Letters to the Editor
OLLI offers great learning opportunities
for valley's seniors
We can be proud of our UNLV -- OLLI program, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute ("Celebrate a love of learning with OLLI," Prime View, Sept. 6). This seniors program is offered on the UNLV Paradise campus located on East Tropicana Avenue at Swenson. It has over 1,000 members -- semi retired or retired adults. OLLI offers many courses -- Drawing & Painting, Health is Wealth, Working with Dreams, Writer's workshop and Genealogy are among the wide variety. Classes started the past week, and there's something for everyone.
OLLI Board of Directors President Ed Devore, Assistant Director Heather Haslem of the Senior Programs, and Executive Director of Community Campus Elizabeth Baldizan have built a community of lifelong learners and helped active adults create new friendships. Often active adults say there's no educational or social programs geared to them. As a member of OLLI, I can say that's not true. The UNLV Senior Programs are open to provide the enjoyment, learning and socializing that comes from the many study groups offered. You can contact popular and efficient administrative assistant Trude Thomson at 895-0453 and see for yourself.
-- Clyde Dinkins
Las Vegas
Not all of the founding fathers were christian
This is a response to the letter of the Rev. R.G. Wright ("America founded on Judeo-Christian ethic, not Islam, reverend says," Sept. 13).
Undoubtedly most of the 55 signers of the Constitution were Christians. However, the most important of the Founders were not Christians. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe held complex religious views, but they could not be characterized as Christians by any past or present definition of the term. They are most fairly characterized as Deists, and Deists definitely were not Christians. All these men openly expressed serious criticism of the Christian religion. Other leading Founders who were not Christians include Thomas Paine, who wrote an entire book debunking the Bible, and Benjamin Franklin, who was a polytheist. The Constitution is the founding document of our government, and it is based not on any religious principles but on Enlightenment and Humanist principles.
The motto "In God We Trust" was adopted during the red scare of the 1950s. Our country's original motto is E Pluribus Unum (From Many, One), which united all Americans. The new motto divides Americans because millions of Americans do not trust in your god and resent being told by the government that they must trust anyone's god.
Both the Bible and the Quran contain passages that teach love and forgiveness, and both also contain passages that teach hatred and prejudice. Most Christians and Muslims choose to follow whichever passages can be interpreted to support their personal biases.
-- Joseph F. Boetcher
Las Vegas
Letters and questions are always welcome
View encourages readers to send letters to the editor on local issues. Have a gripe? Want to weigh in on a local matter? Have an opinion about a story you read in View? Join the conversation about making the Las Vegas Valley a better place to live. Please keep letters to no more than 300 words. Email letters@viewnews.com, or mail to Letters to the Editor, View Newspapers, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070.
View also seeks the answers to questions residents have about the community. Have you been wondering what's going on in the vacant lot down the street? Do you want to know when that city project is expected to be finished? Send your questions about the Las Vegas Valley to asktheview@viewnews.com, or Ask the View, c/o View Newspapers, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070.
The first week of every month View runs stories on the history behind street, building and place names. Send "Naming Las Vegas" topic suggestions to editor Steve Blust at sblust@viewnews.com or write to him at P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070.
