Remove flags ADVERTISING Remove flags Regarding “Mahalo, police” (Dec. 12, Tribune-Herald): James Borden’s letter thanking Assistant Chief Henry Tavares of the Hawaii Police Department for making Lincoln Park a more pleasurable place for people to visit fails to address his
Remove flags
Regarding “Mahalo, police” (Dec. 12, Tribune-Herald): James Borden’s letter thanking Assistant Chief Henry Tavares of the Hawaii Police Department for making Lincoln Park a more pleasurable place for people to visit fails to address his own presence there as one of the problems in the park.
He has every constitutional right to sit in the park and spew his hate-filled rhetoric, but he does not have a right to affix his Christian symbols on public property that my tax dollars support.
Instead of Assistant Chief Tavares erecting flags, he ought to be removing the ones Mr. Borden puts up on public property. This is a clear violation of the concept of separation of church and state.
Charles Dumenil
Hilo
Aloha and the stars
The other day as I was driving to town, Mauna Kea was cloud-free and shinning with all her glory. As I savored that rare site, I was struck by the two white globes atop the mountain.
For a moment, I saw them as two large eyes looking out into the universe, watching the stars much as the navigators and voyagers did when finding these islands.
I had never thought of them that way before, and I wondered what the first navigators and voyagers would think about them. Would they be excited about being able to see other galaxies, stars and planets, or be angry about their presence?
When I meditated on those questions, the answer was clear to me. When you focus on aloha, there is little room for judgment, fear or anger.
Susan Gregg
Kurtistown
Have empathy
To anybody who is against refugees in any way, shape or form: If you were one, how would you want to be treated?
There’s your answer.
It’s only easy to abuse, criticize, condemn, reject, insult and label them because of our privilege having a country, home, money and dominance. Try to remember that simple fact when making decisions about how to treat abused and oppressed human beings. Things are much simpler.
Also, any time you agree with the popular or mainstream opinion (which now says how dangerous and bad refugees are, how they mess up economies, etc.), remember other popular and accepted opinions: Slavery, racism, foot-binding, witch-burning, excluding women, Holocaust, etc.
Popularity is not justice.
Matthew Pflaum
Honolulu
