Re: "All for pride, pride for all", (Life, June 27).
That the sacred text of a religion commands that "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (Exodus, 22:18), was never a just reason for burning wise women at the stake. No more was traditional religious endorsement of that evil ever a sound justification for slavery throughout the US and elsewhere.
Equally, just as the recent debacle of the religiously inspired forcing their bad morals on others in society as seen in the overthrow of legal abortion throughout the US, the same is true of the cited objections of some to marriage equality for all Thais. Good morals require equality of rights before the law. It therefore follows that were it true as claimed by some opponents of Move Forward's Marriage Equality Bill now before parliament that "such a bill, if passed, would violate religious beliefs", then those religious beliefs contradict good morals.
The followers of a religion are of course entitled to hold whatever beliefs they wish and freely practise the associated rituals. There are, however, limitations on what religious freedom allows its devotees to do. Their rituals may not directly harm or threaten to harm others, for example by creating excessive noise that disrupts daily life in the area, nor should such beliefs be allowed to trump good morals.
Felix Qui
Discouraging words
Re: "Uncosy confines", (PostBag, June 12).
While the above writer may have a point that people with a different skin colour or the wrong sex and even gays have an inferior social status, I would have to disagree with him when he basically states that the latter are born this way.
This has not at all been proved. As a matter of fact, with all the focus now in society on giving transgender individuals their due, I'd say, more than anything, that being gay is a social construct. And if that is the case, does it really do any good to encourage people to be this way, given the inferior status which society bestows upon such people?
An Expat in Thailand
Stop weed hyperbole
Re: "The green green grassing over of home", (PostScript, June 26).
Ganja is closely tied to Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit and the history of ancient India. Ganja in the Hindi language is the name of a plant identified with Cannabis sativa L from the Cannabaceae (Marijuana) family, having the following synonyms: Cannabis indica, Cannabis chinensis, Cannabis generalis, in addition to being addressed with other names such as marijuana, cannabis, charas, ganja, bhang, etc. Yet it remains popular among the masses for its only characteristic -- the high. Historically, cannabis has also been used in China for fibre, seeds, as traditional medicine, as well as for some ritual purposes within Taoism.
For centuries, grabbing onto clay pipes or chillums and smoking pot, the dreadlocked sadhus in India have been sharing marijuana as a prasad, or holy offering. Even today, people believe that smoking marijuana is a means to acquire euphoria; others use it to stave off worldly desires or treat body ailments.
In India, marijuana has been part of Ayurvedic medicine for centuries. According to Atharva Veda, cannabis is one of the five most sacred plants. It is widely known that the Beatles, followers of the Maharishi, were very fond of dreadlocked Indian Sadhus. Deepak Chopra, a disciple of the Maharishi who pioneered transcendental meditation, mentioned that the Maharishi objected to the Beatles taking drugs at his spiritual home in Rishikesh, India. In the UK, The Telegraph quoted Chopra as saying, "They were smoking ganja [cannabis] and taking LSD".
All the hoopla about marijuana in Thailand is a distraction, a show that is contrary to its traditional usage and medicinal value. I wish Thai authorities would ban or control the use of tobacco and cheap alcohol. That would be something to celebrate, not the medicinal use of marijuana.
Kuldeep Nagi
Covid comparisons
Re: "Immune response", (PostBag, June 11).
I disagree with Eric Bahrt's letter and conclusion. At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic very little was known about the virus and disease. Result: hospitals were not able to cope with the staggering number of very ill people and there were not enough ventilators, while healthcare workers were pushed to breaking point and refrigerator trucks were necessary outside hospitals for the corpses. I used to live in the borough of Queens, New York, where the situation was especially acute. However, I do agree with him that "Taking responsibility for your health" is very important.
Comparing Covid and pneumonia is a specious comparison. We have known a lot about pneumonia for a very long time and there has been effective treatment for it since the advent of antibiotics. On the other hand, very little was known about Covid. We have known that pneumonia is not contagious after two days of antibiotics. For the first 20 months, there was no known effective treatment for Covid.
Bill Gates, an intelligent and influential individual, has been warning about possible serious pandemics for 20 years. He now wants to "out-plan" the next pandemic. In addition, not only people with weakened immune systems and the obese were stricken by Covid. I have a distant relative in Belgium, a slim 40-year-old vegetarian, who assiduously takes care of her health. She was stricken twice with Covid and still feels cognitively impaired 20 months after the second bout. Each time she was incapacitated for months. Maybe she was already immunocompromised but was not aware of it.
Despite what I've written above, there certainly have been overreactions to the pandemic, erring on the side of caution. China's "Zero Covid" policy is a case in point. Thailand has, to a much lesser extent, overreacted (hindsight). On the other hand, Thailand has had 1/7 the number of deaths per capita compared with the US. Yes, there are more obese people in America but the healthcare system is better and Americans with no health insurance were treated for free, because Covid was considered a threat to society. That was in the country where "rugged individualism" is prevalent. From his letter, Eric Bahrt seems to be a rugged individualist. I myself have a different worldview. From the cooperation I've witnessed with Covid precautions in Thailand, it seems most Thais don't agree with Mr Bahrt.
Bruce Bird
Misplaced trust
Re: "Big toe worries", (PostBag, June 15) and "Devil to pay", (PostBag, June 13).
The snarky attack by David Brown on Michael Setter exposes the problem with Covid and the general ignorance of people as to how the philosophy and system of science is supposed to work and how it has been distorted through politics and profits. Science is an ongoing, and most probably, eternal debate about the "nature of reality". The early period of science was driven by natural curiosity. It is now driven by capitalism and profiteering off of scientific knowledge.
This financial influence makes Mr Setter's questioning of the Covid vaccines not only valid but mandatory if one is to use reasoning and the history of medical blunders. The "blunder" is covered since vaccine manufacturers are not being held liable for adverse reactions to their product. Where is the avoidance of liability allowed in any other market or financial venture? The vaccines were fraudulently approved without undergoing normal scientific protocols of at least a decade of research before a new drug is approved, longer with usage on children and infants.
Mr Brown's pollyannish attitude of trusting pharmaceutical companies that are purposefully designed to make profit, not altruistically heal the sick, is a perfect example of how scientific ignorance is allowing the Covid spectacle to be accepted and continued.
Mr Brown should support a rigorous examination of the points that Mr Setter made if the "truth" is important. If just wanting to be right to assuage an ego, then deriding Mr Setter is the correct course.
Darius Hober
Oil deposits
Re: "Hardship by the gross", (Editorial, June 27).
The editorial summary on the issues of the gross refining margin (GRM) for the six private refineries is well stated and fair to all parties. However, there is one missing link in the saga. It is questionable regarding the cabinet's right to ask these refineries to "cooperate" in setting aside their "rightful" profits into the state Oil Fund. That is, to subsidise the cost of diesel oil in light of transport expenses now featuring prominently in Thailand's current inflation rate of 7%.
With due respect, the asking for cooperation seems to be out of line since all the companies are public companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, and their executives are accountable to all shareholders, not only to majority shareholders, among them the Ministry of Finance. While executives are still accountable to minority shareholders as far as maximising their efforts in earning profits to pay dividends to them, the executives are not legally free to help the government unless there is a legal force. To rectify the issue, a windfall tax may be enacted to help the Oil Fund and thereby lighten the public's fuel costs. There is no shame in so doing if necessary for the public interest but it may be abhorred by some economists.
Songdej Praditsmanont
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