Second coming, rapture are two different events
The Oct. 28 Associated Press article, "Christians await Jesus' return... again," failed to mention the "Rapture of the Church" before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.In 1st Thessalonians 5:15-18: "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up (rapture) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words."
Before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the church (all born again Christians on Earth) will be taken to heaven in a twinkle of an eye. These are two separate Biblican events.
Melvin Partido
Pearl City
People are intimidated by their co-workers, too
The Oct. 31 article by Rob Perez about intimidation describes us perfectly. However, please don't detract from its truth with the apology that this fear to speak out is not unique to Hawaii.Not only does it exist here, at many levels, it defies description. By that I mean you just don't know when, where or what will cause someone to take umbrage at whatever it is you are "guilty of."
The best part of Perez's article was his insight about lower level employees. In conjunction with nothing at hand, I've had such employees complain about my having degrees, knowing how to do my job, and especially for asking questions about their jobs in order to get things done!
Cil Kim Thresher
Registered Nurse
Economic task force forgot about forging a vision
Although there are some commendable parts to the Economic Revitalization Task Force's recommendations, the report sorely lacks vision of what Hawaiian society is to be like in the next decade. These recommendations merely patch up past misguided government policies and leave us with a situation that should have existed 20 years ago.What we need instead is some dreamers or visionaries who can peer into the future and see where Hawaii should be going, then build policy to get there.
Reducing the tax burden and creating a better business climate is only one side of the equation. We cannot expect businesses to come flocking to Hawaii willy-nilly, as other states and nations are just as competitive or have even better conditions.
Hawaii must take a more aggressive stance by defining what business sectors they want to attract, then go after them with properly designed incentives and promotion.
For example, Hawaii has an ideal climate. There are many businesses related to good climate besides tourism, i.e. retirement communities, certain kinds of high-value agriculture, etc. Attracting "good climate dependent industries" should be part of our vision for the future.
The recommendation to beef up Hawaii's educational system and turn the UH into a center of excellence should be another part of this vision. Hawaii is the last bastion of good standard English in the Pacific Rim.
The English language, although spoken throughout Asia, is being butchered beyond recognition. Hawaii can play a role in maintaining an English language standard in the Pacific.
Michael P. Mau
(Via the Internet)
Higher taxes will repel visitor to the islands
Your Oct. 30 story on the economic conditions in Asia underscores the fallacy of the recent proposal to double taxes on tourists.Flying directly in the face of unfavorable market conditions as it does, it would likely repel tourists rather than lure them.
The negative factors in Asian markets for tourism are now well publicized but existed prior to and during the deliberation of the Economic Revitalization Task Force.
The depressed trend in our traditional "prime" market, the U.S. mainland, has been known for even longer.
Even a superficial analysis of the causes for the diminishing appeal of Hawaii in our markets (especially the mainland market, where detrimental economic conditions can now be discounted) would reveal dissatisfaction with the nature of our evolved physical product.
Potential visitors still seek the exotic romance of Hawaiian environment and we give them New York City. Rather than recognizing this basic problem, we compound it by fostering even greater "big city" urbanization as Honolulu did in Waikiki in 1996.
Now, in the face of these undesirable "product" and "market" conditions, it is proposed that we double the tourist tax.
If this present approach continues to be a driving factor in molding the visitor industry, our future may be severely shortchanged by myopia.
Donald A. Bremner
Kailua
It's not true Constitution was written by Christians
Elbridge W. Smith, in his Nov. 1 View Point, argues that the U.S. Constitution, including its Bill of Rights, is a divinely inspired document written by followers of the Christian god.That is not correct. While many of the nation's founders were indeed spiritual people, there was hardly unanimity of belief.
The Declaration of Independence does include reference to a creator, but the Constitution does not; the latter document is also the supreme law of the land, and not the former (incidentally, worshippers Jefferson and Washington did not author the Constitution).
So important was the belief that our government should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion" that the Constitution's authors placed this requirement prominently in the First Amendment.
Contrary to Smith's view, the Christian god was not a priority -- a balanced and fair government that protected its citizens' rights, however, was.
Chad Blair
Bishop Estate Archive
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