Letters to the editor: Nov. 22

We encourage readers to submit letters to the editor on issues of interest to East Valley residents. Submissions should be no longer than 300 words, factually accurate and original thoughts of the writer. Please be brief and include name, address, city and phone number for verification. Letters and call-in comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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 ELECTIONS

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Voters need to learn more before casting ballot

Know yourself before you vote. Decide if you are a liberal or a conservative. Decide if you are a Democrat or a Republican. What is the difference?

Think about the last time you looked at the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. How far away from them would you say we have drifted? Does anyone remember what the federal government’s original purpose was or when “income taxes” first levied? Most people don’t even know when the first time a president sent ships across the globe to fight against radical Islam was.

It is not for me to explain this to you, but for you to explore and understand. I believe right now too many voters really do not know history. This allows the political hacks, both elected and employed, to manipulate the general public in an overwhelming manner; hence it allows calculated deceit to be passed as truth.

Folks, the truth hurts. Good things don’t come easy. It is remarkable that we as a nation are so privileged that any pain on any citizen needs to be met with government intervention no matter how inane or damaging to long-term ramifications. Does America have a limit to when this ignorance will be too much to bear? In your opinion, how much more time do we have before another nation decides for us? Politics at the core are essential to this republic.

Truth, character and knowledge must be absolute in each of our representatives from this day forward. Please learn who has these characteristics before you vote for them.

CHRIS CAULFIELD

MESA

MARRIAGE

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Focus on child-bearing purpose

Those who voted that a marriage is only between a man and a woman find themselves bombarded by hateful epithets by folks who in this manner want to contribute toward keeping the world free from hatred.

As far as we are concerned, we are not interested in whether someone is hetero- or homosexual. What impresses us and influences our opinion about others is how well they perform their work and how they behave toward their fellow human beings.

If, however, a blind person demands one day to be given a driver’s licence because he does not want to be unfairly discriminated against, we could not give in to such a demand for obvious reasons — even if there were no problem recognizing and acknowledging the otherwise great qualities of this person. And if a young woman, who tragically had lost a leg, would want to realize her dream of becoming a ballet dancer but is not accepted by any dancing school — for obvious reasons — we would not be surprised, even though she may be charming, intelligent and beautiful.

Whether we like it or not, the primary purpose of marriage is the creation and upbringing of progeny, because without children there is no future. Since only the union of a male and a female can bring forth children, only such a union is entitled to the legal protection of what a marriage is about. The fact that some heterosexual couples do not have children, or are so unhappy that they are planning a divorce, does not change one iota of the basic fact that only a male and a female can perform this creative act.

It is also a fact that nowadays people may live with whomsoever they choose to be together, that they may love whomsoever they feel like loving, and that they are entitled to a variety of legal contracts. So what is all this protesting about if it never can change certain unchangeable conditions?

BOB AND LISA TAYLOR

MESA

VETERANS

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A sincere thank you to those who served

My brother Bob enlisted at 17 and served in Vietnam. Bob left home athletic, patriotic and humorous. He spent two honorable tours in combat as a teenager and young man before getting sick with both malaria and typhoid. He was not supposed to survive. But through prayer, luck, and dedicated medical staff, he came out of a coma and was shipped home weighing only 130 pounds, his yellow skin hanging off his skeleton. It was hideous. Bob returned a shell of a man.

He took years to recover, and has had to endure an entire life time of life-threatening physical maladies and multiple system failures from his exposure to chemicals, disease, and combat. We as a family can not remember a time that Bob hasn’t been sick or suffering physically or emotionally since his service for our country. He has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and to this day still has vivid, horrid nightmares of his kills.

He has never given up, but has struggled to integrate into a society that four decades ago spit on him and scoffs at his challenges. Sometimes we lose our heroes in a tragic moment. Other times we lose them slowly and tortuously over time. Let us never forget their sacrifice.

MARTY HERDER

CHANDLER