The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Merrill Foto News, its publishers, Editor, or staff.
To the Editor:
State Senator Mary Felzkowski has co-authored legislation to make Wisconsin a Second Amendment sanctuary state. Assemblyman Calvin Callahan (who’s also a supervisor on the Lincoln County board) tried, at the county level, to get Second Amendment sanctuary status for Lincoln County. We stopped it by a vote of 13-9.
But neither Felzkowski nor Callahan seems to know or understand the history of sanctuary, which is a sacred space or consecrated place.
The Christian church had instituted sanctuary by the fifth century. It was a place to escape from violence, a space free of violence, a refuge for those threatened by violence. It was not a sanctuary for violence. To give sanctuary status to weaponry and violence is to turn the entire meaning of sanctuary upside down.
It is a mockery of what sanctuary stands for. It is spiritual blasphemy.
That those who claim to be our leaders can be so ignorant – and perhaps even contemptuous – of the meaning of sanctuary is stunning, to put it mildly.
– Paul Gilk
Merrill, Wis.
To the Editor:
Roadside Trash
Back in the “good ole days,” a spring ritual for a neighbor and myself, was to cruise the roadside ditches to see what treasures had surfaced after snow melt. A typical harvest for our section of State Hwy. 107 would be a variety of beverage cans (mostly Budweiser), fast food wrappers, car/truck exhaust parts, disposable diapers, Big Buddy cups, etc.
Here and now, 2021, these brand/categories have changed. First, I must admit this roadside ditch science is flawed when drawing conclusions. The sample area is very small and inconsistent. Coors containers far outnumbered all other brands by a margin of 3 to 1. Busch came in second, and Blatz follows in an aggressive third place.
Newcomer brands to our highway drainage system are Keystone beer, Natural Ice, and Smirnoff Ice. In the prettiest beer can category, a Christmas edition of Budweiser with those beautiful Clydesdale horses was my pick; there was only one horse beer can found. Coors is okay, but my beer of choice is Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss; there were no Leines empties in the 107 ditches.
What do we do with the empty alcohol containers and other trash? How badly do we want to identify with roadside garbage along the highways of Northern Illinois and Indiana? Local drinking drivers have turned Highway 107 into a linear landfill! Maybe throw the empties in the parking lots where they were purchased? Our real landfill is located north of Merrill on County Road “R.”
-Rich Prange
Merrill, Wis.
To the Editor:
I have always maintained that the GOP is the single greatest threat to our nation. On January 6, I was proven right. Now, we are all under attack again by the very people who are sworn to protect and lead us. The murder of George Floyd and many others motivated progressives to reevaluate some aspects of law enforcement and consider appropriate changes. It motivated conservatives to attempt to destroy Freedom of Speech and legalize assault and murder. The laws proposed, and in some cases passed, by the GOP would do just that. These laws were not considered after the insurrection at the capitol. An actual physical attack on our government and the assault and murder of capitol police has not motivated the GOP to do anything. People protesting a blatant murder inspires them to attack the first amendment. Could that be because the insurrection was exclusively white people while the George Floyd protests were mostly African Americans?
I, personally, cannot comprehend how anyone could support a political party that wishes to legalize the assault and murder of people expressing their constitutional rights. I just wonder, if legislation was passed to legalize the assault and murder of people carrying assault rifles in public, how fast would the GOP react?
Remember, if they take away all our rights except Freedom of Speech, we can get them all back. If they take away free speech, they can take away anything.
-Doug Curtis
Gleason, Wis.
To the Editor:
Today I turned on the TV, and all of a sudden it appears the “my body, my choice” people are claiming I should be vaccinated for the good of my fellow man. I should be forced to comply, if necessary, all for the good of my neighbor, of course. The governor should mandate it. I should be punished if I don’t comply. Deny me my first amendment rights, restrict my travel, keep me in a mask until all danger is past. Whatever it takes for them to feel protected and safe.
Whatever happened to their chants of “my body, my choice?” They argued it was their right to cut a foreign invader from their body. This glob of tissue was no longer a baby. It was a fetus, defined in 1960 as an “unborn animal.” This fetus/animal had no right to live.
Now the same people want to deny me the right to decide what is injected into my body. They will decide what level of risk is acceptable for me. They would risk my life and my well being to make themselves feel safe. Why am I surprised? Do you really think my life is more important to them than the life of their own unborn child?
– Charlotte Schug
Athens, Wis.
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