Category Archives: Opinions
Courier Letters to the Editor 12-23-20
Soapstone thanks all for support
Dear Editor,
Our Soapstone Church family wishes everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
We are grateful for all of your support over the years — this year especially!
With all your support and care, we have paid off the mortgage to our humble church and property and we are now entering Phase 2, establishing an endowment foundation to protect it for future generations.
We invite you all, once again, to celebrate the Soapstone fish fry in 2021. We will have our first fish
What the Framers intended?
I’ve been reading a very interesting book about the Constitutional Convention of 1787. It was written by a journalist who reports each day’s session as a daily news story.
Since the convention’s proceedings were closed to the public, there are no newspaper accounts of what was going on in the State House in Philadelphia during that fateful summer. They even kept all the windows closed — all through the sweltering heat — to prevent eavesdropping. But the author went back through the notes of James Madison and others to reconstruct how the great event unfolded.
Much like politics in America in 2020, it was not pretty.
The way people talk about the Constitution these days,
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Festival of Lights
The first Jewish-American soldier of the Revolutionary War was killed on the banks of the Seneca River. Francis Salvador was a Jewish plantation owner from Charleston. He came from the 
Sephardic Jewish community in London and was the first Jew to be elected to public office in the colonies. He was also the first Jewish-American person to be killed in the Revolutionary War.
It happened on Aug. 1, 1776, in the town of Esseneca, a Cherokee settlement located along the banks of the Seneca River. Maj. Andrew Williamson and his force of 2,300 men had camped along the Seneca River when
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Thank you to Courier and community
Thank you to Courier and community
Dear Editor,
On behalf of MasterCare Assisted Living, words cannot express our heartfelt thanks for the overwhelming response for personal protective supplies for our residents and staff.
We know beyond any doubt that Pickens County residents and businesses care about the needs of keeping our elderly safe and healthy. It was very evident, as there was immediate response after the
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Jesus’ extraordinary parents
This is the time of year when we display our nativity sets, and it’s common to see depictions on the front of Christmas cards that have Mary and Joseph in a stable with the baby Jesus, who is lying in a 
feeding trough commonly referred to as a manger.
The word nativity comes from the Latin term, which simply means born. Technically, we’ve all experienced a nativity, but in today’s world, the term is primarily used in connection with the birth of Jesus Christ the Redeemer. We also hear the word incarnation at this time of year, and within the Christian faith, this is referring to the Son of God and how He miraculously came down from heaven and took on the human form
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Ride like the wind with Smokey Joe
Smokey Joe will be 31 years old in March, if he lives that long. We’ve had him since he was a two year old. He was my horse first.
A gentle gelding with a good disposition, Smokey Joe is black with a white mark on his forehead. He’s a gaited horse, a racker and a smooth ride.
This is the first year of his life he is showing weight loss, something that often happens to older horses.
But although thinner, he can still run across the pasture with mane and tail flying and still enjoys harassing the mares when it’s time to eat. We don’t
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The essence of self-discipline
The attitude of our fallen human nature is not very nice — in fact, the word depraved is commonly used. Christians are required to honor God with self-discipline of their mind and to demonstrate His 
character, but sadly it’s rare to find any difference between God’s people and those who do not know Him at all.
I’m sure you have noticed and are disturbed by the hatred and animosity we are seeing in the realms of politics and religion. The refusal to forgive others and carry resentment is no laughing matter, and our good
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Courier Letters to the Editor 12-9-20
Horror and heartbreak of COVID-19
Dear Editor,
This came from the daughter of my brother with COVID on Nov. 4: “Daddy is now intubated, sedated, paralyzed, prone on his stomach. No visitation.”
He had been hospitalized for two weeks. Six days later, the phone call: “No hope. Lungs hardening. Family can come in for his last moments.”
This is the horror and heartbreak of COVID. No people anywhere would choose this for themselves. No caring people anywhere would choose this for anyone else.
Pickens County people are better than this. And you are plenty smart. I know. I taught about 3,000 of you back in the day, and you did very well in school.
For the sake of all, I plead with you to wear your masks and follow the other protocols. Your own life may depend upon it.
Bert Allison
Pickens
Jesus is the reason for the season
Dear Editor,
Two thousand years ago, a child was born into this evil world that would give hope to all who will believe on him.
I’ve heard it said of Him that although He never had an army, kings feared Him. Had no servants, yet He was called master. Had no degree, yet they called Him teacher. Had no medicine, yet they called Him healer. Won no battles, yet conquered the world. Committed no crime, yet He was
Vaccine race shows US still leads
It’s encouraging to see the international efforts to develop vaccines against COVID-19. China and Russia are trying to keep pace with the West in that scientific race, which includes research sites in Charleston. The safe, 
effective vaccines that emerge from this competition will benefit everyone.
China’s vaccines might prove useful, but its vaccine candidates follow older production techniques, including a manufacturing process requiring hundreds of million of chicken eggs, that are notorious for their slowness. As Bloomberg Opinion writer Tyler
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Managing your retirement plan With a new job
Your employer-sponsored retirement plan is a valuable asset. But sometimes things happen that can affect the status of your plan. So, for example, if you work for a hospital that changes ownership, 
and you have been participating in a 403(b), 457(b) or 401(k) retirement plan, what should you do with it now?
Basically, you have four options:
• Cash out your plan. You can simply cash out your plan and take the money, but you’ll have to pay taxes on it, and possibly penalties as well. So, unless you
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