Opinion

OPINION – The Church: pursuing love

MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

Since 2007 when I started writing for this newspaper, I can find only two articles that centered around 1 Corinthians 13, the "love chapter". One was near a Valentine's Day, and the other a few months later when the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill was observed. Both had to do with love between two individuals, but this week we'll explore the chapter and agape love in a little more detail.

The past weeks we've focused on the importance of unity in the Church. We saw Jesus' followers compared to a family, a body, and a spiritual house built of living stones. Paul warned in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14 of a potential division, and he encouraged readers to avoid that by pursuing the "greater gifts" and "a more excellent way". Galatians 5:22-23 outlines the "fruits of the Spirit" which begin with love, and Jesus had already told His followers, "'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another'" (John 13:34).

OPINION – The United States should not copy the world’s worst drug pricing policies

GUEST COLUMN, Rosa Mendoza & Dee Stewart, ALLvanza & Center for Innovation and Free Enterprise

President Trump just issued an executive order to rebalance the global pharmaceutical market — by tying U.S. drug prices to the artificially low, government-set prices in other developed nations.

There’s no question that the current market is imbalanced. American scientists develop two out of every three new medicines worldwide — yet Americans pay more per capita for brand-name drugs than the citizens of any other developed country. As Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently summed it up, “America pays for drugs, and the rest of the world free rides.”

OPINION – Breaking the public school monopoly on education overdue

GUEST COLUMN, Star Parker

The Trump administration has been pursuing, on two fronts, the critical objective of fixing America’s broken education system.

One, an executive order by President Donald Trump, issued shortly after he assumed office, is to dismantle the Department of Education. Outright closing of the department is only possible by an act of Congress. However, the president is moving to accomplish the same objective administratively by closing down offices and major staff elimination. The Supreme Court recently upheld the president’s authority to do this.

OPINION – How congregations become targets for child abuse

GUEST COLUMN, Teresa Huizar, National Children’s Alliance

A recent Washington Post investigation uncovered how a Virginia youth minister allegedly used his position to abuse young boys for decades. Despite repeated allegations, churches failed to act, allowing him to move from congregation to congregation and continue preying on new victims.

This isn’t an isolated incident. It’s part of a systemic problem that persists because too many faith communities lack clear, consistent policies to protect children.

Media scrutiny and reforms have focused primarily on priests or head ministers. To effectively prevent abuse, churches must account for others with access to children.

OPINION – Naysayers only hold town back

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

There are just some people who will never experience joy. Or they find joy in misery. Some people just aren’t happy unless they are offering a critique of someone else’s work. There are those who just want to tear something down and never have any interest in building anything up.

This was the case after the Ruby Red Slipper Slide was open to the public last week.

Thanks to a grant through Kansas and a small local match with the Tourism Department funding, a larger-than-life ruby red slipper was transformed into a slipper slide.