Jesus left politics alone, so politics should him, too
The Christianity of our Founders used the Bible as justification for ethnic genocide of Native Americans. Is that the Christianity we should teach today?
The Christianity that supported slavery with Biblically acceptable reasons as espoused by the Founders. That should be taught to our children as well?
Moral teachings are not exclusive nor restricted to the Bible. The Golden Rule is practiced by all religions and atheists alike.
Am I to believe the reasons for the results you cited of moral decay are a punishment from God?
And where in America is it actually illegal to discuss Christianity in public schools?
I fully support moral teaching and ethics in public schools. And I honor all religions. God cannot be contained nor defined by any book, no matter how holy.
In the Gospels of the New Testament Bible, Jesus had nothing to speak about politics, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s … Thou has no power over me Pilate”…
Why do we use him for politics?
There can be no freedom “of” religion, unless we allow there to be freedom “of” religion.
Live the life your church, temple, mosque, stake, dharma, animal spirit, humanist ethics, teaches and preaches. Be an example of your faith so that your life defines what you believe. And that example will return morals and ethics for our children and culture in this country more than any school-mandated learning ever will.
Only living by your holy book, whatever that book may be, will bring the change you desire. Forced reading and recitation of the mind will never change the moral character of the heart.
And as citizens of a free republic it is our duty to preserve your opening statement on the First Amendment, and allow God to be taught at home, and lived in school.
Shannan Powell
Kailua-Kona
Protect parrotfish, protect coral
Coral reefs support a spectacular variety of fish. No one who has seen their beauty wants to see them die. Most people know that an over-heated ocean is a threat to coral, as we saw in the summer of 2015 when 85 degree water caused the “bleaching” of a large portion of Hawaii’s coral reefs. Is there anything we can do to protect our reefs in this age of ocean warming? Yes, but first we need to understand some basic biology.
To quote (my favorite) ecology writer Carl Safina, “Reef corals internally harbor single celled algae that use sunlight to make sugars. They’re a little like renters, paying with the sugars that corals need for survival.”
So if the renters (algae) die, so does the coral. And there are two main threats to the renters: 1) Unusually hot water, which causes the loss of algae, leaving the coral looking like bleached bones, and 2) Over-growth of seaweed, which blocks the sunlight and kills the algae, which also kills the coral.
While climate change has no simple solution, seaweed does. All we need is a healthy population of uhu (parrotfish). If you have snorkeled you have probably heard the grinding crunch of a parrotfish taking a bite of seaweed and coral. This keeps the reef alive and free from killer shading seaweed. And as a bonus the tiny pieces of coral in uhu poop end up making our beautiful white sand beaches.
Wherever parrotfish are over-fished, the coral reefs die. When parrotfish prosper, so does the coral. So should we be taking uhu out of the ocean? I don’t think so.
Charlie Webb
Kailua-Kona