Regarding “Victims of Nashville school shooting honored in somber vigil,” (March 29): The unmitigated hypocrisy and incredible gall any Republican politician had to appear at the vigil for the Nashville victims leaves me breathless with anger. If it weren’t for Republicans, we would at least have a ban on assault weapons. They are military-style weapons which should only be used by the military.
But Republican politicians are so under the thumb of their NRA benefactors that they don’t dare vote for sensible gun laws of any kind. In my eyes, Republican politicians are de facto murderers.
To show up at a service for victims of gun violence, who they essentially helped to kill, is outrageous.
And I wonder if they think they and their children or grandchildren are immune from the epidemic of mass shooting? Do they think they are protected by attending private schools? Well, apparently not. The Tennessee victims attended a small, private religious school.
Republican elected officials are not protected by their money and their precious position and power, which they so zealously protect above all else, including children’s lives.
This kind of mass murder can happen anywhere, to anyone. Do they just choose to ignore it and pray it never happens to them or theirs? I don’t know how bad this epidemic of mass murder has to get before they see that we are all possible victims, and they are the perpetrators.
Marcia Tibbets, Houston
Regarding “Prayer can be the prerequisite to action (Opinion),” (March 30): Today we use “idol” loosely, to describe celebrities or talent show winners. But Passover and Easter remind us the word is deadly serious. After repeated divine interventions had liberated them, the newly freed people of Israel took gold, made a statue and claimed their own creation had saved them.
Like all idolatry, that’s a lie. No man-made object, however beautiful or valuable, has any power except what we give it. People have been willing to give idols great power, offering them adoration and sacrifices, including even their fellow humans.
David French mentions “gun idolatry.” He’s right.
As of old, people proudly flaunt their idols, even putting guns on their Christmas cards. They declare that only death will take their guns from them. They claim more guns make us safer, when the truth is they only make it likelier someone will die. And they take no responsibility for the sacrifices their idols extract.
In the Bible, idolatry split a community between believers in the true God and those who followed a false one. We have to decide, as people did long ago, which one we will follow.
Nancy Perich Daly, Houston
The writer is mistaken. The vast majority of prayers I have witnessed led to no action whatsoever from the one praying even though they were a person of devout faith. I am a scientist and Christian mystic. My prayers cry out to the Holy Spirit to guide and empower my response to tragedies, such as children being killed from gun violence.
The Gospels make it clear that God, incarnate in Jesus, gave us the Holy Spirit to act with love toward those who are suffering. Love is the first fruit of the Holy Spirit. Love (agape in Greek) in that case means unconditional, sacrificial, selfless and in-action help. For me, the clear message of the Gospel is that we are God’s hands and feet on this earth. It is through our prayers that we directly discern our responses to tragedies.
John T. James, Houston
Regarding “Gender identity didn’t kill those Nashville kids. Guns did. (Opinion),” (March 30): I think Ms. Giles is so used to defending trans youth she sees offense where none is intended. I thought the cartoon mentioned was excellent. To me it made the point that a child is a child (a person is a person) and pronouns don’t matter to a shooter, yet our legislators choose to spend their time on pronouns instead of dealing with gun control.
Julie J. Redd, Kingwood
Pitch clock
Regarding “Against baseball’s new pitch clock,” (March 29): For those critical of Major League Baseball’s new pitch clock rule, I can attest firsthand that it really does work.
It saved me close to three hours last night because I switched channels before the first inning was over, allowing me to catch up on a backlog of Will Trent episodes.
Thank you, MLB!
In sum: If you did not watch MLB prior to the new pitch clock rule, it’s doubtful that you will watch MLB moving forward because of the new pitch clock rule.
Gregory Ford, Houston