Letters: What happened to limited government? Replaced with Christian nationalism | Opinion

As a third generation Idahoan, a firm believer in individual rights and limited government, it shocks and appalls me to no end what the Idaho State Legislature is choosing to do with their time and our taxpayer dollars. Our government is abusing the powers of the state to infringe on teachers, women’s rights and the LGTBQ community via Christo-fascist groups such as The Idaho Family Policy Center, whose President Blaine Conzatti stated that the group’s goal is for the government to follow biblical law.

Last time I checked, this is America.

The Establishment Clause in the First Amendment in our beloved Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. That means: There is no “biblical law”, and it is not “religious freedom” to use one religion to tyrannize and control those who do not believe as you do. Mr. Conzatti isn’t even originally from Idaho — he’s from Washington state. I love Idaho, and I cannot tolerate the zealotry of some of these out-of-state usurpers who have infiltrated our government and then want to use Christianity as a cudgel to take away our bodily autonomy and individual rights. It’s time to take back Idaho!

Stacy Kriz, McCall

Crapo is just blame-shifting on SVB

In a recent issue of the Idaho Statesman (March 30), Sen.Mike Crapo wrote an opinion piece about the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.

Among the issues in that bank failure were the erosion of the value of SVB’s investment in Treasury bonds, the fact that the US has been experiencing some inflation and some mismanagement by SVB.

However, Crapo mischaracterized our present inflation as “skyrocketing.” Crapo did this several times, in a thinly veiled attempt to throw spears at President Biden.

Crapo is old enough to remember the inflationary era of the 1970s and 1980s, which was far worse, and which was overseen by 24 years of Republican Administrations (Nixon/Ford/Reagan/Bush) and 4 years of Democratic Administrations (Carter).

Republican whining about our present 6 percent inflation is childish. While not to be taken lightly, our present inflation is barely noticeable in comparison to what we endured from 1968 — 1992. The peak inflation rate, 13.5%, was far worse than today’s. Yes, eggs are expensive. Yes, gasoline is expensive. But in fact, gasoline is cheaper today than it was in 1970 if you factor inflation in.

Crapo would have the readers of The Statesman think that the failure of SVB is due to mismanagement by Biden, while overlooking the fact that banking regulations were weakened by Trump in 2018, regulations which would have spared SVB from its demise.

John D Sahr, Otis Orchards, Washington

Regulate what actually kills

No child has ever died from reading a book. No child has ever died from seeing a drag show. No child has ever died from hormone therapy for gender dysphoria. Children have died from mass shootings. Maybe instead of banning books, drag shows and life-saving hormone treatments, we should ban assault rifles! Wouldn’t that save lives? Our legislature is wasting time on non-issues. We need a shift of focus to the real issues destroying our state and our country!

Michal Voloshen, Boise

Who needs an AR-15?

Why does a teenager or for that matter anyone other than the military or police need an AR-15? Is that a Second Amendment right?

Why is it acceptable for the mentally ill to have guns? Is that another Second Amendment right?

Did our Founding Fathers invent the AR-15? Did they contemplate the AR-15 along with social media?

The time is now to do something about weapons of mass destruction, and it is offensive for anyone to suggest that to even say gun control is just politicizing a tragedy.

The real tragedy is that nothing is being done to end gun violence. The NRA says only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun? Is that working for anyone? Can a good guy with a gun stop the carnage from an AR-15?

Talk is cheap, and the old, tired catchphrases of our thoughts and prayers are with you ring hollow.

Mary Feeny, Boise

Veto trans care bill

I am writing to encourage Governor Little to veto HB71, which would prohibit gender-affirming care for minors in Idaho. This bill is the product of misinformation, fear-mongering and an outright smear campaign against a small segment of the community who want nothing more than to live their best lives.

Gender-affirming care for minors is a well-established practice that has proven to be effective in treating gender dysphoria, is reversible and has very few adverse side effects. This practice is endorsed by several credible medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. Rarely does this care involve surgical intervention. To my knowledge, these surgeries are not even performed in Idaho.

The decision to undergo these procedures is not taken lightly. Parents do not influence a child to transition, nor do children spontaneously decide to transition because of peer pressure. Instead, this is typically a long, solitary, and often emotionally tumultuous process.

The bottom line is that treating gender dysphoria in minors increases overall quality of life and decreases suicide rates. It allows them to live their best lives. Why would we, as a state, want to deny that opportunity to anyone?

Jane White, Boise

Why ban books?

Why do parents want to ban books, instead of just telling their child they can’t read that book? Because the other children in his or her class will have an advantage over their child in the future. Keeping all the children uninformed puts their child on equal footing with the other children in the school. Unfortunately, there are a lot of other schools that will not ban books and students in those schools will have an advantage over all those “protected “ students. We can’t stop you from handicapping your children, but you shouldn’t be allowed to handicap other people’s children. The students who read and are exposed to more information and points of view will be better equipped to be successful.

Allen Wenger, Boise