The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1254479
B-8 Wednesday, June 3, 2020 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 I wanted to share some good stuff a childhood friend of mine sent me. My family, mom and dad and two of my siblings, moved to Manila in 1947 after the war. From about 1944 to 1947, we were in a Del Monte pineapple plantation in the southern part of the Phil- ippines. At that time the facilities owned by the American company, the Del Monte Pineapple packing corporation became an Engineer- ing Battalion Headquarters for the Philippine Army. My father was a captain in the Medical Dental clinic. From what I understood, they set up the com- munication system for the Leyte invasion of US forces under the command of General MacArthur. When the war ended, my moth- er convinced my dad to move to Manila because of her foresight regarding the availability of col- leges and universities in the cap- ital city. So my dad agreed. That is when we became neighbors to a family which became our ex- tended family. So these child- hood friends of our family celebrat- ed the milestones of our growing up, our church and school activi- ties, birthdays, social events, neighborhood faith-based devotions, picnics, street games, sports, etc. As we all know, it is now very easy to find anybody you are curi- ous about, so some 3 years ago, we recon- nected when she did some research about our family. At first, it was a series of reminiscing about our child- hood memories, then sharing pic- tures of our siblings, grandchil- dren, and our parents, and just catching up on what's going on with our lives. It is indeed a mix of feelings, pulling out and digging into our memory banks of the fun times and challenges we faced back then, and now learn what things we do in the current life of retire- ment. My, it is quite a strange flood of emotions to travel the past and the present, and then wonder about the mystery of the future as we communicate via social media. Years and years ago, we would do this by writing letters, but now with our current technology, it is so easy, and convenient to send messages, share pictures, make calls, and do whatev- er. How amazing it is, what we can do any- more in the electron- ic world. So, before I get fully distracted, here's what she shared with me. I did some modifications and minor revisions to the material. I don't be- lieve it is under a copyright, other- wise it would not have been shared via the internet without a copy- right notation. "You will arrive at the same des- tination whether you drive a fifty thousand dollar car or an economi- cal car. Whether the house you live is 200 square feet or 3000 square feet, loneliness can be the same. My Point of View By Dr. H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. A journey into the past and now Minority View By Walter E. Williams Insane news tidbits Continued on page 9 Continued on page 9 Continued on page 9 Is it important to have racial or sexual diversity in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic? Heath- er Mac Donald suggests that some think it might be in her City Jour- nal article "Should Identity Politics Dictate Vaccine Research? " The funding priorities of the National Institutes of Health and the Cen- ters for Disease Control suggests that they think diversity is an im- portant input in making headway in the fight against the coronavi- rus. On April 20, NIH and CDC an- nounced the availability of grants to increase the "diversity" of bio- medical research labs. For exam- ple, academic virology researchers studying respiratory failure could receive hundreds of thousands more taxpayer dollars if they could find a woman or a minority to add to their project. High school stu- dents and college students are eli- gible for the program even though they cannot contribute anything of value. No scientific justification for the new diversity hire is need- ed. The scientists must promise to mentor the new hire, which will take time away from their research with no offsetting gain. Mac Donald has written another article on academic insanity "The Therapeutic Campus" bearing the subtitle: "Why are college students seeking mental-health services in record numbers? " Ma- ny colleges have creat- ed safe spaces where students can be shel- tered from reality and not have their feelings hurt by others exercis- ing their free speech rights. Yale Universi- ty has created a safe space that would be the envy of most oth- er universities. They have named it the Good Life Center. Mac Don- ald says it has "a sandbox, essential oils, massage, and mental-health workshops," and that "the center unites the most powerful forces in higher education today: the femini- zation of the university, therapeu- tic culture, identity politics, and the vast student-services bureau- cracy." George Mason University has a Center for the Advancement of Well-Being, headed by a chief well- being officer. At George Mason, well-being refers to social justice and "building a life of vitality, pur- pose, resilience, and engagement," the Center's chief well-being offi- cer told The Chronicle of Higher Education. By the way, a George Mason University student can mi- nor in well-being as a part of his college education. New York Gover- nor Andrew Cuomo, in justifying his dra- conian coronavirus measures, said during a press conference: "This is about saving lives. If everything we do saves just one life, I'll be happy." Cuomo knows that many Americans buy into such a seemingly caring statement that would be easily revealed as utter nonsense if one had just a modi- cum of economic knowledge. If one looked at only the benefits of an action, he would do anything because everything has a benefit. Prudent decision-making requires one to compare benefits to costs. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration esti- mates that in 2019, 36,120 people died in motor vehicle traffic crash- es. Virtually all those lives could have been saved with a mandated 5 mph speed limit. Those saved lives are the benefit. Fortunately, when we consider the costs and incon- venience of setting a 5 mph speed Race for the Cure By Star Parker Points to Ponder by Rev. Ford Bond Faith over fear Being fearful or afraid is a hu- man experience. Running away from a building on fire is a smart choice—unless you're a fireman—who has been trained to deal with his/her ini- tial fears. Fear is a considered an essential emotion. Fear is an emotion pro- duced by a perceived danger or threat, which causes a person to fight, flee, hide, or freeze. For the foreseeable future, the aftermath of COVID-19 will con- tinue to have the world's attention and many will remain fearful due to the ever-changing recommen- dations from the CDC and govern- ment officials. Our nation is slowly embarking upon reopening- while at the same time, a post-mortem is being con- ducted upon the COVID-19 pan- demic; • What exactly is COVID-19 and how is it transmitted and who is most at risk? • Did the Chinese and the World Health Organization sit on the out- break? • Why was the US not ready for the pandemic when pandemics of the past have caught nations un- prepared? • Was the lockdown necessary? • What do we do for future pan- demics? Now, wrap this up with the 24-hour news cycle with the con- tinuous drumbeat that COVID-19 "is here" has stoked fear into ma- ny people. Allow me to suggest a Christian response to this virus; faith over fear, and hope over despair. Consider Psalm 46, which often comes to mind in a time of uncer- tainty and trouble; "God is our ref- uge and strength, a very present help in trouble. therefore, we will not fear," Listen to what the Psalm is tell- ing the reader. This is the same message from Psalm 27; "The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? " The story of fear and faith plays in Mark's gospel when Jesus and his disciples are crossing the sea and their boat is about to be swamped. The disciples are fear- ful, yet Jesus is asleep in the rear of the ship, while Jesus seems oblivi- ous to the danger. This makes the disciples fear and panic contrast with Jesus's serenity—how re- markable this man could slumber while we fight for our lives. This story holds a profound les- son that challenged our response to fear. Mark in this story paints a scene of serenity surrounded by chaos. The fear in this story was real. Several of the disciples were sea- soned fishermen who knew the sea and they were convinced they were in peril. Jesus awoke when his fol- lowers cried out to him, "Do you not care that we are perishing? " What did they want him to do? I suggest they thought He should be helping them in some way, or to be as frightened as they were. Instead, he commanded the waves to "be still! " Instantly, Mark records, the wind ceased, and the seas calmed. Jesus turned to His disciples and asked a question that we all must answer; "Why are you afraid? " Take a moment and ask yourself the same question. The focal point of this story is God wants to direct our atten- tion away from the storm to Jesus asleep in the boat! Many are pondering the fu- ture—whether a pandemic, eco- nomic collapse, or something else entirely will follow COVID-19. It is natural to worry, no matter how strong your faith; but the an- tidote to unreasonable fear is faith in God. Isaiah wrote centuries ear- lier, "Don't fear, because I am with you; don't be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will surely help you; I will hold you with my righteous strong hand." Your faith in Christ gives you hope; therefore, you are not de- fined by what you fear, but where you place your hope. No matter what occurs in this life, Jesus— the very Word of God—is with us. Consider where you have built Remember the old public rela- tions maxim: "There's no such thing as bad publicity"? Try tell- ing that to Beijing. Having loosed a pandemic, China finds itself (quite deservedly) deluged with bad pub- licity. Yet, oddly, the regime seems to think the best way out of their im- age nightmare is to make it worse. Well, alrighty then. If that's their play, the U.S. ought to spend more time thinking about how we can help the Chinese Communist Party dig itself a deeper hole. The list of China's self-inflicted wounds grows longer by the day. They failed to confine the epidem- ic in Wuhan. They allowed millions of travelers to carry the disease around the world. They failed to inform the world of the disease in timely fashion. They failed to co- operate with other nations seeking to understand the disease. They hoarded protective equipment. They spread lies (like blaming others for the outbreak) to deflect criticism. Then they started threatening some countries— like Australia—that announced plans to investigate Beijing's handling of the out- break. Global anger at China does not seem to be waning. Even countries that com- plain about the current U.S. admin- istration will, in their next breath (or under their breath), complain even more about Beijing. Of course, China sees the U.S. as the big obstacle on its long march to become the world's most dominant military and economic power. However, Beijing's strate- gy has always been to "win with- out fighting." Rather than directly bump heads with Washington, it seeks to find ways to undercut U.S. dom- inance, bend interna- tional organizations its way and draw off American friends and allies. The Trump admin- istration has pushed back bluntly. It has slapped tariffs on Chinese goods and pressed for better trade deals. It has ac- tively opposed China's candidates for leadership positions in inter- national organizations. And it has called out Chinese disinformation and lies disseminated during the pandemic response. All of this creates a challenge for China, and a 16 -page summary of the American strategy recent- ly published by the White House shows the U.S. has no intention of Continued on page 9 Continued on page 9 President Donald Trump stepped up to declare houses of worship "essential places that provide essential services" to the American people. "The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important, essential places of faith to open right now for this week- end," he said. The president raised eyebrows by declaring that he will "override" governors if they don't do it. Where's the president's author- ity to override governors on this matter? I'm not a constitutional attorney, but I do have common sense. The president takes an oath of office during which he swears to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." The First Amendment of our Constitution protects the right to "free exercise" of religion. Is it complicated during a diffi- cult time like this when governors have a responsibility to manage the health and welfare of the cit- izens of their state? Of course it is. But difficult times mean difficul- ty applying principles, not erasing those principles. Is it reasonable for President Trump to categorize religious ser- vices as "essential"? I have been writing for weeks that the COVID-19 crisis is high- lighting the same conflicts we've been dealing with as a nation all along. My guess is California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who, as mayor of San Francisco, paved the way for the legalization of same-sex mar- riage, does not at all believe hous- es of worship provide essential ser- vices. I don't question that he under- stands that religious freedom is protected by our Constitution. But I certainly doubt he believes in his heart that church attendance is "essential," and he probably thinks going to the mall or the beach is more essential. We're dealing with a core con- flict in America today. How vital- ly important is religion? In the 1830s, French nobleman Alexis de Tocqueville traveled across the still-youthful America to try to understand what was hap- pening and what was driving the remarkable success of the young nation. He recorded his thoughts in "Democracy in America," which many believe to be the greatest book ever written about our na- tion. Here's what he wrote: "I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious har- bors and her ample rivers ... and it was not there ... in her rich mines and her vast world commerce ... and it was not there ... in her dem- ocratic Congress and her match- less Constitution ... and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteous- ness did I understand the secret of her genius and her power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great." According to a 2018 Gallup sur- vey, 51% of Americans said religion was "very important" in their life. But when Gallup first asked the question, in 1952, 117 years after Tocqueville published his book, 75% said it was "very important." Although the sense of the im- portance of religion is still quite strong in America, it has weak- ened. With that weakening, we're seeing a weakening of behaviors that keep a nation strong: record lows in the rate of marriage and the number of children born. Also, according to a Kaiser Fam- ily Foundation poll, 45% say that the coronavirus crisis has had a negative impact on their men- tal health. This could be tied to a weakening of faith. Leadership is about staking out Heritage Viewpoint By James Carafano China's COVID bullying— US must keep pushing back Church attendance essential to America's greatness