Federal judge declares commissioner prayers unconstitutional

Enough already! Rowan County doesn’t need to be the one to fight this battle or to be in the news about it. There are policies in use all over the country that have passed the courts. Pick one and focus on the business of the county.

— Luke Hamaty

The framers of the US Constitution intended to prevent the national government from establishing a religion, but they did not intend to prevent individual expressions of faith from all levels of government. The plaintiffs need to take this issue to the citizens of Rowan County and see if they can implement change at the ballot box rather than use the force of government to infringe the inalienable rights of elected officials.

I’m thankful for current and previous members of the Board of Commissioners for asserting their rights and effectively standing up for the rights, traditions, and values of those who elected them.

— Larry Jones

It wasn’t a ruling against prayer in government itself. What was ruled unconstitutional was the government ONLY allowing Christian prayers to be part of their government proceedings. That cannot happen. The government cannot uphold one religion and not another, because the government represents all citizens, not just Christian ones, and all religions have the same rights to exist. And it’s not about individual elected officials not being able to express their faith. On their own time, in their own office, own home, own church, etc, they can express their religion however they want.

— Chris Aldridge

Keep on praying. God be with you all serving and praying for what Rowan County needs.

— Arthur Mac Abernathy

It is about time that the will of the oppressive majority over the minority is curbed in Rowan County.

— Blaine Gorney

I think the Christians who believe that the essence of Christianity is confessing with one’s mouth the Lord Jesus, and believing in one’s heart that God has raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead, have about had all of this that they are going to put up with.

The Supreme Court, indeed all federal courts, operate with power they have appropriated, powers not explicitly set forth in the Constitution. If they cannot place restraints upon themselves, we the people will have to set the limits for them.

— Stephen Owen

The solution is simple … 1) Don’t have ANY prayers after the posted start time of the meeting and 2) Don’t be offended when someone wants to offer up a 20- minute long prayer …. The Bible thumpers in NC love to ramble on and on AND ON about things, trying to include every little piece they can think of to give thanks for. How are you going to give atheists their time? How are you going to control people when Muslims want to offer their prayer?

— Mitsa Waya

Some of the key sentences in the ruling, to me, were these: “’Prayer that reflects beliefs specific to only some creeds can still serve to solemnize the occasion, so long as the practice over time is not ‘exploited to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief.’ ” “When all faiths but those of the five Commissioners are represented, the Board ‘reflect[s] an aversion or bias on the part of [county] leaders against minority faiths,’ namely, any faith not held by one of the Commissioners.’ ”

The commissioners had an opportunity to resolve this matter very simply, but they chose not to do so. The county is now on the hook for legal fees which, over the course of two years, are bound to be substantial. I hope our current commissioners will read the judge’s order carefully and work to craft a solution.

— Karen South Jones

Thank you for wasting my tax dollars on your personal deity, commissioners.

— Wilhelm Hisinger

. Loan for former mall approved by state commission

Yipee!

— Danny Patterson

Done and done! Time to move on.

— Chris Borre

I get this, Chris Borre. The new question becomes how much of a tax increase are you willing to pay to secure Jim Sides’ vision?

— Todd Paris

… David Post: Find the right recipe for second Zaxby’s

Preach on, David. And you’re absolutely right … this squabble is over one particular parcel of land, not Zaxby’s. Here’s hoping Gina is able to find a new parcel in the vicinity and build another location of this outstanding restaurant that is a model for what all fast food dining should be. Love me some Zaxby’s!

— Kent Bernhardt

I wonder how much time and funding went into Gina’s first attempt to expand on the site she had chosen. And how many times is she expected to invest that time — and the financial resources — to finally get approval on the perfect ‘Goldilocks’ site for a new Zaxby’s? It seems a site off exit 79 or 81 would now be attractive for the expansion. Those sites lie in the jurisdictions of local governments that would likely be more welcoming to her expansion efforts.

— Jeff Morris

Yes, I think that Spencer and E. Spencer good use some loving too. The old finishing plant site needs to be looked at for development.

— Mark Lyerly

… China Grove board aims criticism at railroad work

The whole railroad and DOT has been a fiasco for the citizens, residents and businesses of the area. There seems to be no accountability for this mess by the ones who caused it.

— Ronnie Fulcher

… Letter: Help Stamp Out Hunger by giving food

In regards to the food drive, as a retired rural letter carrier, I ask those of you who live in the county to please if at all possible to put your donations INSIDE your box or hang it on the outside of the box, and please double-bag them. Those bags they handed out are flimsy at best and will rip if there’s more than 1-2 cans in them. Try NOT to place the food on the ground. It is extremely hard on the carrier to stop, cut off their vehicle, get out, go around, get the food off the ground, find a place to put it in the car, get back in and resume their work. Remember, they are still doing their day’s work in most cases. And imagine if they had to get out 90-100 times that day. I had to one year in the pouring rain. Again, a great big thank you to those who donate.

— Mike Shue

It’s sad that we allow for the degradation of society to exist to the point where it is more acceptable for a teenager to hit a teacher (aka a government official) than for the teacher to defend himself. I will pray for Coach Linville so that he may find comfort.

— Andrew H. Poston

How is the teacher defending himself?? Also, could there have been another way to stop the student from walking out of class with the computer?? Possibly. Like just grabbing it from him. I am not saying I’m for the student misbehaving, because I am total(ly) against any student being disruptive, I’m simply saying could Mr. Linville have acted in a different matter instead of pushing the student into a metal locker and onto the floor.

— Veronica Princess Wells

The 15-year-old idiot child shoved him. That, my friend, qualifies as physical assault and Mr. Linville had the right do what he did. A slap on the wrist for the infantile student and this well respected teacher resigning his job is setting a fabulous precedent. All of you who believe that coddling these precious little babies is the way to get them to show respect are fooling yourselves. They are laughing at you not behind your backs but right in front of your face!

— Jimmy Potts

Jimmy Potts, WELL SAID!! Children nowdays have no respect for their elders, for life, or for anything. They have been taught it’s OK to act however you want because parents and teachers have lost the right to discipline. If this child thought he was man enough to disrespect his teacher or any other elder and push him, well then he should have been man enough to take a man-size butt whipping!!

— Kelly Landreth Teal

These kids today don’t have any respect for themselves or their elders. The coach had a right to defend himself,the student should be the one getting charged with assault,the teacher shouldn’t even be charged at all. It is sad we allow for the degradation of society to exist. It is sad that we live in a world where everything that is bad is good and what is good is bad. It talks about it in the Bible. I will pray for Coach Linville. I hope he finds peace and comfort.

— Gail Ballard

Other news outlets have stated that the laptop was one issued to the 15-year-old freshman. I guess that’s why he wasn’t charged with larceny. Reporting that the child attempted to leave the room with Linville’s computer makes the kid look more like a “thug” rather than a young victim of an assault. It’s a trick Fox news viewers often use: “blame the victim” — especially if he’s black. Assault is assault. The coach took things too far.

— Carl Prine

The child was definitley wrong but the teacher had no business doing what he did. It could have been handled in a different manner. That’s what the police officers are at the school for. Maybe some of you should think about the fact that what if it had been your child.

— Nikki Houpe

Seems to me that the punishment was misdirected. At most the teacher should be counseled and the student should be referred to juvenile court. At the least the student should be suspended or expelled.

— Ralph Barker