Letters, editor Modesto Bee | Finding peace during COVID

Finding peace during hard times

COVID-19 is not our enemy; fear is. The police are not our enemy; the failure to love is our sin. Love is not an emotion, but the settled determination to bless and will the good of the other for the sake of other, expecting nothing in return. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

The wound of slavery is deep for many. Love of neighbor lifts up those who are suffering. It does not shriek obscenities at police or destroy a neighbor’s business. Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. The media, both news and social, are not sources of truth. Find your truth in prayer, or speaking with your neighbor to learn her story.

Disease, racism, lies, and violence will always be with us. While they attack us from every side, they don’t have to define us. We are defined by our love of God and of neighbor. People should know us by always speaking the truth and willing good of the other.

Turn off your devices. Take time to figure out what it means to live together in peace with those in your world. And pray, a lot.

Ross W. Lee, Modesto

One “defund police” perspective

The foolishness of the campaign to defund police is summarized in the following statement shared with me by a fellow retired police officer. “The wolf has somehow convinced the sheep that the sheepdog is the dangerous one and must be removed. I pray for the sheep when the sheepdog is gone and the wolf has the sheep all to himself.”

Eddie Erdelatz, Ripon

Please, be considerate

You do not have a constitutional right to put people in harm’s way. You can drive a car and go anywhere you want, but you cannot drive 80 mph and not stop at red lights. You can attend a crowded church service, but you cannot yell “FIRE” if there is none.

I cherish the First Amendment but it cannot put people at risk. Perhaps you should look into the source of your anger and the inconsideration of others. I do wish you well.

Fred Pete Perriera, Modesto

Barr hearing was worthless...

I’m embarrassed to admit to watching two hours of “testimony” in the AG hearings. Instead of asking questions, except the “Have you stopped beating your wife? Yes or no” variety, members of the committee gave speeches and interrupted the AG if he tried to answer. The one being questioned should do something productive, like read a book.

No matter on which side of the issue you fall, these events are a waste of everyone’s time. In a world where one man’s protester is another’s rioter, facts are meaningless.

Lee Adams, Oakdale

... A complete waste of time

If you happened to watch Attorney General Barr’s hearing directed by Rep. Jerry Nadler, the inquisition was a failure. Nadler and company did not allow Attorney William Barr to answer most of the questions. The time was dominated by threatening, in-your-face questions. No respect for Mr. Barr at all. Typical of the investigators-general approach. Long, time-consuming agenda, rambling questions with constant interference at attempts by Barr to provide answers. Total waste of time.

Ernie Seppi, Modesto

Goriel: A man of action

The election for mayor of Modesto is coming. As I look over the candidates, one person stands out for me: Naramsen Goriel. I have known Naramsen almost four years. In that time, I have seen firsthand his vision, his passion and his heart for Modesto. And he has plans to back this up.

In the five years that I have lived in Modesto, I have heard local officials complain about homelessness in our city. Naramsen actually gets out there and does something. I have seen him working with various organizations on outreach to the homeless. His plans for affordable housing are solid and based on proven, successful approaches from other cities with problems like those that face Modesto.

Naramsen has never been one to just talk. He is a man of action. And that is what we need if we are ever going to solve this problem in our city.

Darleen Patrick, Modesto

Harder works for farmers

I’ve lived on the West Side of Stanislaus County for almost 40 years and have the greatest respect for the hard-working folks who grow our nation’s food. We need a representative in Congress who listens and works for practical solutions to the challenges our agricultural sector faces.

Josh Harder has worked tirelessly to create and pass legislation addressing the problems and concerns of our district. He serves on the House Agricultural Committee and leads bipartisan efforts to help farmers with water issues, trade, pest eradication, funding, protecting county fairs, and incentivizing careers in farming. His office helps farmers cut through USDA red tape. Josh Harder recently led a bipartisan coalition to secure more dairy exports to Japan and currently leads a bipartisan effort asking the USDA to purchase more walnuts during the pandemic.

Josh Harder has proven his commitment to Central Valley and American agriculture.

Linda Scheller, Newman

President doesn’t mean “king”

We live in a very strange time. There is a virus that is worldwide with the United States having more cases. We have a president interested in dividing people and wanting those to bow down to him as he thinks himself a king.

I do see hope in the marches with diverse people. All ages, all colors, young and old, for good and peace. The president sends in fake soldiers with no names, starting violence. Who does he think he is? A dictator with his best friend: Russia.

We must all vote in the next election to return to a nation with justice and peace, a nation which used to welcome all people.

Shelly Scribner, Modesto

Crystal-balling November election

I predict Joe Biden will become our 47th president.

In mid-November, Presiddent Donald Trump will declare mail-in ballots invalid to eke out an electoral victory. Vice President Mike Pence will invoke the 25th Amendment to become the 46th president. Trump will not accept being deposed, will fire the whole cabinet and Pence, and appeal for backing from Republican senators. However, since he shredded their careers and reputations, they’ll be glad to see him gone. The Secret Service will escort Trump off the property where D.C. police will execute a warrant from New York for tax fraud stemming from the Stormy Daniels hush money payments. Pence will use his escape-pod presidency to rehabilitate his legacy from Trump lackey to dragon slayer by validating the election.

In 2021, either Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris will be Senate Majority Leader, depending on Biden’s running-mate choice. The Democratic Congress will impeach Brett Kavanaugh for lying and replace him with Merrick Garland. William Barr will be convicted of obstruction of justice. The tax code will be revamped to favor the working and middle classes.

The eventual reconstruction of the Republican Party will be based on conservative principles of hard work, self-discipline, responsibility and integrity while keeping greed and racial hatred carefully concealed.

Jason Gale, Riverbank

Denying science at our peril

President Donald Trump called human-caused global warming a hoax, and the COVID-19 pandemic a hoax. Alan Alda writes in the current AARP magazine, “Pockets of people still think science is just another opinion.”

Science denial for political strategy has been long brewing. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, Americans believed science was a good pathway to truth. We all knew that physics and chemistry were what saved us in WWII from having to learn German.

President Trump practices medicine without a license: he recommends hydroxychloroquine or internal cleansing with Lysol or ultraviolet light against the coronavirus; someday it will just fade away. Let’s stop testing, so there will be fewer COVID cases. Try telling the families of over 145,000 dead Americans that COVID-19 is a hoax.

Americans can only save ourselves from the triple threats of global climate change, COVID-19, and dictatorship by freeing ourselves from our science-denying Senate and president.

Richard Anderson, Modesto

How to safely mingle

First, replace the president, who is impossible as a national leader. But, since that cannot be done legally on short notice, do the next best thing: Get together 1,000 people or more who volunteer, without fail, to wear tightly the finest pore-size medical filter mask available, at any time they are not eating or sleeping. They should mix freely with the general public for at least a month to show that they do not get sick.

Assuming that essentially none of the participants in the test get sick, it would show how the illness could be stopped on a nationwide basis and save hundreds of thousands of lives. It is not an unreasonable or difficult test to perform locally by volunteers. It would be almost as satisfying to me as seeing the president get the virus, since he is the one who said it was all a hoax, and is responsible for tremendous misery and death.

Vance Kennedy, Modesto

$10,000 fine for littering?

Obviously a great number of drivers do not know how to use a trash container, but instead use our roadways to unload their garbage. Why not increase the penalty for littering to $10,000, and a suspension of their driver licenses? No more slap on the hands.

Let’s get these people off the road. We know all the local counties can use the money. With all the inmates being released from custody because of the coronavirus, add the requirement to pick up roadside trash for maybe 40 hours as part of their release, instead of paying state and county workers’ wages. Let’s save a few bucks, and make it a pleasure to drive locally again.

Gary Peterson, Groveland