Dear Editor,
There is a lot to object to in Mr. Thayer’s piece, “What’s wrong with being a Republican,” published last week (March 30-April 5) in the Mountain Times.
I’ll address two points. The main problem is that in lauding today’s Republicans, he ignores the, shall we say, elephant in the room: Donald Trump. Note that I have voted for Gov. Phil Scott twice, and will again. I have also donated to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger because they are defending our democracy.
Not so much for most Republicans. Only 21% of them think that “Joe Biden’s victory was legitimate,” according to the Washington Post, which agrees with other statistics we hear.
Trump’s nearly year and half crusade to overturn a fair election, the basis for our democracy, is simply treasonous, and he was supported by 147 congressional Republicans, also traitors. I wish we had a Republican Party that, like Scott, was conservative, not treasonous, and not insane (e.g., Marjorie Taylor Greene, Madison Cawthorn), but right now we don’t.
To Mr. Thayer’s last point about abortion, he apparently believes that God implants an immortal soul at the moment of conception.
There are three things wrong with this belief.
First, as I came to understand when I was 15, there is no evidence or logic that demonstrates that supernatural beings of any sort exist.
Second, the notion of an “immortal soul” also has no basis in science or intelligent philosophy. As Bernard Shaw said when asked if dogs have souls, “they most certainly do not have souls. In this they agree with Man.”
Finally, although conception is a scientific fact, there is no “moment of conception.” This is a biological event that takes place over a period of time, not instantaneously, as the word “moment” suggests, probably in order to bring a mysterious, supernatural feel to the matter.
In the end, Mr. Thayer has no business trying to impose his religion on everyone else, especially when he sanctimoniously lectures us on limited government.
Kem Phillips,
Cavendish
