Let’s hope America has progressed

Let’s hope America has progressed

Quote our founders with caution. Ethan Betterton (“As founders declared, rights are God-given,” July 26 letter) cites the Declaration of Independence, a message to the king of England.

The Declaration is a defense of the rights of Englishmen in America.

Nobody else on the American continent had any rights, including the founders’ wives and daughters.

Did the Creator endow only white men with rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

No, the founders, including Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, did the deed.

Betterton wrote that those “words [in the Declaration] defined our . . . nation, and . . . still do.” Let’s hope not.

LEE SHORT
ROANOKE

Effective but expensive swatter: the flyPad

Seniors need newspapers.

I was visiting my niece and asked if I could borrow a newspaper. “This is the 21st century,” she said. “I don’t waste money on newspapers. Here, you can borrow my iPad.”

I can tell you this. That fly never knew what hit him!

MARLIN THOMPSON
BOONES MILL

Both are testaments of God’s love

In his July 22 Pick of the day, “God doesn’t change, understanding does,” Allen Starbuck writes, “The depiction of God changes tremendously between the Old and New Testaments.” This is a common misconception. When Jesus told us to love “our neighbors and our enemies,” he was quoting from the Old Testament: Leviticus, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” and Proverbs, “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat.”

Jesus made use of the Old Testament in all his teachings. To him, what the Old Testament said, God said. The New Testament is the fulfillment of the old, not a new moral law. People also tend to ignore the fact that Jesus, like the prophets of old, had harsh words for the unrepentant.

The Old Testament is the story of God’s love. All the prophets’ warnings of doom and gloom had the one purpose of bringing people back to God. “His mercy endures forever” is a common refrain in the Psalms. The “jealousy” of God is the anguish of a father watching his precious children, despite all warnings, going down a path of destruction.

We must read the whole Bible to know what God is like.

NANCY YOUNG
BLUE RIDGE

An armed bully took a teen’s life

Re: George Zimmerman’s acquittal:

I would like to thank juror B37’s courageousness for enlightening this country on what was going on in the jury’s decision.

I understand the tedious job that the jurors had to go through, and I understand and respect their decision.

As I see it, although his judgment is final, the husky Zimmerman’s insubordinate, quick and cowardly decision toward teenager Trayvon Martin was that of bullying with a bullet.

I hope and pray that, in retrospect, Zimmerman realizes a human soul is so much more valuable than a stupid piece of American freedom.

ABE TRAYNHAM
ROANOKE

Weather Journal

4 hours ago

1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County 

2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day

3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys

4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping 

5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football 

6. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust

7. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen

8. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible

9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli 

10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area