Letters to the Editor for May 7

Thank you for record support at library sale

The Friends of the Library Spring Book Sale was last week, April 25-May 1, and you’re not going to believe the total: $205,639.70. In 2009 the Friends first passed the $100,000 mark and now in 2023 they have passed the $200,000 mark. Though many never believed that would be possible, the Friends just keep going and going.

We cannot say thank you enough to the Friends for all of their tireless work throughout the years. Though some of those workers are no longer with us, I know they would be extremely proud of this sale. We also owe a big debt of gratitude to all of the volunteers at the sale, the people who donated items to sell, the people who shopped and the in-kind donations. We so appreciate the support from our community and from surrounding communities through the years.

If you missed the sale, don’t worry, another comes along September 13-17. The Friends will still be at it, and who knows what the next total will be! Thanks again to everyone involved.

Regina Greer Cooper, executive director, Springfield-Greene County Libraries

When is enough enough with gun violence?

The five deaths in Cleveland, Texas are a continuation of the senseless loss of life due to gun violence. A disagreement between neighbors would have had a different outcome if not for a gun. When will we finally place more value on life than on guns?

Whether at school, at a grocery store, in one’s own yard, or any common place in our country, we are justified to be aware of the possibility of gun violence. This is not what the founders envisioned with the Second Amendment. The heartbreak throughout our country due to loss of life from gun violence cannot be undone. Is this what our country values?

While the news report of gun deaths are so prolific to be mind numbing, the families of those slaughtered by semi-automatic weapons will never be the same. In fact, death by a gun is now the leading cause of death among our children and those under 18.

With freedom comes responsibility and the unfettered proliferation of firearms is the complete denial of a problem that requires a solution. We want to live safely while enjoying the freedoms guaranteed in our constitution that are for the greater good.Anne Coleman, Kimberling City

Ban commercials depicting gay people during kid shows

The FCC needs to issue a rating rule on the commercial advertising content for children's programming. This morning on KY3 (9:20-25 a.m.) an ad ran during the Saturday show 'Earth Odyssey.' In it were depicted two men in bath towels in a bathroom setting and standing at an intimate distance. This is unacceptable. To me it was LBGTQ+ propaganda. It's now systemic in the media but sure shouldn't have aired during children's programming. That itself makes kids a primary target. It's unethical to target children with propagandistic imagery. The time slot chosen indicates planning by either a propaganda agent, agency, or both. Directed primarily towards kids with their young and developing minds. That is wrong. The FCC needs to issue advertisement-rating regulations for ad content running during children's programming.

Kevin Corbin, Springfield

Letter from a pastor to the governor on trans youth

Dear Governor Parson,

I read that you are threatening to keep the Missouri legislature in session until they send you a bill banning transgender students from participating in sports. As a member of the clergy and a resident of Missouri, I find it so troubling that passing legislation that targets a handful of students and targets them in such a cruel way, denying them the ability to participate in an activity that gives meaning and purpose and a sense of belonging and being part of something bigger than themselves. How is that THE most important thing that the Missouri legislature needs to accomplish when we have Missourians who can't afford to put food on their tables, when we have Missourians who can't access affordable health care (all while the Republican party is working overtime to deny healthcare to transgender people)? It is cruel beyond imagining. Please, shift your priorities to the things that actually affect the vast majority of Missourians.

I am so deeply disappointed in your commitment (and the Republican party in Missouri's commitment) to causing harm to transgender students. You are hiding behind statements claiming to be protecting students, but you are not protecting students. You are targeting students. You are making their lives unbearable. There are transgender students who are currently considering death by suicide because they are so distraught that there are adults in positions of power that are spending so much time and energy trying to limit their rights to just live. And there will be more students considering this if you all continue down this path.

Please, I am begging you, as a person of faith and as someone who wakes up every morning trying to follow in the way of Jesus, I am imploring you to stop the relentless attacks on trans people and focus on the things that will truly make a difference in the lives of the vast majority of Missourians.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Rev. Emily Bowen-Marler, Springfield

Don't buy the emissions hype

So the mantra is “We must cut emissions to zero or we are all going to die!” Well that’s half true. We are all going to die someday. Reducing emissions isn’t going to stop that. But, in truth, increasing emissions will keep us alive longer and allow us to flourish.

Today, when you hear the chant “Reduce Emissions or Else,” the chanters are referring to carbon dioxide, a product of both the natural and industrialized world. They are not referring to actual harmful industrial emissions. We all want to reduce those types of pollutants. But carbon dioxide? Reducing carbon dioxide is a nonsense goal.

Methane is another naturally-created gas. And a lot of it has been stored by nature underground. Methane is a clean burning fuel and one of its combustion byproducts is carbon dioxide. Those are the basic facts.

The Cut Emissions crowd consists of some honest but misguided scientists, narcissistic climate model researchers, a profiteering renewables industry, politicians corrupted by renewables lobbyists, an ill-informed and derelict media, a corrupt UN, Big Tech oligarchs, and a wealthy class of hypocritical global elites. But that isn’t all of them.

The most dangerous are the countries in the growing consortium of China-centered autocracies seeking world domination. They are not seeking Zero Emissions or following any Environmental Social Governance philosophy. Those are just propaganda tools anyway. Their objective is Zero America. And they are well on their way to achieving that objective.

Martin Capages Jr., Springfield

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Letters to the Editor for May 7