Practicing, not preaching, what matters
We can talk about beliefs until we are blue in the face but unless we practice honestly, integrity, fairness, kindness and generosity, then as far as I am concerned, beliefs are worthless. And most important is how we practice those virtues in relation to others who are not like us. Furthermore, in 65 years of living, I have not seen folks of any religious persuasion to have a monopoly on virtue — far from it! It’s the practicing, not the preaching, that counts.
MICHAELENE GORNEY, JOHNS CREEK
Revere 2nd Amendment too
I am amused, but sad, at the shrill and unreasonable whining regarding Mr. Cooley walking around the airport with a gun. A lady is still disturbed about seeing a man with a sidearm in McDonald’s two years ago. I’ve got news for this lady, every time she eats away form home, she is eating with people carrying their sidearm. Usually they are concealed.
And as for Mr. Cooley, how many people were shot at the airport that day?
There should be little or no conditions to the Second Amendment, just as journalists feel there should be little or no conditions to the First Amendment.
Airport gun stunt ill-advised
FRED N. CHITWOOD, REX
Alright, give Jim Cooley his 15 minutes of fame for legally walking through the airport with his daughter and an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. While he’s not in violation of the law, what were lawmakers thinking when they passed such an inflammatory, stupid law? You can kill as many people before security as after! This incident clearly demonstrates the hypocrisy of racial-ethnic prejudices. As my good friend Gerald Johnson says, “As an African-American, I wouldn’t advise black or minority men to try this.” Even as a white man, I agree with you JJ. A black man would be spread-eagle on the floor in a heartbeat. Imagine what would happen to a man in a “thawb” or “kaffiyeh” carrying an AR-15 through the airport. I also wonder how Mr. Cooley might feel about someone like that walking towards him and his daughter? One (or more) of his 100 bullets might find a new home.
KEN PAJEWSKI, LILBURN
Respect for others’ views needed
The heated arguments over rights these days is obscuring the lost art of respecting others.
As a child, I was taught to include in thinking through my choices that one should always consider how others will be affected, an idea captured in a phrase you hardly hear anymore, “first walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” In other words, practice empathy, and be sincere about it. After all, it takes a few minutes to walk that mile and that gives us time to gather perspective and weigh choices. By seeing a situation as others see it, it is possible to make choices that respect the concerns of others while keeping our rights.
But one must take that first step of making the effort to “walk that mile,” and that is where so many of us are falling down.
JERRY SEUFERT, ALPHARETTA
Sad D-Day was overlooked
I was dismayed at the AJC’s failure to acknowledge D-Day June 6, 1944 in the paper of June 6. How can we not remember? Why did the AJC not even mention the day in the paper? We have lost much when we don’t remember.
D-Day, or the Invasion of Normandy, was a turning point in the Allied effort to defeat Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower declared “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” On that day in history, more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded on the beaches of Normandy. Their sacrifice allowed the Allied soldiers to ultimately defeat Adolf Hitler. In my opinion, the failure to acknowledge and remember the day can be correlated to the weak and divided response our nation has regarding our position in international affairs.
STACY COLLINS, DULUTH
