To the Editor:
In response to Mary Bennett’s thoughtful comments on abortion:
Your biblical references are from a thousands-of-years-old oral tradition of monotheism arising from paganism in the Judean world. The written Old Testament from which you quote says a lot of things that are unacceptable today (offering your daughters to visitors for the night), or just plain psycho (God testing Abraham’s loyalty and love by demanding he kill his son, Isaac). It is an often-beautiful though violent document, but the relationship with God generally so severe and punitive that God sent His only Son with a far different message in the “Good News” of the New Testament:Love over Law.
There are two kinds of belief systems: one based upon choice (e.g., religious beliefs, which do not require proof) and one based upon facts (science, which does). There are many religious belief systems world-wide. You have chosen some version of Christianity (there are many). Others have chosen otherwise.
No one argues that the moment of conception does not produce “life.” The question is, at what point does a fetus become a “human being? Since Science cannot answer that question, the issue must be resolved otherwise. Who has the superior relationship to the pregnancy? The woman who carries the fetus, or you and your chosen religious principles imposed by the State as law?
You represent that your personal chosen religious beliefs should be imposed upon a woman’s most intimate issues even if she does not share your beliefs, and include severe, punitive sanctions. They do this in Iran under Sharia law. You are welcome to your religious choices for your own life, Mary, but in a free society you cannot impose them as ”facts” derived from a three-thousand-year-old religious document.
With all due respect, Mary, other women’s moral standing or health choices are beyond your responsibility or authority, or that of the State. Still, those who believe as you do can perform a great and loving service: you can pray for her.
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore

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To the Editor:
Last week the Biden administration under Attorney General Merrick Garland indicated he is intending to indict Trump as he has convened a grand jury and, as everyone knows, obtained a criminal warrant to search and seize documents from Trump’s home. As soon as the information set out in the warrant was released at Trump’s request, those giddy with glee bounced on the word “classified” documents. The Receipt for Property says the DOJ took “various classified/TS/SCI documents (top secret and sensitive compartmented information).” The DOJ refuses to release the Affidavit which gives the pertinent information for what they actually hoped to find. Trump says they were unclassified; Garland won’t say anything.
It is then left up to the commentators on TV, cable news, newspapers and you to determine what actually was in those documents. Could they be worse than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top secret documents on the server in her home?
If Garland thought they were so sensitive in nature why did he wait? His last communication with Trump was in June. No request from the DOJ for documents or another peek into those boxes under double lock. No, let’s just knock on the door, break the locks on the storage door, riffle through the drawers and take any slip of paper we may find. This was done all with the hope there is a word or phrase found that will allow the grand jury to give into the propaganda.
And make no mistake about it--it is propaganda. And the spewing of misinformation and lack of information does nothing to give the average American a sense of peace or trust; quite the opposite. In the last 18 months at least nine individuals who were close to Trump (mostly his attorneys) have had their homes and/or offices searched, and phones seized. Congressman Scott Perry had his phone seized while on vacation with his family. They didn’t contact him or his attorney prior to the seizure.
The timing of the move by the DOJ and FBI has caused further division of the American citizenry. Dictators like Hitler, Mao, Stalin, and Pol Pot, as well as many of our current leaders, use fear to keep control. And they promote fear. Fear of COVID, climate change, war with Russia and/or China, for instance. We’re told white supremacy is the greatest threat to our country. Yet Congresswoman Julia Brownley was unable to provide me with data that supported this assertion.
This is not just about Trump. It’s about the desire for the establishment to retain power. That desire is greater than the Constitution, Bill of Rights, or the rule of law. Twitter announced this week they are going to censure (again prior to an election) what they deem misinformation.
And they want me to trust them? It’s getting harder and harder every day.
Patti Walker,
Fillmore