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THURSDAY. JANUARY 7. 2016 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 7A
Schools donate to CARES food pantry
Bad weather probable cause
of Burnt Mountain fatality
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Letters to the Editor
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Can a religious person be a
supportive citizen of the USA,
holding true allegiance to a reli
gion and to a secular government
at the same time? So far in our
country the answer has been a
clear “Yes”. That concept may
now be undergoing the early be
ginnings of a profound change.
I am a Christian, Protestant,
Reformed, Presbyterian, Calvin
ist. I say so and proclaim it right
on the top of my old resume.
And I am well aware that the his
tory of my religion in the world
has much in it that would make
anyone with a lick of sense hang
their head in shame.
After Christianity became the
official religion of Rome around
300 AD, it existed hand in hand
with oppressive and violent
kings throughout the dark and
the middle ages. The Reforma
tion in the 16th century came and
with it came bloody, cruel wars
between the Catholics and
Protestants. We burned each
other and tortured each other
until both sides collapsed in ex
haustion. While that was going
on, Islam took in war much of
the old Christian world and re
moved most of that religion from
its territory.
And then the American Revo
lution came. For the first time,
the idea that religion and the gov
ernment would part ways and be
two different things came into
our midst. It came primarily be
cause my Baptist brothers and
sisters insisted that the govern
ment keep its nose out of their
churches. And with it came the
idea that religious organizations
would not seek their power
through the government.
That simple stunning idea is
our supreme gift to the world. It
means that I must be willing to
let my fellow citizens find their
own way to heaven or hell or to
oblivion as they see fit, and they
must extend that right me. And
while we practice our religions,
we will support and swear alle
giance to a secular government
that protects us all.
Islam has had no Reforma
tion. Islam was not a factor in
the American Revolution and did
not absorb its ideas. Islam has
always seen itself in a combined
dual role as the government of
the people as well as the religion
of the people. These two aspects
of life have not been separated.
Nor has the cleavage of Sunni
and Shia been reconciled as the
wound between Catholics and
Protestants was healed.
Today, in our country, Chris
tians are a large portion of the
voters and those voters have built
a system of government that is
largely neutral in religious mat
ters. If Islam were the majority,
what kind of government would
we then have? That is the ques
tion which we must ask and that
is the question we, all of us, must
answer.
Gary Pichon
Dear Editor:
Vanity enough to desire to
rule over us but not enough guts
to defend us.
The Democrat and Republi
can parties, the new world order
billionaires, the president, the
congress and the betraying courts
have vanity enough to desire to
rule over us but not enough guts
and desire to defend us. They
wouldn’t save us at Benghazi
and seeing one of us get his head
cut off didn’t make them mad
enough to crush our deadliest
enemy - ISIS. They only fight to
stay in office which they betray
and they don’t deserve. They de
vour the innocent children and
live and speak the lie. Hillary
would send somebody to get her
a pizza or a dress at the store but
she couldn’t send troops to save
the boys trapped at Benghazi.
Vanity is a bad disease but in the
hands of Obama and Hillary, it is
downright deadly for each Amer
ican and millions of unborn chil
dren. The life of an American has
no meaning to them. They only
want a vote and a dollar.
The state of Georgia helped to
found the nation in AD 1776.
The state signed the Declaration
of Independence in the face of
powerful Britain. The state
signed the Constitution. Obama
and Hillary and many before
them broke their vows to them
and sought to sell the nation out
to world billionaires. They are
going to get away from looking
in the mirror and put this nation
back the way it was before they
betrayed and wounded it.
Billy Joe Parker
Fighting For Georgia
Dear Editor:
I did a search on Weather
Channel for our area and it's
forecasted for on the 14th and
18th icing and snow. Please pass
this on but inform people don't
panic; as always just take heed to
this and be prepared rather than
caught off guard and stay off the
roads while they are treated by
the road department and so first
responders can do their jobs bet
ter and safer.
Jerry Jameson
Dear Editor:
The independent auditors of
the city of Nelson have requested
a meeting with the mayor and
city council to answer seven
pages of ‘findings.’ The meeting
purpose is for the mayor to an
swer questions from the auditors
about Nelson financial spending.
Apparently (as I have suggested
in the past) the budget is a farce
as spending has grossly ex
ceeded, (in some cases by 100%)
spending on some items and
SPLOST funds have been inap
propriately spent. The audit is
already so late that the state had
to be notified about the delay.
I am told the audit report will be
released on the 21 st.
Bill McNiff
Letters Welcomed
“Letters to the Editor” is an
important public forum in the
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will be considered for publica
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expressing a personal grievance
directed toward another individ
ual. Letters UNDER 400
WORDS are preferred. All let
ters MUST BE SIGNED with
address and phone number
given where the author can be
reached to verify information.
Opinions expressed in letters
and signed columns are those of
the author and do not necessar-
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CARES would like to
thank our local area
schools for the generous do
nations given to us during
the holiday season. These
donations allow us to con
tinue to feed those that are
in need of help. We would
like to thank Pickens High
School and Leslie Zuidema,
Tate Elementary and Gina
Pyles, Pickens County Mid
dle School and Paula Hen
derson, Jasper Elementary
and Jennie Hutto Smith
and Principal David Wilds,
and Harmony Elementary
and Susan Anderson. Har
mony Elementary has gone
above and beyond leading
all schools in donations for
the past several years.
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Progress classifieds
706-253-2457
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
According to reports from
the Georgia State Patrol, a fatal
crash on Highway 136 was
likely due to rain and fog in the
area the night of Monday, Dec.
23.
The single-vehicle accident
occurred one mile east of Bur
rell Place in Dawson County at
approximately 8:40 p.m. GSP
reports show the driver of a
2012 Toyota Camry, Kyu Oh,
68, Trenton, Ga., lost control of
her vehicle while attempting to
negotiate a left curve. The dri
ver’s vehicle exited the right
shoulder of the road and trav
eled over 70 feet before collid
ing with a tree. In the report, the
investigating officer concluded
the driver was likely unable to
see the curve as a result of low
visibility created by the dark,
combined with heavy rain and
fog.
Oh was accompanied by
passenger Sai Oh, 72, Trenton,
who was pronounced dead on
the scene. Kyu Oh was trans
ported to Northeast Georgia
Medical Center. Her condition
is unknown at this time.
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