Brotherhood of man

In response to the letter by Mr. Karl T. Kimball: Now you have done it! You exposed that entire elusive Masonic secret, i.e., "Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man." Now everyone knows. Of course, a few other things might go on behind doors. Things such as seeing to the welfare of widows, orphans and others that might be in distress. They also support the right to protest as shown by the meeting they broke up and passed through the downstairs barroom with the words, "Come on, boys, we are going to Boston Harbor for a Tea Party."

Albert Pike's "Morals and Dogma" is a long read, but it is all there and with lessons for all of us. Masonry was opposed to everything the Nazis stood for, and for that 200,000 of them perished in the Holocaust.

I thank Mr. Kimball for his enlightening letter. I don't get out much anymore, but when I do, I always wear my mask because "your life matters too."

DONAL B. WRIGHT

Cabot

Bully in White House

It's a wonder our POTUS can even find time to play golf these days what with all the time spent bullying, fabricating lies, and generally defaming honest, well-respected folks' character.

Recently he bullied the profoundly ethical Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman to a point where Vindman understandably decided it was time to retire. We salute you, brave sir, for your service to our country. It is a sad day when a person of your character is driven off while a convicted criminal, Roger Stone, is given clemency.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the latest target of Trump's ire, to the point that our president has mounted a smear campaign to soil the good doctor's name in an effort to make himself look good. Dr. Fauci' s popularity has Trump taking, out of context, things Dr. Fauci may or may not have said, or said months ago when scientists had much to learn of covid-19. Well, Dr. Fauci is the person I would trust with my life as opposed to trusting a pathological liar who openly denies the validity of science. Sorry to say, but wishing the pandemic away isn't really a plan!

On another topic, U.S. Education Secretary DeVos has done as much planning for opening up schools as her boss has for coping with the pandemic. There's nothing like getting help from our leaders.

KATHY HODNETT

Mountain Home

Follow Golden Rule

I continue to be amazed and saddened at the high level of refusal by some to wear masks in the effort to slow and someday stop the coronavirus. It just seems so sad that there are folks who object to doing something that to them must seem inconvenient and displeasing, especially if someone in authority asks or tells them to.

At the same time, I'm guessing that many of the protesters, if you asked them, would indicate that they were believers in religious matters, and that they endorsed what is known as the Golden Rule, which I believe says something along the lines of, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

In other words, I will do my part to not give you the virus if I have it, and I hope you will do the same for me.

JACK W. HILL

Bismarck

Not just the symptoms

As a young man, I revered the Confederate flag. As a wiser and older man, I better understand the traitorous, destructive idea of preserving white supremacy that that flag represented. It was intended to destroy the United States of America.

Events of recent weeks including protests, riots, and looting are the result of a legacy we have inherited from our forefathers. My friends, relatives, and acquaintances on Facebook, in conversations, and in other forms of media want to talk about these unpleasant events instead of the underlying problems; 400 years of slavery, segregation, Jim Crow laws, job discrimination, and housing discrimination have left us with this problem.

No one is now a slave or slave owner, so many believe there is no problem. Talking about looters and rioting is not a discussion of how we make this country whole and not two societies. Time to discuss the problem and make it better. I have heard harsh words from Black leaders that hit me like a sharp needle. As much as I didn't want to hear those words, I needed a better understanding. Maybe we all need a slap in the face to wake us up.

Mr. Jack Mayberry wrote an opinion printed in Sunday's paper directed at the Black community regarding Black-on-Black crime. It stung a little like a slap in the face, but his words should be heard. Bottom line is we all need to wake up and start a dialogue on how we can make this one nation. Houston, we have a problem, and we should look for ways to solve it. Let's make that effort on how to make it better and not just discuss the symptoms.

BRUCE OWENS

Benton

Foreign-born genius

An article in the July 8 edition of the Democrat-Gazette talked about Peter Tsai, the scientist who invented the filtration material used in N95 respirators. The article described how this brilliant man has recently come out of retirement to volunteer his time, intelligence, and energy to engineer methods of decontaminating N95 masks so that they can be reused to help reduce shortages of that critical medical equipment. He also has investigated materials for homemade masks, and helped a group of researchers at the Oak Ridge National Lab researching ways to increase production of N95 masks.

Dr. Tsai was born in Taiwan, and he came to the United States in 1981 to obtain his doctoral degree, after which he stayed, enriching our country immeasurably.

A few days before this article appeared, President Trump's administration issued new policies that would have forced international students to leave the U.S. if their schools operate entirely online this fall. I am completely unable to conceive how kicking out foreign-born geniuses like Dr. Tsai could possibly help make America great again.

PATRICK STAIR

North Little Rock

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Brotherhood of man | Bully in White House | Follow Golden Rule - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette