Your views on King's Lynn library, being 'woke', Veganuary, festive kindness, religion and Downham Market 'store wars'
Here are the letters from this Friday's Lynn News...
Do not abandon this beautiful old building
An open letter to Cllr Margaret Dewsbury, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for communities and partnerships (which includes libraries).
Dear Cllr Dewsbury – I hope as cabinet member for libraries you will do all you can to save Lynn library from being moved to new premises, which would be awful.
In 1954 I was a student at Lynn Techincal College and me and other students spent much time at the library on our break periods.
It would be awful to see this beautiful building abandoned.
Please help.
Margaret Laws
Hilgay
Are these actions woke enough for you?
With reference to Steve Mackinder’s latest rant regarding the contributions made to the newspaper by myself and others through the various columns and viewpoints.
Steve: eat meat, drive a diesel, use single use plastic, whack the heating up and leave some lights on if it will make you feel better.
Personally, I’m going to keep page 23 of Tuesday’s paper regarding potatoes and experiment with various growing methods. I’ll use harvested rainwater, home made compost and plenty of sunshine to help them grow.
Is that woke enough for you?
Kevin Holland
AKA Eco Shed Guy, Magdalen
Veganuary rant was offensive and ignorant
I am appalled that Kris Johnston’s article about Veganuary has been published.
A journalistic troll. As offensive and ignorant as racism, homophobia, misogyny.
It is totally obvious he has done no research and expresses nothing but his own failures as a compassionate, intelligent human being.
He is as offensive and informed as Jeremy Clarkson.
Linda Hall
via email
People like Sam and Emily make me so proud
The Christmas season is very much about giving and, as we all discovered during the months of Covid lockdown, kindness and practical help was shown to people in numerous ways.
In West Norfolk there were many acts of kindness during the festive season, all aimed at making life a little bit happier for people living on their own or without family living nearby.
At Lynn on Christmas Day, Sam O’Callaghan and Emily Maginn opened the doors of their Purfleet Brasserie restaurant and offered, in two sittings, a wonderful free lunch of turkey and all the trimmings for those who would otherwise have gone without. The couple even included a dessert and free drink.
It was a really kind and generous gesture by Sam and Emily, friends who have been working hard to establish their restaurant located just across the road from Lynn’s iconic Custom House.
Sam and Emily deserve heart-felt thanks for giving up their own Christmas Day to enable others less fortunate to enjoy such a lovely meal.
Lynn, as a town, should be proud of people (there were other free lunches offered in other locations) like Sam and Emily, who reached out and offered a practical gift to the community on Christmas Day. We wish them both continued success as they develop their restaurant venture.
Richard Parr
Gaywood
Reject God and you will be all on your own
One take away point from Edwin Salter’s letter last Friday was that the world has lost its way.
With a population of eight billion, it’s apparent that world leaders and governments remain unable to manage the planet for the good of all of mankind; the result, the world spirals out of control, seemingly hell-bent on destroying itself, morally, ethically, and in ways we would never have imagined decades ago.
Humanism has had its chance but has always proven to be a damp squib when it comes to real and lasting change, leaving the world desperate to find peace and stability, finding only craziness and irrationality.
The only satisfactory way to understand where we are currently and to find out about solutions is to read the Bible. It’s becoming clear that the further away mankind gets from emulating anything remotely to do with God’s character, the worse the world gets; a simple equation being – reject God and you’re on your own – with human nature given free reign.
Psalm 115, verse 16: “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.”
There have only ever been two ways, God’s way or man’s way. 6,000 years of human history have shown mankind constantly and consistently demonstrating that he has failed miserably to be worthy custodians of the planet.
Mr Salter was right in throwing shade on many religions, as part of the problem has been the misuse and abuse of religion.
This could be clearly seen if we were to view many religions using the light of God’s word.
My appeal to Mr Salter and anyone who gets this far in the letter is, think about it; think about the alternative view as to why we are here instead of blindly accepting the unproven theory of evolution. God has a purpose which he will one day make clear.
As for Mr Salter’s reliance on evolution, having had to provide us with “an inclination to be caring and helpful”, I submit that actually those inclinations come as a result of choosing to exercise characteristics we had built into us by the creator as part of our free will – we can choose to either manifest them or not. On the subject of evolution – yes, that proposed ‘thoughtless’ process that has supposedly got us to where we are now. I have often remarked on actually how thoughtful it must have been. After all it provided more than 2,000 different fruits, 1,000 or so different vegetables and very many spices, pulses, lentils and herbs, not to mention the possibility to enjoy meat in so many ways – really, all by chance?
I think not. Rather the Bible makes it clear that God prepared the earth for the appearance of man on the sixth day of creation. It’s ludicrous to think that all the food we enjoy just happened by chance to form alongside man in order for him to make a myriad of wonderful dishes. Lastly for those who are quick to lambast and denigrate God for allowing all the suffering throughout history and who ask why doesn’t he do something; really? What about asking the question, what has mankind done that would merit God’s blessings and favour. The answer to that one is very little if anything.
God will intervene, when he will send Jesus to “judge the world in righteousness”. The more the world turns its back on God’s ways, the worse things will become as we will see
uncontrolled human nature rise even further into the ascendancy…woe betide us all!
Kevin Dawn
Heacham
Free market forces are an asset
The Lynn News reported on Lidl seeking to open a new branch but Tesco objecting, stating that the impact on the town’s retail sector has not been properly considered. Let’s turn this cauldron on its head!
For decades Tesco has enjoyed a monopoly in selling in most cities and towns, so much that it could fix its prices with few barriers, and this supermarket knows that Lidl will force them to make sales competitive.
The town has a growing population which could accommodate a new outlet, and there is a demand accordingly. The arithmetic of 442 letters for, 25 against, with five undecided is testament to this. The spirit of free enterprise goes with choice, enabling fair trading.
This creates a positive retail impact on customers which Tesco does not resonate with through self interest, as they fight the inevitable involving the legal profession pertaining to Downham, which profits win or lose, as Lidl laughs all the way to the bank ultimately.
It has a growing appeal with affordable quality goods, beneficial to the shoppers of an expanding market town. Stop whingeing Tescos and accept free market forces as an asset, not a threat.
David Fleming
Downham
