The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1143439
B-4 Wednesday, July 17, 2019 The Press-Dispatch OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg My Point of View by Dr. H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Travelling now to Singapore Continued on page 5 Minority View by Walter E. Williams Our free speech crisis Continued on page 5 The First Amendment to our Constitution was proposed by the 1788 Virginia ratification conven- tion during its narrow 89 to 79 vote to ratify the Constitution. Virgin- ia's resolution held that the free ex- ercise of religion, right to assem- bly and free speech could not be canceled, abridged or restrained. These Madisonian principles were eventually ratified by the states on March 1, 1792. Gettysburg College profes- sor Allen C. Guelzo, in his article "Free Speech and Its Present Cri- sis," appearing in the autumn 2018 edition of City Journal, explores the trials and tribulations associ- ated with the First Amendment. The early attempts to suppress free speech were signed into law by President John Adams and be- came known as the Alien and Se- dition Acts of 1798. Later attempts to suppress free speech came dur- ing the Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln and his generals attacked newspapers and suspend- ed habeas corpus. It wasn't until 1919, in the case of Abrams v. Unit- ed States, when the U.S. Supreme Court finally and unambiguously prohibited any kind of censorship. Today, there is growing con- tempt for free speech, most of which is found on the nation's col- lege and university campuses. Guelzo cites the free speech vision of Princeton University professor Carolyn Rouse, who is chairper- son of the department of Anthro- pology. Rouse shared her vision on speech during last year's Con- stitution Day lecture. She called free speech a political illusion, a baseless ruse to enable people to "say whatever they want, in any context, with no so- cial, economic, legal or political repercus- sions." As an example, she says that a climate change skeptic has no right to make "claims about climate change, as if all the science dis- covered over the last X-number of centuries were irrelevant." Rouse is by no means unique in her contempt for our First Amend- ment rights. Faculty leaders of the University of California consider certain statements racist micro- agressions: "America is a melt- ing pot"; "America is the land of opportunity"; "Everyone can suc- ceed in this society, if they work hard enough"; and "There is on- ly one race, the human race." The latter statement is seen as denying the individual as a racial/cultural being. Then there's "I believe the most qualified person should get the job." That's "racist" speech be- cause it gives the impression that "people of color are given extra unfair benefits because of their race." Other seemingly innocuous statements deemed unacceptable are: "When I look at you, I don't see color," or "A ffirmative action is racist." Perhaps worst of all is, "Where are you from, or where were you born? " We should reject any restric- tion on free speech. We might ask ourselves, "What's the true test of one's commitment to free speech? " It does not come when people permit others to say or pub- lish ideas with which they agree. The true test of one's commitment to free speech comes when others are permit- ted to say and publish ideas they deem offen- sive. The test for one's commitment to free- dom of association is similar. Christian Americans have been hounded for their refusal to cater same-sex weddings. For those who support such attacks, we might ask them whether they would seek prosecution of the owner of a Jew- ish delicatessen who refused to provide services for a neo-Nazi af- fair. Should a black catering com- pany be forced to cater a Ku Klux Klan affair? Should the NA ACP be forced to open its membership to racist skinheads? Should the Con- gressional Black Caucus be forced to open its membership to white members of Congress? The true test of a person's commitment to freedom of association does not come when he permits people to associate in ways he finds accept- able. It comes when he permits people to voluntarily associate in ways he deems offensive. I am afraid that too many of my fellow Americans are hostile to the principles of liberty. Most people want liberty for themselves. I dif- fer. I want liberty for me and liber- ty for my fellow man. Walter E. Williams is a profes- sor of economics at George Mason University. Pursuit of the Cure by Star Parker Points to Ponder by Rev. Ford Bond American flag stands for freedom, not racism Read the word with faith A new Gallup poll shines a spot- light on the deep political divide in America and surely points to what the upcoming presidential election will be about. Gallup asked, "How proud are you to be an American? " Seventy-six percent of Republi- cans said "extremely proud" com- pared with 22 percent of Demo- crats. Broken down by age, 63% of those over 65 said "extremely proud," and only 24% of those 18 to 29. This tells us something about Nike's recent move to pull its Bet- sy Ross flag sneakers from the marketplace, having taken guid- ance from its ex-football star anti- hero, now-Nike corporate spokes- man, Colin Kaepernick. Kaepe- rnick claims that America's first flag is associated with the era of slavery. Analysts say, according to the Wall Street Journal, that Nike's "core customer base ... starts with American males in their ear- ly teens." And, "80 % of the sneak- er industry's most committed en- thusiasts are under the age of 35." Estimates are that Kaeper- nick's net worth is $20 million, and his Nike deal will add mil- lions of dollars a year. At age 31, it seems that Kaepernick is not doing badly in the USA. Does this mean he shouldn't speak out if he sees things that are wrong? Of course not. The is- sue is spin. Is Kaepernick — and Nike — delivering a message to young men, particularly young black men, that will make their lives better? Is a football star worth tens of millions helping our youth by tell- ing them that they live in a nation that is inherently racist? The operative question is whether it's true. One of today's headlines is im- migration. There are millions who want to come here. There is no country in the world where more aspire to be than the USA. Yet only 24% of those 18 to 29 who were born here feel "extremely proud" of their country? What gives? Freedom is not about being born into a perfect world. Free- dom is about being born into a world where you have the power to fix things. America has a painful history on race. But America is comprised of many individual Americans, and in a free country, everyone cannot be painted with the same brush. Betsy Ross, the seamstress who made America's first flag, was born into a family of Quak- ers and was educated in Quaker schools. The Quakers were the first group in America to formal- ly protest slavery and the slave trade. In 1775, they were leaders in forming the Pennsylvania Aboli- tion Society. On Feb. 12, 1790, a petition ar- rived to the very first session of the U.S House of Representatives from the Pennsylvania Abolition Society urging measures "for pro- moting the abolition of slavery and ... discouraging every spe- cies of traffick in the persons of our fellow men." The petition argued that slav- ery and the slave trade were in- compatible with the values that drove the American Revolution. The petition arrived under the signature of Benjamin Franklin, a signatory of both the Declara- tion of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The floor debate that followed was the first public debate in Con- gress on slavery. As we know, the issue pushed on. More than 700,000 died in a civil war over it some 70 years lat- er. The American flag made by Betsy Ross, and the one we have today, stand for this struggle and for the principles articulated in At one time I wrote an article about three happiest places on Earth: Denmark, Costa Rica and Singapore. So we decided to pay a visit to Singapore as part of our trip. Word from our friends and relatives en- ticed us to make a trip to that coun- try. The airport and other tourist spots were apparently a sight to be- hold. So we landed in their airport about 10 a.m. Here's what we saw: an airport that is very clean, very big, lots of beautiful gardens inside, I mean a garden with beautiful varieties of plants and flowers, a waterfall that starts from a source about six or seven stories high, a shopping cen- ter, restaurants, etc. etc. I was flabbergasted. I thought the designers, archi- tects and engineers of this mag- nificent airport were brilliant. Vis- iting that place was like going to a theme park that drew the residents and visitors of the entire country and the world. When we headed to our hotel, what impressed me was the clean- liness of the highways, the pres- ence of lots of well cared shrubs and flowers, the presence of many cameras that monitor traffic. Then we had a one day private guided tour the following day of the various places which was rec- ommended by our guide. There was too much to see. We went to a building with the scale model of the country. He men- tioned the population of Singapore which is about 9 million, ethnic composition were mainly the na- tives, followed by the Chinese, then the Indians, then a mix of different nationalities. For more details, you can always search the accurate numbers of in- formation you are curious about. So, he showed on the model the layout of the country. He relates the government plans future short term projects every five years and projections and plans for the next 40 years. Why this intense focus on plan- ning? He said because the country is a small is- land and they do not want it to become hap- hazardly congested and chaotic. They al- so have this very care- ful planning for conser- vation of water and pro- duction of energy. • • • The guide related that in order for roads not to be overwhelmed by traffic, vehicles are heavily taxed. For instance, if a vehicle here in the USA costs $40,000 it would cost $ 60 -80 K in Singapore, which deters your de- sire to own a vehicle. You also will have a long wait to obtain a permit to purchase one. So they developed an efficient public transportation system. Gas- oline is also expensive. To purchase private homes, you have to have lots of dinero, so they have ma- ny government housing projects which are well designed and very well maintained, with strict regula- tions to follow. No ghetto like atmosphere is al- lowed. Cost for owning or renting de- pends on the location, the guide related that they are not luxurious dwellings but because they are well maintained with strict enforcement of rules. They are quite happy with the provisions by the government. Food is affordably priced, but he mentioned something that caught my attention. Health care is good but if you get real sick, like with very serious or terminal illness, just go ahead and pass on for the next journey, if you know what I mean. They believe their precious bud- get for health care should be spent on the segment of the population that is considered most productive and heavy contributors to the econ- omy of the country. Education is a high government priority and literacy and college de- grees for the work force is highly developed. There was little time to ask ma- ny more questions I was curious about, I'm sure some websites give a good insight in- to my curiosity. • • • We had a chance to visit a Buddhist tem- ple which was quite big and impressive. Buddhism and Taoism were the country's main religion, followed by the Hindu faith, Christian popu- lation is about 8 % at this time. There was a service in the Bud- dhist temple we witnessed. Peo- ple were chanting hymns to the rhythmic sounds of a gong, before a large statue of Buddha. We were brought to a second floor of the building where many more Bud- dhist relics like apparently a tooth of Buddha is on display, plus oth- er items. Then off to the public market where we had lunch and did a lit- tle shopping. Food was good but expensive. We did see the Marina Bay Hotel world famous for that swimming pool shaped like a boat situated on top of two adjacent ho- tels. We visited the famous garden which was so huge and overwhelm- ingly beautiful, saw the iron trees or whatever you call it. I will share our Dubai experi- ence on the next go around. Humor of the week: A woman was asked, which book she had, that helped her the most in her life. She said......."My favorite is my hus- band's checkbook." Wisdom of the week: When a tour guide says lets go to the next place, it's just a 10 minute walk, he's lying. By the way when you fill out the Customs declaration form in Singa- pore, at the back of the card, there is a note in bold red which states: Penalty for bringing drugs to the country is death. A recent blog post by Michael Kruger at "Canon Fodder" asked the question: "Should We Read the Bible Critically or Confession- ally? " This question has been circu- lating among Christians for cen- turies; the answer given by the early Church was yes; use faith as you read. Critical analysis of the Bible had a different meaning to the early church than it does today. A criti- cal reading meant to place it in con- text and content as one reads and accept by faith that which is with- in the pages is the Word of God! Critical analysis today is re- ferred to as "Higher Criticism," which means approaching the Bi- ble with skepticism and the claims made by the text. This implies that the stories contained in the Bible are not taken at face value. While they may contain a "histor- ical core," they have been embel- lished and expanded, and perhaps even fabricated. The Bible is a dis- parate collection of texts that have been cobbled together for various reasons, and not authored by the people we think. Sadly, this is what is taught by many Christian seminaries to those who are aspiring to lead the Church in the future. More than one pastor has lamented that he/ she longed to tell the local par- ish the truth about the Bible, but couldn't. In many respects, modern sem- inarians have told their congrega- tions what is the most important aspects of Christianity: that is why there is a strong emphasis upon so- cial justice with evangelism being passé. Nevertheless, the Apostle Paul laid out the power of the Gospel where he writes, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God! Reading the Bible without faith profits little. The Book of Hebrews reminds the reader of the danger of not taking the Word of God by faith. Chapter 11 of the Book of Hebrews lists the patriarchs and prophets who were moved by faith to act. But before one reads of the roll- call of faith, the writer picks up the story of the Exodus and the many trials of the Children of Israel and makes this assessment. "There- fore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them [the Children of Israel]; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it." The previous verses explain what occurred because of their lack of faith: "For whom, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corps- es fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." Unbelief, the lack of faith pro- duced sin, and sin caused many of the Children of Israel to fall by the wayside. Nothing has changed for thousands of years. Faith in the Word of God changes lives. Unbe- lief leads to sin! What is insidious is that men and women have "crept in unawares" among the believers which teach a Christ with no power! It has al- ways puzzled me why anyone would spend their lives "debunk- ing" Christianity and still claim to be a Christian, yet benefit ac- ademically and financially [I just answered the question]. Nevertheless, Jesus reminded those who would hear with the ears and heart of faith, "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Fa- ther's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Christ is the power of God! Through the centuries, the power of God has changed lives, and our entire Western Civilization foun- dation rests upon Christianity and