Editor’s note: Recently in The Voice, the announcement was made of the death of the conductor of the column, Ask Grandpa, which provided readers with 503 weeks of sage advice, humor, and continuity. Below is the repeat of the August 19, 2021 column. The Voice will continue to offer previous columns. We invite special requests of previous columns.
Grandpa,
You have said before that the Quran and the Bible both give the same message. I have just started reading the Quran and already have found that you are dead wrong! The Quran said that God told Adam the names of all the animals and asked Adam to repeat the names to the Angels. The Bible said that God let Adam name the animals. That right there is enough to convince me that the Quran is not the word of God. So quit spouting your unwarranted philosophy.
Grandpa says: You have the right to your confusion. It is a gift given to the closed mind of those who chose not to love their fellow man. Those with an open mind can understand that semantics can alter the exact wording of transliterated writings. I have a favorite question I like to ask people bent to hate; Genesis 2:18-22, the same scripture upon which you base your judgment of the Quran, we are told that God did not want man to be alone, so he created all the animals to create and help meet for him’. Does this mean that God condones bestiality? Get real. You are not reading the Quran for enlightenment. You are looking for reasons to justify your personal prejudices. Both books tell us the final fate of those who love to hate.
Grandpa,
I saw another slant to the letter from the lady who said her husband talks too much. (See The Voice, May 13, 2021). You and the writer both saw the man’s talking as a flaw in the man. I am seeing a controlling wife who wants to stifle a gregarious man. She is putting her anti-social spin on what she tells you.
Grandpa says: You have an interesting point. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Grandpa,
I read an article in The Voice about half of the working women in Illinois have lost their jobs during the pandemic. I hate to admit that I am part of that majority. I read that so many people have gotten out of Illinois due to taxes, politics and an atmosphere of non-caring for the small businesses of Illinois, that the population dropped enough to lose a seat in Congress. Well, after a lot of conversation with my husband, we have decided that we are going to join that crowd, too. We won’t miss this state at all.
Grandpa says: You may have read into the article much more than was said. The article only said that the population has gone down slightly in the last 10 years, since the last census. Possibly, we lost the seat in congress because too many people did not bother to complete the census forms. Grandpa seriously doubts that there was any one cause for the decline. There rarely is ever only one reason for such a population shift. If you and your family are sure that leaving the State is the right thing for you, nobody is going to try to stop you. By all means follow your dream. You may be missed, for a little while.