Letters to the Editor (Sept. 4, 2025)

We can fight evil

Editor:

Every now and then America produces a film that is not only a box office success, raises great philosophical questions — such as “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” released this summer as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and pulling in $118 million its first weekend.

“The Fantastic Four” are astronauts who receive superpowers after encountering cosmic rays in space. Our four heroes fight to save their planet from being destroyed by a planet-eating villain — obviously the stuff of superhero films; less obviously the stuff of philosophy.

Two of the “Fantastic Four” have a child together, who (spoiler alert) appears to have superpowers. The villain wants the child, and will spare the planet in exchange for the child.

This raises a classic dilemma. Sacrifice the one to save the many? Or annihilate the many rather than surrender the one? Complicating matters, the one is a baby who can not participate in the decision of his fate.

Unrest builds. Even the child’s father says it would be ethical to give up the child for the planet, but the mother tells a crowd on the street, “I’m not going to sacrifice my child to save my world; but I’m not going to sacrifice my world to save my child.”

This is a game changer. We do not have to let evil take the one to save the many. We do not have to let evil annihilate the many rather than surrender the one. We can fight the evil on behalf of both — and win.

And (spoiler alert) win they do, though with a cost. “The Fantastic Four” do not sacrifice the one to save the many. They do not annihilate the many rather than surrender the one. “The Fantastic Four” fight for both, and win for both.

Can we do the same?

Jonathan Gardner

Los Lunas

We should be worried about freedom and facts

Editor:

The USA has always taken pride in being a leader in advanced research of all kinds, including medical advances, technological achievements, engineering and many areas to better our world.

Our country has always worked to advance educational achievement at all levels. The current administration is working hard to suppress education and research. Don’t worry about your kid’s education! They apparently don’t really need it anymore, judging from the actions of the administration. Consider the examples below:

Reading: We don’t really need to worry about reading to discover facts, as facts don’t matter anymore. Reading to learn about the world or other cultures?

Not important, in fact, the government will decide what is true and what books will be accepted or banned. Want to read to understand various opinions or experiences?

The government will decide what media is worth your time and what words are too “woke” to use, and if libraries are worth supporting.

Science: Science funding has been cut to its lowest level in decades. Hundreds of medical trials and long-standing research projects have been arbitrarily cut.

This will affect advances in medical treatments for decades to come. Scientific data that does not agree with various views of this administration in areas like climate change or vaccines has been suppressed. Science and the pursuit of truth has been devalued. Sound like a career path you would like to pursue?

Math: Recently, the president did not like the jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, so he just fired the head of the agency!

Don’t like the overwhelming statistical and scientific support for climate change? Just cut funding to NOAA to cripple our nation’s response to major weather events and trends.

Undermining our trust of long-standing economic and systems data is a hallmark of anti-democratic regimes. If you can’t trust facts and information, how can you vote or hold opinions with any confidence?

History: The current administration has attacked the Smithsonian and other museums for betraying slavery as overly horrible. Really!

Unfortunately, this means no funding for the preservation/display of historic facts regarding slavery, the Civil War, and the history of various minority groups, etc., that do not fit the government’s narrative. Now we are even undermining our kids’ belief in historical facts.

There are many other examples, but we should be truly shocked and worried about the current attack on American beliefs in freedom, facts and truth!

Julie Mehrl

Belen