Winston-Salem Journal LTE's FR 08/12/11

Good AM, folks! The eagle-eyed folks at Media General entitled the LTE page as Saturday LTE's.

Unborn children have value
It is disheartening to me that our nation is increasingly becoming a society of self-centered people, and abortion is one of numerous manifestations of that selfishness.

A recent letter ("Guilty civil servants," Aug. 8) chastised state Rep. Dale Folwell and state Sen. Peter Brunstetter for allegedly telling "women what they can or cannot do with their own bodies." In contrast, I commend both men for the stand they have taken.

The writer of that letter, and many others with a similar point of view, apparently don't give much, if any, consideration to the fact that abortion involves not just a woman's body but also that of her unborn child, who is a living human being with the potential to make a major contribution to the world.

Either human life has value or it doesn't, regardless of what many people, or even a government, may believe. God is the ultimate judge, not us. The Bible indicates that human life begins at conception, not after birth or even in the second trimester. (Any logical person should realize that it is strictly an arbitrary decision to designate the beginning of the second trimester as the distinction between a fetus and a baby.)

There are reasons to believe that God loves each unborn child, so every time another is aborted, it must make God sad, and it should make us sad, also. And if God regards even unborn children as worthy of his love, we ought to treat all unborn children as having value.

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HARVEY ARMOUR
Winston-Salem

Competition

Tate Reeves, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Mississippi, said the following in his victory speech after a primary election earlier this month: "We have to make sure that we're providing access to a quality education for all of our people. Black, white, rich and poor. We have to improve the early education curriculum to get children off to the best start possible. We have to put college within reach of every kid who needs it."

Well put. I just hope that the next generation of North Carolinians is prepared to compete with those who will be graduating from schools in Mississippi.

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KATHY LISLE
Winston-Salem

Debt and spending

America faces an epic debt problem; we spend far more than we earn. It's an addiction. America has produced a free-enterprise system that has benefited not only America but the world. Problem? We're broke. We have ideologies and social programs that exceed our capacity. We have weakened ourselves, financially, industrially and nationally. The debt approaches $15 trillion — about $130,000 per taxpayer. The recent debt crisis suggests major problems, unless we take action.

There are two strongly opposing positions. One holds that we must take the money we need from those who have the most — successful business owners, investors, "fat cats." Spread the wealth around. Attract intellectuals. Promote big government; depend on big government. Some suggest that that's the compassionate, wise position.

An opposing position is that we should equalize opportunity, not necessarily wealth; that penalizing (taxing) success discourages hard work and investment. Further, that when people reap the rewards of hard work and wise investment, they work and invest even more. More jobs are created, unemployment falls; that actually, it's the way of the greatest good for the greatest number.

Also there are opposing views on military spending. Is it wise; does it discourage those who wish us ill, or does it mostly waste resources?

Actually, having opposing positions is acceptable, even healthy — if we as citizens make a point of staying informed, staying involved and voting. Otherwise, we simply disagree, possibly harboring counterproductive ill feelings. We should remind ourselves of this as election year approaches.

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JAMES LASSING
Winston-Salem

Far to the right
It seems, from the bills passed by both houses of our state government, that our once-proud state is now functioning far to the right of traditionally conservative states. Miserly spending on education and health, and restrictive social policies, put us below any of our neighbors to the south.
I suppose our new Republican leaders have a plan, but returning to the 19th century shouldn't be a part of it.

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MARTHA KENNEDY
Winston-Salem