Vaccine, holiday debates reflect core beliefs
As our nation reels with unprecedented division and animosity, I’m reading the Sunday Sentinel and the front page provides two glaring examples of opposing views. “Should pediatricians see kids whose parents oppose vaccinations?” and “What’s in a name? Winter Park resident claims the city is stealing Christmas.” Both headlines raise legitimate questions that reflect fundamental belief systems.
Does a parent’s right to avoid vaccines override the right of a practitioner to provide a safe environment in their office? Should there be separate practices and parents would need to search for one that aligns with their beliefs? How about an ER waiting room? Is the “most wonderful time of the year” about the holiday season or Christmas?
Every issue becomes toxic and inflamed and divisive, and folks want to go to the mat to have their way. This is unsustainable. We must learn to chill, to communicate and be civil. I am deeply concerned about our future and hope the adjective “indivisible” isn’t wishful thinking from a bygone era.
Terrie Watkins Mount Dora
Doctors have right to refuse unvaccinated
Jessica Tillmann of Moms for Liberty said in Sunday’s article about vaccinations that physicians should make time to see unvaccinated patients — implying that every doctor should spend time and money sanitizing their offices so that they could offer such. Oh, but guess what? Measles is an airborne disease. When you come up with the method that can prevent measles in every place of a medical office, please let us all know.
Here’s an idea: respect the doctor’s right to refuse service to protect all of her patients, and find another doctor that aligns with your beliefs.
Mike Hester Orlando
Trump honors Kirk but not school-shooting victims
After the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump declared “our country is broken” and ordered flags to be flown at half-staff. So far this year, there have been 47 school shootings, leaving 19 dead and 77 wounded. How is it that our country is broken when one man is shot dead, but there is no outrage when a shooter walks into a school and kills five children, and then two weeks later a shooter walks into a school and kills three children, and the next month a shooter walks into a school and kills eight children? Is one man’s life worth more 19 dead school children so far in 2025?
Charles and Antoinette Caudle Chuluota
Reduce gun violence
Thank you for printing Mike Bianchi’s column about the insanity we are living through (“Why do we keep shooting each other?” Sept. 13). It’s ridiculous that a trainer is considering bulletproof vehicles for his athletes, but that’s the world we live in.
Until a leader or movement inspires us to morph from being rugged individualists who passionately defend their Second Amendment rights to citizens that care about “the greater good” as so many in previous generations did, this insanity will sadly continue. Banned books don’t kill people, drag shows don’t kill people, but guns keep killing people. We are way overdue to consider common-sense gun rights. If we truly want to show respect for life beyond the fetus, we must make change to reduce the likelihood of one more violent tragedy from a high-powered weapon. We must create awareness about mental-health support and appropriate ways to express anger instead of picking up a firearm. We are way overdue to solve this crisis and we seem to be the only first-world country where this issue looms this large.
A.M. Gordon Maitland
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