Re letter to the editor: “Campus unrest worse than Jan. 6,” May 3: Letter writer Kent Johnson and I saw recent events from two different political perspectives.
I saw Jan. 6 as an attempt to overturn the Constitution of the United States. I see the campus protests fundamentally as peace demonstrations. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9).”
Of course, it’s absurd to resort to any violence or destruction. But I also think it’s insulting to claim the demonstrators have been indoctrinated, as though they can’t think for themselves.
I only wish I was seeing more protests against Hamas, the terrorist organization that started all this and is now fighting for the last Palestinian child.
Finally, I disagree that we should cut off funding for universities. These institutions conduct important research, including biomedical research.
We need more education, not less.
Jim Hartman, Columbus
Anti-choice churches should be taxed for babies.
Let’s cut to the chase on anti-abortion laws.
First, an unwanted pregnancy automatically punishes the mother, whether she aborts or is forced to keep the fetus full term.
Second, the male planting his seed must also be punished. A vasectomy would protect him from future ungodly situations. Furthermore, the government should require him to pay a portion of the pregnant mother’s care before the child’s birth and for the mother and child’s care for two years thereafter.
Third, political party members who play God by passing such anti-abortion laws ought to also pass laws giving payments to help the mother they force to carry the fetus, so the unwanted fetus and child will properly develop during that same time.
Fourth, those same politicians must raise enough extra taxes to care for expectant mothers and children during that time.
Finally, church congregations that insisted on those anti-abortion laws ought to be taxed in an amount equal to what the government pays to care for the pregnant mother and child during that time.
Why don’t those who ram religious laws into their government policies trust God to enforce His own laws?
Why don’t they direct all their efforts and money to discover and eliminate the reason(s) every abortion was even considered?
Is God waiting for His own Final Judgement Day to find out if anti-abortionists personally helped pregnant mothers deal with such unwanted pregnancies by obeying His Golden Rule law?
Stanley D Krider, Delaware
Melodrama didn’t give perspective
As someone who grew up considering Israel a solid U.S. ally and abhorring anything remotely antisemitic, yet currently horrified at the tens of thousands of innocent lives lost in Gaza, I looked forward to reading the two guest columns regarding the Ohio State University protests.
I welcomed the opportunity to read both sides with an open mind.
OSU President Ted Carter’s response, while somewhat measured, was factual and included his own stance on the protests.
Keith Kilty, on the other hand, only lobbed insults, name-calling, and melodrama at the president of the university.
I wish The Dispatch had selected a less petulant writer to support the protesters’ position. Those of us who are sincerely trying to understand the issues (and the history behind them) would have appreciated it.
