LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Posted on 28 May 2015 by LeslieM

RE: Moment of Silence vs. Prayer of Invocation

Dear Editor:

City Hall was the place-to-be last Tuesday night [May 19] when the mayor tried in vain to impose her will on the city of Deerfield Beach.

She stated she was tired of minority points of view being accepted against the majority.

The subject was the separation of Church and State.

Since the Supreme Court stated in an opinion that an invocation at public events is doable, the mayor took that as a direct order to do so by the Supreme Court. That is not the case at all.

The District 1 commissioner stated that the mayor and the commission represent all the people regardless of their religion, their beliefs or views on prayer. The commission put forth a motion to have each person pray or not to his own God if he chooses silently in a time given to that event.

That way, no one person is offended by hearing someone else’s view as to who his God is and what his name is. They can pray or not as they choose.

The vote for a minute of silence was 4 to 1.

We will wait and see whether the mayor will obey the change in procedural rules of the city or not. She was the only vote against the amendment.

We have a Supreme Court to protect the rights of minorities. Although they said it was alright to open events with an invocation, they did not say that you must.

If doing so insults some people because of a difference of faiths and beliefs, than it is best to find a solution that is not insulting. The rest of the city commission did so, and so I applaud their decision to allow each to do their own thing.

Bernie Parness

Deerfield Beach

Beware of Barbecued Bugs

Dear Editor:

Whatever happened to the good old days when the worst things we had to fear on Memorial Day were traffic jams and indigestion?

This summer, it’s all about food poisoning by the nasty E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria bugs lurking in hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken nuggets at millions of backyard barbecues.

The U.S. Meat and Poultry Hotline’s advice is to grill meat and chicken products longer and hotter. They fail to caution that high-temperature grilling forms lots of cancer-causing compounds. Do we really need to choose between food poisoning and cancer?

Luckily, enterprising food manufacturers and processors have met this challenge head-on by developing a great variety of healthful, delicious, convenient plant-based veggie burgers, veggie dogs and soy nuggets.

These wholesome foods don’t harbor nasty bugs or cancer-causing compounds. They don’t even carry cholesterol, saturated fats, drugs or pesticides. And, they are right there, in the frozen food section of our supermarket.

Let’s stay safe on the roads and safe at the family barbecue this summer!

Patrick Bendrix

West Palm Beach

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