Speak Out

I am a patriot, and I am concerned for our country.

Home foreclosures are at an all-time high. Our dollar has lost 40 percent of its value since 2001 and oil is at an all-time high almost every single day. Our president tells us that the economy is "basically sound."

When you go to the gas pump or the grocery, does it feel to you that our economy is "basically sound"? We all know that politicians lie. I don't think any sane, rational person would dispute that. The only thing left to determine based on that realization is to what degree and for what purpose.

The answers involve what the mainstream media refer to as "conspiracy theories." There are many "conspiracy theories" on the Internet, but mingled with them are "conspiracy facts." I highly recommend that people google the following terms to better understand world events that are unfolding around us today: "New world order," "bilderberg," "skull and bones," "Illuminati," "Prescott Bush" and "Georgia Guidestones."

You owe it to your country, your family and yourselves to look into these things.

Greg Smith
Anniston

Build electric cart lanes

We are in a serious energy crisis, and we mostly sit and complain about the cost of gasoline. We have to become independent of oil from these countries that would like to see us go down the drain.

I propose that we could save billions of gallons of gasoline nationwide by creating and using electric cart lanes in neighborhoods like mine. It would not work for everyone, especially country folk. They are too far away from stores and shopping-center locations.

People could drive these electric carts (golf or similar) to the grocery, post office, laundry, bank, church, restaurants or other places. It would be trouble to educate people to use these streets and lanes and also to educate people who still like to drive 50 mph in 25 mph zones. However, it could be done with the help of city engineers and law enforcement. There would be an initial investment for the purchase of an electric cart, but it would be small compared to the cost of a gasoline automobile.

We still need to have gasoline-powered cars, but we would eliminate the need for many gallons of gas. Look around in your neighborhood to decide if it would work for you, and if you feel as I do, talk to your mayor and council members, state representatives and other government agencies. This can only be done by you.

George R. McCurdy
Montgomery

True Word of God

Re "Book of Mormon" (Speak Out, June 28):

That Joseph Smith wrote an uninspired work in three months is nothing to marvel since it contains no power to save nor transform lives. The true believer in Jesus Christ and serious student of the Word of God — the Bible — knows that if Scripture reveals that which is crucial to the knowledge of God, why then should one seek to add to it with "another testament?" By doing so, aren't we denying the sufficiency of Scripture when we raise questions and give answers outside the language and doctrinal scope found in the Bible itself?

The real question, as it relates to the Book of Mormon: Is Joseph Smith God's prophet? The answer rests and falls on Smith's identity as a prophet. Just as an apple tree is known for its apples, so is a prophet known by his prophecies. Missionaries of Mormonism are not trained to deal with the issue of Smith and his prophet status.

The book of Deuteronomy provides a test for one who claims to speak for the Lord. A careful survey of the Book of Mormon reveals it is not "another testament of Jesus Christ," but rather a "false testament of Jesus Christ."

In the life of the true believer, the final authority is the Word of God only!

Elmyra N. Jackson
Anniston