On the human race: Letters to the editor, Sept. 19

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There are no others

Racism has been a subject of news stories, of conversations, of legislation, all my life.

I first really became aware in the mid-'60s, and I remember writing a letter to President Johnson when I was 10 advising him to go to Alabama in person and put a stop to human beings being hit with water cannons, but since the election of Donald Trump it has really catapulted into a daily barrage of headlines, accusations and arguments.

The entire concept of race is strange to me — a black race, an Asian race, a Caucasian race. I'd argue, perhaps unscientifically, that we all belong to the human race, and we should all have each other's backs.

If Mars attacks, do we not fight alongside each other, man, woman, black, white? A holy man, Ramana Maharshi, was once asked, "How should we treat others?" and he replied, "There are no others."

That concept is easy to understand and adopt. If we tried it, we might like it.

Lars Frederiksen, Nashville 37206

Biblical misinterpretation

In his Sept. 15 apologia for those who choose same-gender-genital-action-partners, retired priest Joseph Breen starts with a heresy and goes on to pomposity and lying.

"Imagine," Breen wrote, "if ... there was total peace." In Matthew 10:34, Jesus proclaimed: "I came not to send peace, but a sword," defining the Christian mission as a war against sinful conduct.

Breen pushes the conceit that Jesus would welcome habitual abominators "with open arms," and that's simply a lie. While Christ welcomes all who repent and refrain from a previous sin, he commands us to stay away from, for example, habitual offenders against the ban against sex outside of heterosexual monogamy.

In "The Communist Manifesto," Karl Marx commanded that the traditional family had to be destroyed, and that shared Judeo-Christian norms of sustainability, decency, temperance and accountability had to be exterminated, in order to create a chaotic despair sufficient for his elitist dictatorship to steal our freedom.

The Tennessean, which continues to promote Obama's scheme to kill off private, individually tailored, affordable health insurance, is a running-dog lackey for the Communist crusade.

David Altschul, Nashville 37211

When the ACA counted most

Earlier this week the Tennessean wrote about the tragic loss of indie rocker Jessi Zazu, co-founder of Those Darlins, at the very young age of 28.

Jessi died of cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). Jessi was one of my nephew’s closest friends. Their thing was music. Mine is public health.

By Jessi’s own account, the Affordable Care Act provided her access to the care she needed. She was just one of the 43 percent of musicians who lacked health insurance prior to the ACA, more than twice the rate among adults nationwide.

Jessi went to Planned Parenthood for health care services, like millions of others do every year. She previously sought care elsewhere but was unable to get appointments and a proper diagnosis. Planned Parenthood was there for her when other providers were not.

Two of Jessi’s most important tools in her fight against cervical cancer were two of the things that Congress is fighting so hard to take away from us — the Affordable Care Act and Planned Parenthood. It is also worth noting that there is now a vaccine to protect against most of the cancers caused by HPV infection. Jessi was outspoken, passionate and inspirational. I hope others will continue to speak up and speak out for the throngs of musicians and Tennesseans who rely on care through ACA.

Erica Salem, Chicago, IL 60613