The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/917847
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, December 20, 2017 D-11 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 No holiday among the nations compares to Christmas. It has no dogmas, no rituals, or require- ments for celebration, but it has a mystic attraction. At the same time, it is a tran- scendent experience for all who understand its spiritual and eter- nal meaning. It is worth noting that Christmas as a time of celebration of the birth of Jesus [the Christ] was not kept by the early church. The emer- gence of Christmas as a time of gift giving and merriment began in earnest in early 19th century Europe, and it did not gain popu- larity in America till the later part of that century. Christmas has such a pull on modern life that parallel celebra- tions can be seen in Hanukkah and the Santa Claus tradition. I have often wondered why any- one would celebrate Christmas and not be a follower of Jesus; peo- ple who are not Muslim or Jews do not observe Ramadan or Yom Kip- pur. They are religious holiday/ob- servances. Christmas celebrates the birth of the long awaited Messiah [Christ] which was foretold by the Hebrew prophet Isaiah who wrote around 600 years be- fore the birth of Jesus, "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." The Gos- pel of Matthew reiter- ates this prophecy and adds, "…they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." Christmas is about the birth of Christ regardless of how it is cel- ebrated. Santa Claus, elves, rein- deer, Grinches, vacations, Scroog- es, and gift-giving cannot mask the celebration. Jesus the Messi- ah, the long awaited Christ is born! The noise of celebration is ev- erywhere and cannot be muffled or quieted. The Christmas carol "Joy to the World" captures the ex- citement of the event: "Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! " Silent Night projects the seren- ity and holiness of the birth that we celebrate at Christmas time: "Silent night! Holy night! All is calm, all is bright; 'round yon virgin mother and child! Ho- ly infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heaven- ly peace, sleep in heav- enly peace." The world around us cannot escape the time of Christmas be- cause the very word means the Savior has come. How would one in a foreign land explain to a child, "What is Christ- mas? " Then if a satisfactory an- swer was given, the next question is "Why do we need a Savior? " The 1989 comedy spoof Christ- mas Vacation captured the illu- siveness of celebrating a secular Christmas, which I am sure was not the writer's intent. At the end of the movie after the mayhem of trying to have a real old-fashioned family Christmas, Clark Griswold tells his children as he sees what he thinks is a bright star, "It's the Christmas star, and Minority View by Walter E. Williams The Weekly by Alden Heuring Moral values and customs vs. laws Points to Ponder by Rev. Ford Bond Christmas all over the world U.S. must upgrade its nuclear shield Heritage Viewpoint by Edwin J. Feulner Thirty-three minutes. That's all the time we'd have to respond to an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile from anywhere in the world. Roughly half an hour to avert di- saster — if we're lucky. Sure, that isn't the most cheerful thought to entertain, especially at Christmas time. But with all the sa- ber-rattling coming from North Ko- rea these days, not to mention oth- er global hot spots, we don't have the luxury to pretend this threat doesn't exist. A successful nuclear strike would carry an unthinkable toll. The bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima, Ja- pan, in 1945 had an explosive yield of 15 kilotons of TNT. North Ko- rea's nuclear test in October? 250 kilotons. According to the documentary film "33 Minutes," the Sept. 11 at- tacks resulted in 3,000 deaths and $ 80 billion in damage. A nuclear bomb dropped on Manhattan would cause hundreds of thousands of ca- sualties, and trillions in damage. That's not the on- ly way a nuclear bomb could be used against the U.S., however. An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, is another like- ly method of attack. In this case, a nuclear bomb isn't dropped on the targeted area, but detonated hundreds of miles above it. This would emit a wide-ranging burst of electromagnetic radiation. Goodbye, electric grid. Nearly everything powered by electricity, from telephones, internet service and electric power, to car batteries and airplane controls, would be dis- rupted or permanently damaged. And not just in one city, but across the continental United States. In a flash, we'd be set back more than a century. But wait, you may be thinking. You said we'd have 33 minutes to re- spond. We could coun- teract such an attack, right? Stop it from hap- pening? If you're thinking of missile defense, you're right. We do have a way of responding, and we could stop a missile with a missile. That's the good news. The bad news is that the missile-defense system we have isn't as comprehensive and well-de- veloped as it could and should be at this stage. We have a revolver, when we could have an automatic rifle. Nearly 35 years ago, President Reagan first called for a way to ren- der the threat of ballistic missiles "impotent and obsolete." Yet today, thanks in part to opposition from those who consider missile defense I'm approaching my 82nd birth- day, and my daughter will occasion- ally suggest that modernity is per- plexing to me because I'm from pre- historic times. As such, it points to one of the unavoidable problems of youth – namely, the temptation to think that today's behavioral stan- dards have always been. Let's look at a few of the differences between yesteryear and today. One of those differences is the treatment of women. There are awe- some physical strength differences between men and women. To cre- ate and maintain civil relationships between the sexes is to drum into boys, starting from very young ag- es, that they are not to use violence against a woman for any reason. Special respect is given women. Yesteryear even the lowest of low- down men would not curse or use foul language to or in the presence of women. To see a man sitting on a crowded bus or trolley car while a woman is standing used to be un- thinkable. It was deemed common decency for a man to give up his seat for a woman or elderly person. Today young people use foul lan- guage in front of – and often to – adults and teachers. It's not just foul language. Many youngsters feel that it's acceptable to assault teachers. Just recently, 45 Penn- sylvania teachers resigned be- cause of student violence (http:// tinyurl.com/yacmn5dz). Back in what my daughter calls prehistor- ic times, the use of foul language to an adult or teacher would have meant a smack across the face. Of course, today a parent taking such corrective action risks being report- ed to a local child protective service and even being arrested. The mod- ern parental or teacher response to misbehavior is to call for "time out." In other words, what we've taught miscreants of all ages is that they can impose physical pain on others and not suffer physical pain them- selves. That's an open invitation to bad behavior. It has always been considered a good idea to refrain from sexual in- tercourse until marriage or at least adulthood. During the sexual revo- lution of the 1960s, lessons of absti- nence were ridiculed, considered passe and replaced with lessons about condoms, birth control pills and abortion. Out-of-wedlock child- births are no longer seen as shame- ful and a disgrace. As a result, the rate of illegitimate births among whites is over 30 percent, and among blacks, it's over 70 percent. For over a half-century, the na- tion's liberals – along with the ed- ucation establishment, pseudo-in- tellectuals and the courts – have waged war on traditions, customs and moral values. Many in today's generation have been counseled to believe that there are no moral ab- solutes. Instead, what's moral or im- moral, right or wrong, is a matter of convenience, personal opinion or what is or is not criminal. Society's first line of defense is not the law but customs, traditions and moral values. Customs, tradi- tions and moral values are those important thou-shalt-nots, such as thou shalt not murder, shalt not steal, shalt not lie and shalt not cheat. They also include respect for parents, teachers and others in authority, plus those courtesies one might read in Emily Post's rules of etiquette. These behavioral norms – mostly transmitted by example, word of mouth and religious teach- ings – represent a body of wisdom distilled over the ages through ex- perience, trial and error, and look- ing at what works and what doesn't. The importance of customs, tra- ditions and moral values as a means of regulating behavior is that peo- ple behave themselves even if no- body's watching. There are not enough cops. Laws can never re- place these restraints on person- al conduct in producing a civilized society. At best, the police and the criminal justice system are the last desperate lines of defense for a civ- ilized society. Unfortunately, cus- toms, traditions and moral values have been discarded without an ap- preciation for the role they played in creating a civilized society, and now we're paying the price – and that includes the recent revelations regarding the treatment of women. Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason Uni- versity. Killing me softly (with her germs) The magic of Christmas Continued on page 12 Continued on page 12 It's been a long battle, and I'm losing. I've lasted a couple months in the trenches, surrounded by carriers of every disease imag- inable, without having anything more than a few boogers in the morning. But my lovely wife final- ly struck home with whatever sick- ness she's got, and now... I have it, too. So, since I don't have any paid time off left this year, it's time to drag my extensive repertoire of ill- ness-fighting techniques out of the closet. Step one: Naps! Napping is an important tool for helping your body fight germs. Being awake consumes energy that your im- mune system could have been using to produce more antibod- ies and win the war against the common cold. So adding even a 15 -minute nap to your normal sleep schedule gives you that much more time to call the ban- ners and face your tiny bacterial or viral foes. Step two: Orange juice! Avail- able at every store with a cooler, OJ contains all sorts of ingredi- ents that your body can convert into germ-fighting power. Plus it tastes great! The best kind is the stuff made for kids that has extra vitamins and minerals in it. Step three: Light exercise! Walking is enough. The impor- tant thing is to not just lay in bed all the time. You've got to keep the blood flowing and the heart pump- ing! The body gets lethargic and weak if you let it: live like an inval- id, stay an invalid. Step four: Bundle up! One of the effects of cold on the body is that several processes, such as the immune system process, slow down or stop so that the body can do more with less and conserve heat. Bundling up and trapping ex- tra heat in your body allows you to run on full cylinders, and keep- ing your body temperature up also makes your insides a less hospita- ble place for invading germs. I'm not saying you should give your- self a fever on purpose, but I'm also not saying I don't give my- self fevers on purpose... I proba- bly shouldn't be giving out med- ical advice. Step five! ...Actually, that's about all I've got. So maybe it's not such an extensive repertoire after all. But it's what I've got, and I'll have to use it if I want to kick this thing by Christmas. Here's wish- ing you all the best of luck fighting whatever winter disease is stuck up your nose. Have a great week! Continued on page 12 Continued on page 12 My Point of View by Dr. H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. In a few days we will celebrate one of the greatest events which changed the history of mankind and of our lives. It is interesting to know that year after year, these Holy days awaken in us different things. By this I mean the joys of con- necting with so many people we otherwise would not have done. To our love ones, friends and ac- quaintances we get many Christ- mas cards and electronic greet- ings, and we also send them as well. We get excited buying gifts and giving them to those we care about. We get a thrill receiving gifts from them as well. We get busy decorating our work place as well as our homes. We get phone calls from those whom we have not heard from for sometime. We make calls to those who we feel we need to hear from– Pursuit of the Cure by Star Parker Let's liberate blacks from left-wing politics A new Quinnipiac University poll shows yet another perspec- tive on the deep racial division in our country. According to the poll, 86 percent of blacks compared to 50 percent of whites say that President Trump does not "respect people of color as much as he respects white people." However the partisan divide is even greater than the racial divide. Ninety-one percent of Demo- crats compared to 12 percent of Re- publicans agree with the statement that President Trump is racially bi- ased against people of color. Bottom line: What we call a ra- cial divide today is really a parti- san divide. Consider the remarks of Rep. John Lewis, who decided to not at- tend the opening of the new Civil Rights Museum in Mississippi be- cause Trump announced he would attend. Lewis called Trump's atten- dance "an affront to the veterans of the civil rights movement." Or the president of the NA ACP who also announced he would not attend because of Trump's atten- dance. NA ACP President Der- rick Johnson called Trump's at- tendance at the museum's open- ing "a distraction from us hav- ing the opportunity to honor true Americans who sacrificed so much to ensure that democ- racy works." But the "insult" to civ- il rights comes today from these very black leaders who claim to represent this move- ment. The leaders who fought in the 1960s for civil rights fought for freedom and against stereotyping any individual because of their race. Freedom means living and think- ing freely according one's judg- ment and conscience. That is, blacks may have conservative as well as liberal views. In 2016, 8 percent of black vot- ers, or 1.2 million people, voted for Donald Trump. But these 1.2 mil- lion blacks don't exist in the view of today's "civil rights" leaders. Like the Dred Scott decision in 1857, which declared blacks inhu- man and therefore not eligible to be American citizens, so-called black leaders of 2017 declare the same status for black Republicans and black conservatives. About 15 percent of black men between ages of 18 and 54 voted for Donald Trump. A black lead- ership whose primary in- terest is black freedom, rather than left-wing politics, would be asking why this many black Americans vot- ed for Donald Trump. More careful reasoning would shine light among black voters that we have a president who is an in- dependent thinker and who has the courage to fight against an en- trenched status quo. And fighting against an entrenched status quo is something A frican-Americans need. As Housing and Urban Develop- ment secretary, Dr. Ben Carson is creatively finding new approach- es to the largely failed government housing programs. Republican Senator Ted Cruz in- troduced an amendment to the tax bill just passed in the Senate that expands 529 college savings plans,