No fact checking please

Donald Trump refuses to do any interview or debate if he will be fact checked.

There is a good reason why. He lies.

He lies about the 2020 election. He lied about FEMA helping citizens of North Carolina. He lies about the economy. Inflation is down to 2.3 percent. Gas prices are down. The stock market is at an all-time high yet he says we are a nation in decline. Unemployment is down and he says we are becoming a third-world country. He lies about climate change. He is convicted of sexual assault and claims to be the protector of women He lies about migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. He lies about migrant gangs taking over Aurora, Colorado. Local and state officials beg him to stop lying.

These allegations are false. He lies that countries are emptying out their prisons and insane asylums and send them over to us. He claims Venezuela’s crime rate has dropped by 72 percent because they are shipping all their criminals to us.

He threatens to use the military against his opponents. He says he will only accept the results of the 2024 election if he wins. It is clear that he is in mental decline. He thinks Obama is president and he recently told his supporters to be sure to vote on Jan. 5. At a rally in Arizona, he said he was in Pennsylvania.

His lies have consequences. Legal immigrants are being threatened. Election workers are receiving death threats. But he does not care.

He doesn’t want to be fact checked. Only a liar refuses to be fact checked. There is only one choice this year. Turn the page on Donald and elect Kamala Harris.

— Steve Albanese,
Salisbury

Harris and Walz for LGBTQ+ rights

Growing up as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in North Carolina, I’ve seen and experienced firsthand the challenges that come with navigating a world that doesn’t always accept who you are. For LGBTQ+ youth today, those challenges are even more apparent, especially with figures like Donald Trump, JD Vance and North Carolina’s own Mark Robinson working to dismantle the progress we’ve fought so hard to achieve.

Trump and his allies are pushing dangerous policies that would make already difficult times even harder for LGBTQ+ youth, creating a hostile environment where people are made to feel unsafe and unwelcome. In contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz have been champions for LGBTQ+ rights. Vice President Harris has fought tirelessly to expand protections for LGBTQ+ students, and Governor Walz’s commitment to the community goes all the way back many decades when he served as the faculty advisor for the LGBTQ+ student alliance at his high school. Their track records show that they believe in creating a future where every young person, regardless of their identity, can grow up feeling supported and protected.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to support leaders like Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. They will stand up for our community and ensure that the next generation of LGBTQ+ youth in North Carolina can thrive.

— Alex Blumenthal,
Salisbury

What is biblical citizenship?

While I agree wholeheartedly with the title of the recent My Turn column, “Separation of church and state doesn’t mean Christians stay out of politics.” I have questions about what biblical citizenship means. This phrase appears seven times in the argument presented but I am still not sure what it means and what it has to do with separation of church and state.  

Since the phrase was recently coined, it is good to think about what it means in terms of definitions. Let’s start with “citizenship” whose basic dictionary meaning is “the position or status of being a citizen of a particular country” in the sense of nationality. It refers to the legal rights and duties of individuals attached to nationality. “Citizen” means a person who is a member of a particular country and who has rights because of being born there or because of being given rights, or a person who lives in a particular town or city.  

It is clear what American citizenship or being an American citizen means. It is clear what a Rowan County citizen or Salisbury citizen is. But what exactly is biblical citizenship?  Who lives in the Bible? Can people be citizens of the Bible? How does one qualify to be a biblical citizen? Is the Bible a nationality, a city or a place?   

Even if we are to take it to mean that the Bible teaches on the topic of citizenship, what does the Bible teach about citizenship? Is there one voice on the subject? If there are many voices, who chooses the right voice. It seems to me “biblical citizenship” is a deceptive term that has nothing to do with whether or not Christians should participate in the public square. There are good arguments for why Christians should participate fully in the legal rights and duties of the country, county, city and place that they are citizens. But nobody has the right to trample on the rights of others.  

— Dora Mbuwayesango
Salisbury