Dear editorial staff, My identity is not open to discussion or debate, and I am tired of defending it. I am writing in response to your decision to publish an opinion piece by Adrian Maldonado. It took me a week to decide if and how I might reply to this ill-informed work published by an award winning...

By Dottie Turner I will start with a little background on myself: I served in the United States Air Force from 2004-2010, ending my enlistment as a Senior Airman. My first 3 years were spent as a meteorologist and my last 3 as a financial manager for a special forces unit. I did a great deal of traveling...

By Colin Taylor Although the Republican Party views itself as traditionally conservative, its recent actions have revealed a departure from their Christian values. Republicans have a very strong set of values shared throughout the party, typically aligning with Christianity. The party is staunchly...

By Samuel Farley As a fan who grew up watching the original trilogy, I am excited to see the upcoming Star Wars movies in 2018 and the years that follow, beginning with “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which is set to release May 25. The movie will cover the backstory of everyone’s favorite space...

By Adrian Maldonado Sexual orientation is absolutely a choice. Now this isn’t meant to be an attack on the LGBT community. I know people that identify as LGBT and hold them dear to me. But it’s time for me to own up to my beliefs. Why do I believe this? It comes down to identity. During the first...

By James Eyre Shortly after watching the 1996 film “Selma, Lord, Selma” on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I began a conversation over Facebook with one of my high school teachers. We discussed the importance of the Civil Rights Movement and the impact it left on the present-day United States. I...

By KAROL KILGORE You may have heard of “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” syndrome. The phrase is used to describe the perception that who we are or what we have is somehow less than or not as good as others. For example, Laura says, “I’m always stressed out because...

By Dan Luna Don’t let fear keep you from visiting Israel. The Middle East is all over the news, and we’re constantly being bombarded with information warning us of how dangerous and unstable the entire area is. Israel itself has been made to seem like one of the most dangerous places on earth. A...

By Samuel Farley After two mass shootings in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs Texas, America is resuming the national debate on gun control. Democratic leaders such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California have proposed a new assault weapons ban for 2017. I do not support this bill because it is a blatant...

By Ale Pena In my four years of taking high school English classes, I was assigned to read only two  books written by women out of more than 16. Women are often unfairly forgotten in the literary world, although they have played significant roles in the history of literature. For example, Mary...

By Aldahir Segovia It’s common knowledge that there’s a universe that surrounds us. Most people don’t know that there is also a universe within us. There are two known universes: the macro universe and the micro universe. The macro universe is everything that we know or don’t know that exists...

By Karol Kilgore Plaid for Women is a digital media platform that utilizes tools such as educational, informational, and inspirational blogs, podcasts, and videos submitted by member contributors to encourage and empower women to be kind to and love themselves and to implement a healthy regimen of daily...

My psychiatrist smiled while giving me a diagnosis. “Major depressive disorder,” Dr. Shipe said. But I did not smile. All I could think about were the CNN headlines branding Adam Lanza the same. That same year, the Connecticut State Attorney’s Office concluded that Lanza, the Sandy...

By Karol Kilgore “Visions that can change the world trapped inside an ordinary girl. She looks just like me, too afraid to dream out loud.” These are the opening lines to one of my favorite songs, “Don’t Give Up,” by Gospel artist, Yolanda Adams. I relate to the song so much because I often...

By Aldahir Segovia What do we millennials care about? Do we care about children not having a childhood anymore? Kids learn to read, write and do basic math problems at the age of 4 for a standardized test they don’t have to take for another couple of years. Do we care about exams like STAAR being...

By Dan Luna Robert Jeffress, President Trump’s Evangelical adviser and pastor of First Baptist Dallas, used the Bible to justify ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects from deportation young adults who entered the country illegally as children and allows them to work. He...

I disagree with the generalization, “Jesus does not exist in the Republican Party, nor will he ever,” (“Conservatism and Christianity don’t mesh,” Sept. 6). Because Jesus is in the hearts of any who have received him (see John 1:12), no matter what party they belong to. Also Jesus didn’t...

By NICHOLAS SINGLETON The removal of statues honoring Confederate war heroes has stirred a national conversation  about racism and honoring history. The Confederacy is the shameful history of the United States. Local governments – including the city of Dallas, which last week removed a statue of Robert...

By CAROLINE CEOLIN It’s not surprising that the mere uttering of the word “feminist” is equivalent to nails on a chalkboard for some Christians. Many of them associate the movement with radical notions and abortion-pushing man-haters. In reality, true feminism is similar to Christianity in the sense...