Letters to the editor March 25
Guns on campus
Every morning I listen to Montana news on my phone while I walk with a friend from Boston. We are retired and on vacation in Florida and we share news from our state governments. Of particular interest are recent bills that have passed both Houses and have been signed by the governor.
Imagine my dismay when the newscaster announced that a bill had been passed to allow anyone over 18 and with a permit to carry a gun on Montana’s college campuses. As I shouted no, no, no at my telephone, my friend gripped my arm, calmed me down and told me her story.
My friend, you see, was an immigrant from Germany into the United States many years ago and is now a citizen. When she was 5 years old, she and her mother, grandmother and 9-year-old brother, escaped on foot into West Germany as the Russians moved in to occupy eastern Germany. They had nothing but the clothes on their backs and became refugees in their own country. The second World War and Russian occupation taught her a lot about guns and the fear associated with firearms.
My friend was as appalled as I was by the Montana news we had both heard. College campuses are bastions of learning, of questioning and of safety. I know this from my own experience as a student and as a member of the Board of Trustees at Flathead Valley Community College for 14 years.
I cannot imagine walking into a classroom or the board room knowing that a person sitting in that room has a concealed gun tucked into pocket or purse. This question now arises.
Should we allow smoking, alcohol and marijuana on our campuses? They, too, are legal in Montana. Where has common sense gone in our public discussion?
—Jeanne Tallman, Whitefish
A Christian nation?
Can we be considered a Christian nation when we kill babies, redefine God’s definition of marriage, allow lies to destroy the character of people who seek to be elected to serve? Will our constitutional republic founded on faith in God and dedicated to His glory by our first president and the Continental Congress continue to self-destruct? The answer is found in 2nd Chronicles 7:14.
Our Constitutional Republic is based on our belief that life is our first and greatest right. We believe that morally we should take care of people who cannot take care of themselves, refuse to work or even commit crimes. For 48 years, unborn babies have legally been put to death, but what is legal is not necessarily moral. In 1973 the Supreme Court incorrectly ruled that unborn babies do not have the protection provided by our Constitution. As a result, over 60 million babies have been killed and baby parts have been sold. Unborn babies should be protected by our Constitution.
Genesis 1:26 and 27 record the creation of human life: We were made in the image of God after his likeness. This makes us incredibly special. We are made in the image of God as Triune beings (spirit, soul and body) and like God we were given the power to create life and have dominion over the earth.
We create life after our likeness by way of a loving relationship with another person. At conception, the likeness of each person is combined in a baby who lives and grows inside the mother. The father who is equally responsible for the baby provides love, time and support during this exciting time.
When there is an unwanted baby there are three people involved. Two of those people may have been irresponsible or even guilty of committing a crime. However, the solution is never to take the life of the innocent person. Other options are available. Jeremiah 1:5 confirms that life begins at conception: “…before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; … before you were born, I consecrated you.”
—Verdell Jackson, Kalispell
Separation of church and state
Though I support anyone’s right to believe or not believe whatever they want spiritually, HB 337 (constitutional amendment to define person) represents an attempt by ultraconservative Christians to insert their religious beliefs (unconstitutionally) in to the laws of Montana.
It’s supporters do not represent the majority of Montanans, Christians, or citizens of the United States.
They assume that only they know God’s will, unable to imagine that God gave us brains, support people, and health care professionals so that we might come to our own individual decisions based on unique individual circumstances.
Their belief that only they know exactly when a soul enters the body, and that their personal God would not understand and empathize with the difficult choice to terminate a pregnancy is one I do not share.
Even if there is a soul there from the beginning, does it ring true that God would not have any compassion for the people that choose to make these often gut wrenching choices, as if their God would not welcome that soul back into “his” arms?
This is Christian Sharia law – the belief that secular law should be the same as one’s holy book.
In reality, neither most Christians or Muslims in America believe this ... regardless of what you might have heard from some ultraconservative Christian ministers, or Bible study people.
This bill is contrary to both our constitutional separation of church and state, and an invasion of our right to private health care decisions guaranteed by Montana’s Constitution.
Ask your senator to vote no on HB337.
—Andy Hudak, Whitefish