In response to Nate Odgaard’s recent letter about “traditional values,” certain things must be noted. Odgaard writes about the replacement of science teaching with intelligent design in Kansas schools.

While I agree that this is not actual replacement, it should be noted that intelligent design is not science. Suggesting that ID is science, by teaching it in science class, is confusing to students and inappropriate. If people want there to be an “alternative” to science, then it should have its own class. It should not be taught in a class about science.

Further, the idea that ID is more “fathomable” doesn’t make it better. I don’t pretend to understand the exact workings of electricity, but I’m not going to say that “light fairies” make the lights work to make it easier to understand. This is not to say that ID is myth or legend, but it also is not science.

Lastly, his comments on homosexuality bring me to a point that I do not believe has been made. With all due respect, if your church does not want to recognize homosexual unions, then by all means restrict that in your church. But, why would you impose that on people who don’t think as you do?

This country is supposed to be about freedom. That means that you have the freedom to worship as you choose, say what you want, in fact do as you please, but it doesn’t mean that you have the right to impose those beliefs on others when they do nothing to actually harm you.

There is no attack on “traditional values.” You are able to enjoy, support and value the things that you hold dear. But, you would deny those same rights to people who do not agree with your particular set of values and then call it an attack. Does that sound like freedom to you? It doesn’t to me.

Our parents were committed to solid education for us and future generations. This included good lessons in financial soundness as well as good academics. I fear this extravagant Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca school bond proposal could harm much of the solid foundation which our forefathers established at SDA.

Nebraska taxes are becoming a greater burden on seniors every day. A 15 percent raise in our local property tax rate to pay for this excessive proposal will be more than many seniors can bear.

I would like to know why I should pay hundreds of extra dollars more for each of the next 20 years to pay for this expensive boondoggle which includes a multimillion-dollar athletic facility. How many of you know that 44 percent of this plan goes for a new gym/locker room? This, at a time when we are in the midst of a serious drought, which affects not only our friends in agriculture but Main Street merchants as well!

The idea of building a fourth gymnasium for our district would never have crossed the minds of my parents’ generation. This would have been seen as wasteful. With the proposed school bond, only 23 percent of the bond is being used for core classrooms.

Let’s focus more on academics and good instruction and give our children a good lesson in sound money management by voting against this proposal. This will serve our children the best.

It’s time to take the Republican Congress to the woodshed, before we are all taken to the cleaners. This modern Republican Party, which has clearly forsaken many of the conservative principles upon which the party routinely campaigns, has raised pork-barrel spending to breathtaking levels, deepened our debt to the point that we must hold our noses and smooch the behinds of such freedom-loving nations as the People’s Republic of China (proud holders of billions of our debt), and has positioned us at the brink of a financial crisis that virtually guarantees massive tax increases and deep cuts in services in the near future.

One of bin Laden’s goals was to bankrupt the United States; he doesn’t have to — the Republican Party is doing it for him. Modern Republicans also have demonstrated that they talk tough when it comes to fighting our enemies, but they can’t, or won’t, actually win. And, not satisfied with the rate at which American jobs are outsourced abroad, they have turned a blind eye toward employers who hire illegal immigrants to avoid paying decent wages to Americans.

Republicans who describe themselves as “independent” (Jeff Fortenberry, LJS, Aug. 23) have almost unanimously supported this agenda (95 percent support from the “independent” Mr. Fortenberry).

If we re-elect these folks, we’ll get what we deserve — higher taxes, reduced services, a humiliating military defeat and the loss of our status as the world’s leader. It’s time for a good spanking.

As the midterm election swings into full gear, I am reminded once again how both parties have sold us down the proverbial river and yet we voters continue to row the boat for them.

The federal government continues to grow. Worse, it continues to invade other countries, as well as our lives, with more laws and higher taxes. It continues to burden us and our descendants with massive public debt. We lose privacy, wealth and self-determination because the two parties continue to legislate against all three.

In a truly free country, government does not attempt to confiscate your wealth through excessive taxation or inflation, nor curtail your freedom and perhaps your life by coercing you to fight in dubious foreign conflicts. In a free society, the government does not determine the value of money by printing ink on paper; rather, it abides by a gold or silver standard.

I hope that we are at an electoral crossroads. What we need is real, true change! I know of only one party presently that will abide by the principles of liberty established and tested in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution: the Libertarian Party.

Recently I came across a small article titled “Church dumps teacher for being female.” The actions of the First Baptist Church in Watertown, N.Y,. were intolerable. I am outraged.

How, after employing women for (at the very least) 54 years, can a church reinterpret the Bible and claim it bans women from working in it? People have been supporting sexism and racism with the Bible for far too long. It’s time for it to stop!

Every time someone uses the Bible to justify the unjust, I feel saddened. If the Bible teaches us anything, it should be peace, love, and respect for our fellow (wo)man. My heart goes out to Sunday School teacher Mary Lambert. She has been wronged.

To make this as simple as possible, loud pipes are very useful. Believe it or not, many of us are law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. We are making you aware that we are near you, so that way you don’t cut us off, causing an accident that leads to higher insurance, bad driving records, court appearances, lawsuits, etc.

Yes, I ride a motorcycle. In a perfect world, where everyone paid attention to their driving habits, we would not be having this dialogue, but until this happens, did you hear me coming? Then they work. The noise made you aware I am here.

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