Faith

Dear Editor: I owe an apology to the folks that may have read my answer to a letter from Lori Stipe condemning the "Jesus fish. " For brevity and due to her negative comments about a Godly symbol, I wrote, "If her personal faith is not in the God that our ancestors founded this country on ... " I should have said, "If her personal faith causes her to condemn an officer for showing his faith in the God that our ancestors founded this country on...

A scientific atheist is someone who believes everything in the cosmos has a natural explanation. This conclusion is an article of faith if you will, since we are far from explaining everything in the cosmos. The scientific atheist comes by his skepticism honestly. He doubts the existence of God because he has found no empirical (call it tangible) evidence to the contrary. A person inclined to believe in God may become an atheist through the application of reason upon studying the evidence.

Dear Editor: On Thursday afternoon, I transported a family member to a medical office on Daniel Drive. A Boyle County sheriff's cruiser, No. 7, was parked there. On the back of the cruiser was a small "Jesus fish" symbol, to the left of the license plate. I am deeply disturbed by this, not because of my personal faith, but because taxpayer dollars invested for this vehicle should not reflect a dual purpose. This vehicle is an instrument of law enforcement and should not be used as a "billboard" for an individual's personal faith.

Dear Editor: In the letter "Faith symbol doesn't belong on cruiser," the writer indicated that she was deeply disturbed at seeing a small "Jesus fish" symbol to the left of the license plate on a Boyle County sheriff's cruiser. I am a Boyle County resident who is appalled that letter writer has nothing better to do than condemn an officer who is not ashamed to make known his faith in God. She said it was small; I wish it were bigger. In referring to her personal faith, she failed to reveal what that might be. If it is based on the God that I know, it would behoove her to spend more time learning what God has to say about tolerance and treatment of others.

This week we observe the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which laid waste to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, uprooted families, and showed us just how vain and frail are our attempts to hold back nature. In a few days we will observe another tragic anniversary, that of Sept. 11, and we will again ponder the events that occurred in New York, Washington, and a Pennsylvania field that caused unfathomable grief and pain to tens of thousands of spouses, partners, family members and friends.

With all the controversy he's found himself part of in the last nine months, no one could blame University of Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart for turning down some speaking engagements. Some functions obviously are too important to UK for him not to attend. But the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Victory Banquet here Monday night is not one of them. Yet the featured speaker for the event at the Centenary Methodist Church Christian Life Center will be Barnhart. "I think it is important for me to be there," said Barnhart.

HUSTONVILLE - His work is fueled by biscuits and gravy at McDonald's almost every morning. His passionate art is fueled by devoted recitals of the Lord's Prayer and several simple rules. Be good to people. Share the last biscuit. Be open to God's presence. "I'd carve it in stone if I could. So what I've done is the next best thing. I've made it a lot of my work," says Bill Woodrum. Artist Woodrum insists he is no different than the next man, but his vision of the world, and the ways in which he explores the mysteries of God's love, is anything but common.

When Wilmore Police Chief Steve Boven strained his back loading refrigerators at the 2004 Ichthus Festival, he decided he needed to go to get it checked out. "I was in a lot of pain, so I went in for a CT scan, and I found out that I had a couple of hernias," he said. "The radiologist saw something on my kidney and made note of it. He thought it was just a cyst. " A year later, his back pain returned, this time on his right side. "I remembered the cyst that was on the CT scan from the previous year," he said.

Trying to balance athletics, academics and his spiritual faith can be an imposing task at times for Kelenna Azubuike. However, he says it's not an impossible balancing act. "It's a challenge, but it's possible. I try to give each one a good amount of attention and try to make sure that I keep things in perspective," said Azubuike. "The spiritual part really helps. It keeps family and everything else in perspective and helps remind me of what is really important. " It's not unusual for Azubuike, a junior forward, to share his faith.

For the last couple of presidential elections, a voter's faith and the values it represents were political issues. Political pundits and theologians alike say the same thing will occur in this year's election. In an article written a few months ago, Kelli Mahoney of About.com tries to answer the twin questions, "Should faith influence a Christian's vote?" and "Should religion influence voting decisions?" Mahoney focuses on teenagers, but her findings can apply to Christians of all ages.