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Page 4A — Wednesday, April 7, 2021, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
The Pledge Of Allegiance
1 pledge, allegiance, to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
*it stands, one Nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO-APRIL 6,20ll
Burke County commissioners voted to buy land for the pos
sible site of a new judicial center here. The county purchased
the old Maryland Fried Chicken building and a neighboring
two story brick building.
Twelfth District Congressman John Barrow received high
praise from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce when he received
the group’s Spirit of Enterprise Award for his pro-business
voting record.
Catherine Bennett, a junior at BCHS, was selected to at
tend the National Young Leaders Conference in Washington
D.C. The event was sponsored by the Congressional Youth
Leadership Council. She is the daughter of George and
Bethany Bennett.
25 YEARS AGO- APRIL 11,1996
Hall of Fame bird dog trainer Fred Bevan died at the age of
92. He had trained dogs here since 1931 and won the National
Field Trial Championship in 1935.
The City of Keysville won a $686,000 grant from Enter
prise Community funds. The grant was designated for water
improvements in the community.
Over 100 people turned out for a ceremony honoring the
late H.H. “Zip” White for his work in the Boy Scouts of
America for several decades. Under his leadership, 64 local
boys achieved the rank of Eagle.
50 YEARS AGO-APRIL 7,1971
State Sen. Jay Cox was scheduled to address the Waynes
boro Exchange Club. He had recently been named to the
Congressional Reapportionment Committee.
Atlanta Brave pitcher Ron Reed was the guest speaker at
the Edmund Burke Academy basketball banquet.
Phil Chalker of Waynesboro won the C Division Champion
ship at the Briar Creek Invitational golf tournament in Sylva-
nia. Butch Robinson of Sardis shot a 106 in the final round
Sunday, the highest score posted during the two-day event.
70 YEARS AGO-APRIL 12,1951
Bernard B. Sapp, son of Mrs. Mae Sapp of Waynesboro,
was promoted to the rank of Major in the U.S. Army while
serving in combat in Korea. Lt. Johnny Carter, son of Mrs.
R.L. Carter of Waynesboro, was wounded for the third time
in the Korean war.
Midville High School student Leon Curry won the local
competition of the National Spelling Bee sponsored by the
Atlanta Journal. Curry spelled 99 out of 100 words correctly
and won a $25 U.S. Savings Bond for his effort.
Henry R. Smith of Wadley opened a law office in the Jones
Building. He was a graduate of the Mercer University Law
School and a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
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Cte €mt Ciiisrn
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BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
The truth is still the truth even
if no one believes it. A He is still
a lie, even if everyone believes
it. - Unknown
I have little interest in join
ing in the fight over Georgia’s
recently passed election law,
which makes various changes
to our state’s current voting
process. Em not going to use
this space to try and debate the
pros and cons of the law be
cause I don’t believe anybody’s
really interested in that kind of
discussion.
If you’re a Republican, you
believe these changes were
necessary to preserve the integ
rity of our elections. If you’re
a Democrat, you are probably
of the opinion that the law is
tantamount to state-sanctioned
voter suppression.
As far as those opinions go,
I will say this in response. The
need for these changes, as the
GOP has claimed, is predicated
on the lie told by former-Pres-
ident Trump and spread by his
supporters far and wide. The
election was not stolen from
him. There was no widespread
fraud. And any lack of trust for
our electoral system was fos
tered and tended to by the Re
publican Party. Any suggestion
otherwise is just another lie.
I understand the emotion,
particularly for black and mi
nority voters, connected to this
legislation. Anyone who scoffs
at those questioning this bill
need only look at Georgia’s
not so distant history to know
those individuals have every
right to be skeptical of a group
made up of mostly white men
toying with the rules governing
our elections.
But emotion tends to cloud
judgement and some of the
statements made about this law
are no more truthful than the
lies spread by the other side.
President Biden did a pretty
good impression of Trump two
weeks ago as he made com
ments about the law that earned
him four pinocchios from The
Washington Post.
My larger concern is the reac
tion to the bill’s passage and the
attempts from those on either
side to “one-up” each other.
After the bill’s passage, the
calls to boycott Georgia began
to rise. Major League Baseball
(MLB) made the decision to
move this year’s All Star Game
out of Atlanta. Republicans
decried “cancel culture.” Some
Georgians high in the Demo
cratic ranks realized such a
move by MLB would be disas
trous to Atlanta’s economy and
to some of the very same people
that the Left was supposedly
trying to protect.
Caution was urged but reason
was gone at that point like a
horse out of the barn.
Delta Airlines and Coca-
Cola, companies headquartered
in Atlanta, both came out with
public statements against the
new legislation. They are pri
vate companies, which Republi
cans are normally quick to point
out are free to do what they
want. But in the hnal hours of
the Georgia Legislative session,
there was a push by some GOP
members to punish Delta for its
opinion by attempting to strip a
tax break the airline receives on
fuel in Georgia.
That attempt failed because
there appears to be at least a
few remaining adults at work
in Georgia’s capitol. Delta
is Georgia’s largest private
employer. Punishing the com
pany financially would also hurt
Georgia workers.
Coca Cola has long been a
source of pride for Atlanta and
the state. The company has a
tradition of stocking the offices
of all legislators in Atlanta with
their products to be given out to
visitors. A group of Republicans
wrote a letter last week demand
ing Coke remove its products
from their offices because they
didn’t like being criticized.
While pulling their hair and
gnashing their teeth about the
dangers of “cancel culture,” the
GOP has used the very same
tactic in hopes to silence any
dissention.
Elections have consequenc
es, from Washington D.C. to
Waynesboro. The
majority party gets
to make the rules.
You get to be the
SEE
BIRD DOG,
6A
Don Lively
It was Easter morning.
It was cold.
It was a dove.
I'll tell you more about the
dove in a bit.
First, let me address the
name.
Yes, the name "Easter" did
originate as a pagan holiday.
That's clear and factual. There
are folks who think that we
should not even utter the word
"Easter" because of those ori
gins. I beg to differ. Because
since the very beginnings of
the early church, Christians ap
propriated the name and made
it the name of the day that we
celebrate the resurrection of
Christ. Every Christian in the
world knows that, and they also
know that we should celebrate
that wondrous event every day,
not just once a year. So, in my
opinion, the argument against
the name of Easter is weak.
That being said, if some folks
prefer to call it Resurrection
Day, that's wonderful too.
Regardless of what it's called,
He arose victorious.
This is Easter week, and my
little country church started it
off as we do every year with an
outdoor sunrise service. It was
held in the cemetery across the
road from the church house. I
got there a few minutes before
the service was to start. I was to
sing with the four other mem
bers of our praise team. Did I
mention that it was cold? That
early in the morning my voice
sounds like a combination of an
industrial toilet flushing and an
intoxicated bullfrog croaking,
but we knew the song and it
came off just fine.
As we were singing the cho
rus of "He Is Lord", I glanced
up and witnessed a single dove
flying directly over the gather
ing. If you're not aware, doves
are very important symbols to
Christians. Both Matthew and
Luke speak of doves in refer
ence to the appearance of the
Holy Spirit. Seeing that lone
dove fly over the cemetery
where our congregation was
gathered, and where Mama and
RISEN
Daddy and so many other loved
ones are buried, I was touched.
So touched that I had to share
the story a couple of hours later
with my Sunday School class.
I told them how, as we were
singing the beautiful words of
hope and assurance that, at that
moment, I saw a dove fly over.
I related how I thought it was
a sign from God. I told how
I watched the dove disappear
over the treeline.
I heard the young man just to
my left snort and snicker.
"I saw it too," he said.
Uh oh.
Suddenly I questioned my
eyesight and the prudence of
telling the story. Granted, I
wasn't wearing my long dis
tance glasses when the dove
made its appearance. I was
wearing my reading specs
while also occasionally glanc
ing at the Baptist Hymnal.
But, I know what a dove looks
like. I've watched thousands
of doves soar through the sky.
But, I wasn't wearing my long
distance glasses.
Apparently nobody else had
seen the dove except for me
and my young friend to my
left, who incidentally is years
younger than me and presum
ably has better eyesight.
He was too kind to humili
ate me in front of the class
and I made sure not to ask him
afterwards what kind of bird
flew over.
I'm pretty sure it was a dove.
I love Easter.
It might have something to do
with the fact that my birthday
has fallen on Easter three times
since I made my appearance on
Earth.
1955, when I was two and
have no memory of.
Eleven years later in 1966
when I turned thirteen, which
was the last year that Mama got
me an Easter basket.
And another eleven years
later, in 1977, when I was a new
resident of Colorado and my
church friends made me a cake
but no Easter basket.
So three Easter birthdays in
twenty-two years, but the next
time it happens will be in 2039.
I'll be 86 years old if I live
that long.
Even though it's SEE
been explained to LIVELY,
me a dozen times, 6A