A nation divided

The left/right file | Column, Aug. 21

Abe Lincoln said in his “house divided” speech in 1858 that, “If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.” We seem to be as divided today as we were back then. It seems we need desperately to figure out how to bring us all back together. Many believe that Donald J. Trump was the natural result of what some view as the left’s highly politically correct, anti-white, anti-male and anti-America rhetoric — and that if you demonize the people you disagree with, paint them as racists and oppressors, and tell them that their successes are a result of some unearned “privilege,” they will create a counterrevolution. Joe Biden said he was going to bring us back together, but clearly he has been no Lincoln. Many Republicans believe that the left hates America and wants to reset everything and make socialism, the loss of our freedoms and an overreaching, tyrannical government their goal. And the left seems to be preoccupied with trying to stop Donald Trump. And there doesn’t seem to be a Martin Luther King or an Abe Lincoln anywhere in sight to heal our nation’s wounds.

Charles Michael Sitero, Ormond Beach

By the book

Students lose access to books amid ‘purging of ideas’ in many states | Aug. 21

I have a solution that will satisfy both sides of this issue. Books that are removed from school libraries should be donated to the local public library. This would satisfy our governor’s desire to give parents control over what their children read. The books would be available to children whose parents approve their reading them.

Harold Emanuel, Sun City Center

Root of all evil

‘Disturbing’: Experts troubled by Canada’s euthanasia laws | Aug. 21

Euthanasia, abortion, firearm massacres and environmental havoc are different fruits of the same tree — disdain of human life — whose root is the worship of the almighty dollar.

Lodovico Balducci, Tampa