Letters to the Editor
Xanthro
Published Letters: 522 Editor's Choice: 47
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Human Misconception
[Read the article: Chimps dig older chimp chicks!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's erroneous to think that humans males universally have a greater attraction to younger women. While currently, in most large societies this is true, that has not always been the case. Even in Western society, it was very common not long ago for middle and lower class men to marry older women.
While we often hear about very young girls getting married in history, this is often because they were noblity and don't reflect the common situation. Even then there is a legitimate reason other than youth for young girls marrying. If affects of diet such as sugar on the nobles health was extreme. Many teeth were lost before people were in their 20s, and other disordered constantly wrecked the bodies of even the highest status people. Someone in their 20s and 30s could be considered exceedingly old in terms of life expectancy, and usually the higher the status the more unhealthy the diet.
Health is a universal attraction, and if younger women looked more healthy, then men will be attracted to them. If older women look more healthy, such as in areas where it's a sign they can resist local disease, then older women are considered more attractive.
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Litmus Test!
[Read the article: Souls on ice]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Is acceptance of homosexuality the new litmus test for progressives? Do we all have to agree that homosexuality is alright and reject what the Bible says about it to be seen as non-bigoted by people such as Dickerson?
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Yes, if by progressive you mean people who aren't inclined to force their beliefs upon another.
The Bible is as clearly pro-slavery as it is anti-gay, and in fact, for many generations the Bible was used as religious justification for the enslavement of Africans.
Even today, it would be unlikely that most State population would support an amendment allowing inter-racial marriage. Loving V. Virginia overturned the many State laws making marriage between a Black and White a criminal offense. The decision was exceedingly unpopular at the time (1964) and is a direct comparison to the efforts today to recognize marriage between those other than a man and woman.
Anti-Gay bigotry and anti-Black bigotry is mined from the same vein. Either a person is born Gay, and in that case has no more control over being gay than a person does being Black, or you end up supporting the practice of “Passing.” Where light colored Blacks would pass as White, and have to silently renounce their own race and families, in order to have maximum opportunity in society.
When you look down on someone or discriminate against someone simply because of who she or he is, and not what she or he has done, then you are a bigot, whether the trigger is color of skin or attraction of gender.
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excepted practice?
[Read the article: 5-year-old victims expected to face their rapists]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Accepted practice?
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Ask her to read the Book of Matthew
[Read the article: My mother tithes 10 percent -- but she can't make her house payments]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ask her to read Matthew 10:
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
There is no Christian requirement to tithe. Nowhere will you see Christ accepting money, though he was entitled as a priest.
Tithing is to help those in need, and your mother is in need. She can’t meet her own financial obligations, so her choices need to be, either cut back on her own spending and downsize her house and keep helping others less fortunate (assuming her church actually does this) or reduce her tithing and keep her current expenses. In no way should she burden you with her financial problems when they are self imposed.
This is a simple choice between two of your mother’s wishes, keeping her current home or keeping her tithing at its current level. Being an adult means making difficult choices, and it’s time your mother make that choice.
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Some people should not write movie reviews
[Read the article: Maya in the Thunderdome]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is one of those times. This review is internally inconsistent.
"...presumably human, though the Spanish never witnessed any of the sacrifices themselves. It is also true that "skull-racks," as seen in the movie, were found at some sites in the Yucatan. However, these were practices adopted by Maya groups very late in their history."
The movie depicts the very late Mayan, hence, the Spanish appearing on the coast. The fact that the custom and dress doesn't matter, it's called dramatic license.
The sad truth is that Gibson didn't even get the details close to correct for Passion of the Christ, so to expect him to get the details for Apocalypto correct is asking a bit too much.
Apocalypto is a story about a person and his family, the setting is the background, it's meant to be beautiful and exotic, but not a historical representation.
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Basic Research please
[Read the article: "Letters From Iwo Jima"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]27,000 American soldiers weren't killed in Iwo Jima, that's wounded, that's a mistake that should never make it into an article as it shows a lack of basic fact checking.