Letters to The Editor
Readers promote mask-wearing,
share history of Christmas tree
December 2, 2020
Posted by Sheila Harris
Disclaimer:
The editor of the Barry County Advertiser reserves the right to edit or withhold from publication any letter for any reason whatsoever. Letters to the Editor reflect the opinion of the author, not necessarily that of the Barry County Advertiser or its staff. Email your letters to [email protected]
Dear Editor,
Readers, last week, I stopped at a convenience store in a neighboring town. When I was ready to check out, there were two people in line ahead of me, so I had to stand in line for a moment. Once I got to the counter, as the cashier was ringing up my tab, an older man crowded in beside me and handed the clerk $40, interrupting my effort to pay. He said to the cashier, “I want to put $40 of gas in my truck.”
As he spoke, I looked at him. The left side of his face was in profile against the afternoon sun coming through the window behind him, and I could clearly see the mist of saliva spraying from his mouth as he spoke to the cashier. It was not more than ten inches from the side of his face to my face. Now I have to ask you, just how much of that mist would have been stopped if the guy would have been wearing a mask? Think about how much he is putting others at risk, unknowingly.
Taking this into perspective, I can assure you that this man’s opinion on wearing a mask would be the same as Titus Trotter and Kathy Casey.
The idea of wearing a mask is not to protect you from others, but instead it is to protect those around you from any illness you might be carrying, but are unaware of. While a mask won’t filter out bacteria, it will do wonders to stop the mist of particles such as this.
People have been known to contract this virus and carry it for weeks without it being detected, and at the same time, show very few symptoms. But by wearing no mask, just how many others do you think they unknowingly infected? How many people died as a result of their irresponsibility?
The doctors, the nurses, the epidemioligists all say that a mask is definitely helpful in preventing the spread of COVID-19, especially when we are in congested areas.
Let’s view it from another perspective. In the state of Missouri, as of Thanksgiving day, 402 had died in traffic mishaps since the first of the year. But in the same time frame, 3,783 have died from COVID-19 in the state of Missouri (at the time of this writing). That’s 9.4 deaths from COVID-19 for every one death from a traffic fatality. But are only the traffic fatalities worthy of your concern? Are only traffic fatalities worthy of state regulation? Since the number of traffic deaths is so small, should we do away with speed limits? Take down stop signs? After all, aren’t they another example of government intrusion?
If you happen to be one of those who says, “It’s less than a two percent fatality rate,” or “Everyone will get it eventually,” you need to keep in mind that two percent of 6.137 million people (the population of Missouri) is over 122,000 people.
I’m not saying that everyone should wear a mask every time they go anywhere, but don’t be afraid to put yourself out just a tiny bit for the safety of others. It’s not that big of a deal.
As of November 30, 2020, Taiwan has gone 232 days without a single case of COVID.
But if you still feel a mask is an intrusion on your freedoms, I wonder if Herman Cain would agree with you?
Gail Purves
Cassville
Dear Editor,
Suppose that you meet someone new from a foreign country who have a hard time communicating with, and you invite them to come stay at your home for a few days. Then let’s suppose that they have never heard of Christmas or any of its traditions.
They show up at your home at the same time you come home from shopping for presents. You have a bag of pre-wrapped presents in your hand when you let them in, and you motion for them to sit down in a chair while you put the presents under your tree that you had already put up in your home.
Then they watch you kneel down on your knees as you put the presents under this tree, then sit and admire your tree.
What do you imagine they might think you are doing? Do you believe there is any chance they might be thinking you are bowing down and offering presents to this “god?”
Many, many years ago, people were uneducated and very superstitious. Every winter when it got cold, most of the trees would lose their leaves. People believed those trees had died. The people also believed that evergreen trees were gods because they didn’t lose their leaves and die like the other trees had.
These same uneducated and superstitious people would then go out into the woods and cut these down and carry them into their homes and nail boards to them, so they wouldn’t fall over. Then they would decorate these gods with carved ornaments and silver and gold trinkets. Then they would put presents under these gods.
This is where the tradition of putting the Christmas trees up in your home every year came from. Jeremiah 10:2-5 says, “Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are useless: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm trees, but they speak not: they must be carried because they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them; they the cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.”
Do you realize this is telling us all that we are not supposed to learn the ways and customs of other heathen nations? We are not supposed to be putting these false gods up in our homes and bowing down our knees and giving them presents every year. This is a false pagan tradition.
Are you still just as uneducated and superstitious as people of old?
Boyd B. McNiel
Pea Ridge
Posted by Sheila Harris
Disclaimer:
The editor of the Barry County Advertiser reserves the right to edit or withhold from publication any letter for any reason whatsoever. Letters to the Editor reflect the opinion of the author, not necessarily that of the Barry County Advertiser or its staff. Email your letters to [email protected]
Dear Editor,
Readers, last week, I stopped at a convenience store in a neighboring town. When I was ready to check out, there were two people in line ahead of me, so I had to stand in line for a moment. Once I got to the counter, as the cashier was ringing up my tab, an older man crowded in beside me and handed the clerk $40, interrupting my effort to pay. He said to the cashier, “I want to put $40 of gas in my truck.”
As he spoke, I looked at him. The left side of his face was in profile against the afternoon sun coming through the window behind him, and I could clearly see the mist of saliva spraying from his mouth as he spoke to the cashier. It was not more than ten inches from the side of his face to my face. Now I have to ask you, just how much of that mist would have been stopped if the guy would have been wearing a mask? Think about how much he is putting others at risk, unknowingly.
Taking this into perspective, I can assure you that this man’s opinion on wearing a mask would be the same as Titus Trotter and Kathy Casey.
The idea of wearing a mask is not to protect you from others, but instead it is to protect those around you from any illness you might be carrying, but are unaware of. While a mask won’t filter out bacteria, it will do wonders to stop the mist of particles such as this.
People have been known to contract this virus and carry it for weeks without it being detected, and at the same time, show very few symptoms. But by wearing no mask, just how many others do you think they unknowingly infected? How many people died as a result of their irresponsibility?
The doctors, the nurses, the epidemioligists all say that a mask is definitely helpful in preventing the spread of COVID-19, especially when we are in congested areas.
Let’s view it from another perspective. In the state of Missouri, as of Thanksgiving day, 402 had died in traffic mishaps since the first of the year. But in the same time frame, 3,783 have died from COVID-19 in the state of Missouri (at the time of this writing). That’s 9.4 deaths from COVID-19 for every one death from a traffic fatality. But are only the traffic fatalities worthy of your concern? Are only traffic fatalities worthy of state regulation? Since the number of traffic deaths is so small, should we do away with speed limits? Take down stop signs? After all, aren’t they another example of government intrusion?
If you happen to be one of those who says, “It’s less than a two percent fatality rate,” or “Everyone will get it eventually,” you need to keep in mind that two percent of 6.137 million people (the population of Missouri) is over 122,000 people.
I’m not saying that everyone should wear a mask every time they go anywhere, but don’t be afraid to put yourself out just a tiny bit for the safety of others. It’s not that big of a deal.
As of November 30, 2020, Taiwan has gone 232 days without a single case of COVID.
But if you still feel a mask is an intrusion on your freedoms, I wonder if Herman Cain would agree with you?
Gail Purves
Cassville
Dear Editor,
Suppose that you meet someone new from a foreign country who have a hard time communicating with, and you invite them to come stay at your home for a few days. Then let’s suppose that they have never heard of Christmas or any of its traditions.
They show up at your home at the same time you come home from shopping for presents. You have a bag of pre-wrapped presents in your hand when you let them in, and you motion for them to sit down in a chair while you put the presents under your tree that you had already put up in your home.
Then they watch you kneel down on your knees as you put the presents under this tree, then sit and admire your tree.
What do you imagine they might think you are doing? Do you believe there is any chance they might be thinking you are bowing down and offering presents to this “god?”
Many, many years ago, people were uneducated and very superstitious. Every winter when it got cold, most of the trees would lose their leaves. People believed those trees had died. The people also believed that evergreen trees were gods because they didn’t lose their leaves and die like the other trees had.
These same uneducated and superstitious people would then go out into the woods and cut these down and carry them into their homes and nail boards to them, so they wouldn’t fall over. Then they would decorate these gods with carved ornaments and silver and gold trinkets. Then they would put presents under these gods.
This is where the tradition of putting the Christmas trees up in your home every year came from. Jeremiah 10:2-5 says, “Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are useless: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm trees, but they speak not: they must be carried because they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them; they the cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.”
Do you realize this is telling us all that we are not supposed to learn the ways and customs of other heathen nations? We are not supposed to be putting these false gods up in our homes and bowing down our knees and giving them presents every year. This is a false pagan tradition.
Are you still just as uneducated and superstitious as people of old?
Boyd B. McNiel
Pea Ridge