Join us for day of prayer May 6

Dear editor:
Thursday, May 6, 2021 marks the 70th National Day of Prayer and the 30th anniversary of our community joining together in prayer in conjunction with this national observance.
The National Day of Prayer is an annual opportunity for us to come together as a local community of faith, joining with communities across the country to pray for our national, state and local governments as well as our communities, schools, churches, homes and families.
This year the Hamilton County Day of Prayer is being held on May 6 at the Leadership Center beginning with a full breakfast at 6:15 a.m. We will share in music, scripture, prayer and hear from guest speaker, Jeff Randell, executive director of Platte Valley Youth for Christ. Tickets are $12 each and they are available at the door the day of the event. We also have a number of sponsored tickets available at no charge for youth wishing to attend. The event will conclude by about 7:30 a.m.
Even if you are unable to attend, please join us in prayer that day wherever you are and as you go about your day. As we seek to grow in our love of God and our love and service to our neighbor we draw strength to rise up as one community, one nation under God.
Thank you for joining in prayer.
Harlan Schafer,
Aurora

Vaccine passport a very bad idea
Dear editor:
Whether you have taken the vaccine or not, I would ask you to consider that vaccine passports are a very bad idea.
You are presently being bombarded either directly or through insinuation that getting vaccinated is a patriotic duty, and that refusal, at best, is both selfish and immoral and, at worst, is domestic terrorism. According to both Phizer and Moderna,  neither companies’ COVID “vaccine” will prevent you from getting COVID.  The sole benefit reaped is that you might suffer milder side effects if or when you get infected. It may prevent a more serious case from requiring hospitalization, but the shots do not make you immune; you can still get infected, and they do not prevent you from spreading the virus if you are infected.
Since the vaccinated individual is the only one getting any benefit, getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is clearly not about saving other people’s lives. Some insist that if enough people get vaccinated, herd immunity will develop and the virus will run its course, but no one explains how this is supposed to work since the vaccine does not prevent infection or spread.  
The choice to gamble your health must remain a personal one, made with informed consent, which is difficult given the censorship of anything but complimentary information on the vaccine. For some, the benefit may be worth the risk. For others, the potential risks may far outweigh the potential benefit. We are not all the same.
According to Tom Moran’s 2021 article, “Vaccine Passports and the Recalibration of Social Ethics” vaccine passports “undermine one of the most fundamental rights in a civilized society:  autonomy over one’s own body.” Autonomy over one’s own body is absolute -- one of the most fundamental rights. This autonomy is so important that it even extends beyond death. Our organs may only be harvested for life-saving transplants with our prior consent.
The fact that the right of an individual to assess personal risk, and to prioritize their own quality of life is now being derided as something heinous is a dangerous and inhumane development. The idea that your physical body belongs to the state, and that you have no right to make your own decision about what is to be done to it, is nothing short of slavery.  Make your voice heard. Speak out against vaccine passports.  
Iris Bergen,
Sutton