Letters to the editor | Sept. 30 edition

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 29, 2021

FIRE DISTRICT CHAPLAIN

Chaplain doesn’t show concern for community

Regarding Abbot Tryphon’s refusal to get the vaccine: Nothing says love, humility, and service to others like refusing to protect your fellow humans by getting vaccinated.

Get rid of the “religious” exemption.

— Mary Woodring

‘Mark of the Beast’ statement is troubling

Regarding Father Tryphon’s suggestion that the vaccination is the “Mark of the Beast” from Revelation, I am astounded. Wait—what century is this? Don’t we live in the 21st Century? Fr Tryphon appears to dwell in the 14th. Does he have a “scientific” friend who tells him also that the sun actually revolves around the earth, created after all, in 7 days in Genesis? His “mark of the Beast” idea is absurd—and could be ignored as silly if it were not so potentially harmful to others. Enlightened? Alas, not even a glimmer of such in the fog of misinformation/ignorance which surrounds him.

— Shelley Calabrese

FIRE CHIEF

Better late than ever

It took the fire chief a while to man up. Better late than never. It looks like we are losing unvaccinated people at a high rate. That’s sad for them and theirs. Can you see getting a fire call and the department is all dead or very sick and unable to respond? Not every man and woman alive are trained to fight fires of all kinds (there are many kinds of fire) or able to perform life-saving actions when working as a well-trained paramedic. Thanks for getting your vaccination — we the people look up to your skills and bravery when the bell rings. That’s leadership — we will follow.

— Thomas Leigh-Kendall

POWER GRID

Protecting against attacks

We must do more to strengthen our power grid against an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) event. Such an event can result from an attack by terrorists or by another country (China may already have the capability, which it may use in an economic crisis), or it can occur naturally. There is disagreement about this, but some say it could result in a devastating loss of life. Why take chances?

We should also have a ground-based GPS backup system like Russia has, or we could lose internet, at the least, in an anti-satellite attack.

— Alvin Blake