructure improvements and has practical knowledge in both of those areas. He represents all of us and doesn’t play politics. His opponent, on the other hand, is neither approachable nor competent, as he proved when he filled this position in a previous term.
Please vote in November and especially please vote for David Nelson.
Janice Boughton
Moscow
Appreciates a Target
Unlike Ayad Rahmani (Daily News, Sept. 28), I’ve long wished for a local Target store. I’ve only stepped inside of one, once. It was in Champlin, Minn., in 2004.
Can’t say I really needed it, but I wanted a particular model of a driving cap, also known as a paddy, bunnet, Dai cap, cheese-cutter and flat cap.
I had searched high and low without success until I walked into a Target store while visiting a son who then lived in Champlin. I bought the cap and wore it for more than a decade, until it went missing.
The original driver’s cap was woolen. In 1571, the English Parliament mandated all males older than age 6 must wear one on Sundays and holidays. Violators could be fined three farthings.
But chapeaus aside, and with sincere sympathy for the challenges that big box stores present for small, local merchants, there is a legitimate place for big box stores, even here on the Palouse.
Locally owned stores can successfully compete with them; but in most cases not without changing their business models.
Moving on, hail to Rahmani for declaiming that Pullman cannot long prosper with what I shall call “old school” mentalities. Local business owners need to quit trying to preserve the past and step into future.
Terence L. Day
Pullman
World always imperfect
Since the world shut down, I have been laid off twice, and denied unemployment. As a result I’ve had ample time to read all the arguments on this COVID mess. Both sides, all of it. Here’s my take.
Masks work. Sure they do. However, there are too many uncontrolled variables to claim with certainty that, in public, a mask is preventing much disease. People have died. True. 99.6 percent of people survive. True. The virus will spread until it weakens. True. Trump is a fool. Biden is asleep. Fauci is in bed with Gates. Those are red-herrings and irrelevant.
The virus is a problem. Yes. Have we overreacted? Probably. The only remaining question that society must answer is, do we really want to live this way? Are we OK handing our kids a world with perpetual cycles of seasonal fear-mongering coupled with rolling economic blackouts? I’m not. I’ll take the world as it has always been, imperfect.
Eric Meyer
Moscow
