Letters to the Editors

Put the needs of our country before your own

As we celebrate our first post-9/11 Independence Day, waving flags and feeling proud, remember the words of Adlai Stevenson: "Patriotism is not short, frenzied bursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."

To call oneself a patriot means to put the needs of one's country ahead of one's own. Greed and dishonesty will destroy our country from within just as surely as terrorists from without.

From this holiday on, be aware of your thoughts, deeds, and actions. Are they selfish, serving only you, or do they help the community as a whole? Are you honest in your business dealings? Are you honest with yourself?

Find your place as a citizen in this country first, understanding that freedom has its price. Then, move on and realize your place as a citizen in the world, understanding those responsibilities are even greater.
-- Jim Reed, St. Petersburg

Celebrate the bastion of liberty

Thomas Jefferson and his 55 colleagues, in signing the Declaration of Independence, realized that the time for advancing overtures of reconciliation to King George had ended. In a very resolute manner, they declared to the world that "... these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiances to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and England is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do.

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we virtually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

As we celebrate the birth of our nation this Fourth of July, may we, with gratitude, reflect on the resolve of our founding fathers, as they -- with a great sense of moral conviction -- began the long journey through places like Lexington and Concord and Valley Forge -- a journey that today has culminated in the United States being the bastion of world liberty.

Today the American people continue to sustain the challenge, which was advanced to all generations by Francis Scott Key... "Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free, and home of the brave?"
-- Fred Freeberg, Pinellas Park

Don't scare us away from fireworks

Re: The ruse before the fuse, by Lane DeGregory, July 1.

The article states that there was a 29 percent increase in injuries related to fireworks in 2000 compared to 1999. This is correct according to the NFPA (National Fire Prevention Association); the NFPA takes its information from the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission.) However, the injuries in 2000 are considered unusually high due to the millennium celebrations.

The injuries in 2001 were 13.5 percent lower than 2000 (9,500 compared to 11,000). This information doesn't even include the analysis of the percentage of injuries compared to amount of fireworks sold. In 2000, 152.6-million pounds of fireworks were sold compared to 161.6-million in 2001. This makes the injury rate per 100,000 pounds of fireworks in 2000 7.4 percent compared to 5.8 percent in 2001. I can go further back in the reports to show a 10-year difference in 1991 to 2001 and show that the injury rate per 100,000 pounds of fireworks consumed has fallen from 14.7 to 5.8 percent.

Please, don't scare people and say how fireworks are so dangerous without a true representation of the facts. I do believe that they are very dangerous and should never be handled by children or in a careless manner. However, I am 400 percent more likely to be hurt by my stove than fireworks.
-- Leland Kepler, Lutz

No time for this idiocy

Re: The Pledge of Allegiance.

It is really hard to believe that in this time of crooked politicians, terrorists, bombings, anthrax, crime, church politics and war, we actually have some idiots who have time to think of taking the words "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance.

For decades, we have said it loudly and fervently with our hands over our hearts, its words coming from our soul.

How many times have we all looked up at one time or another and said, "Dear God, help us"?
-- Jayne Teske, Largo

The majority is the tyrant

Re: Pledge of Allegiance.

In a monarchy, the king is the tyrant. In a democracy, the majority is often the tyrant. Our founding fathers recognized this danger. In order to protect the religious beliefs and practices and disbeliefs of individuals from being crushed by the majority, they included the establishment clause in the First Amendment, which calls for church-state separation.

In the California case, the children who didn't want to participate were required to listen to their classmates recite the pledge. This made them outcasts in the eyes of their peers.

The overwhelming outcry by members of Congress, the president and the majority against the decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals demonstrates that the majority is the tyrant.

Rewording the pledge to read as it did before 1954 would solve the problem, but the majority would rather impose their ways on these little children and put them in the position of either violating their conscience or becoming outcasts.
-- Jack C. Werner, Dunedin

Basic freedoms are not trivial

There is never anything trite or insignificant about our Constitution. There are no small judicial rulings, only minds that are too small or too cunning to comprehend the rulings. When the justices of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the "under God" phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional, they were concerned about the separation of church and state.

I believe that Americans should be very concerned about the erosion of the wall of separation. School vouchers threaten the democratizing elements inherent in public education. Bible clubs, in themselves innocuous, weaken the fiber of the establishment clause. The founding fathers were religious men, but they did not establish a state religion. That was a pretty radical move at the time. Today it is the philosophy of the president's men coupled with the opportunities afforded by the war on terrorism that frighten me.

Some argue: "Why do we waste our time on legal trivia when the nation faces so many more pressing problems?" There is no more important job then to maintain vigilance over our basic freedoms. Whether it's the right to burn a flag as a sign of free speech or to say "under God" in the pledge, each of these issues requires scrutiny by lovers of freedom. Those who would point your attention away from the issues do not love freedom.

As our country becomes more diversified and our international commitments create intercultural exchanges, we must accept differences in religious values. I also question the saluting of the flag every day of the week. Does the routine trivialize the obligations of citizenship? Do our students demonstrate such disloyalty that we must affirm it everyday?
-- Glenn Hameroff, Delray Beach

Pledging only to the ideal of America

I pledge allegiance to the ideal of the United States of America: the first nation, throughout history, with liberty and justice for all. That's what our pledge should be.

No piece of cloth will hold my allegiance, for not only has our country had several flags in use throughout its history, but its meaning may change, and indeed, be usurped by scoundrels seeking protection for ignorance, hatred and bigotry. No piece of land holds that power, for as our borders have changed in the past, so may they change in the future. No group of people, or government, can hold my allegiance, for groups and governments change with the wind, and greed and avarice often carry the day over reason and goodwill. Those who wish to abuse the government to control the minds of others may gain power, but they will never gain my assent. And of course, as an atheist, I wouldn't even consider pledging allegiance to some imaginary deity.
-- Brent Yaciw, Wesley Chapel

Political, yes, but not religious

George Washington was once quoted that the United States was not a Christian nation. Of course he was right; we are a secular nation. Two years after I finished high school, the words "under God" were added to the Pledge of Allegiance. My thought at the time, and since, was how dumb that is.

The stars and stripes represent our political unity, not the various religions of our people. In spite of political winds blowing left and right, every one of us shares a singular love for our country. And in times of trial and tribulation, as in World War II and most recently on Sept. 11 we stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of the enemy. Our ancient battle cry is "rally around the flag boys."

The Pledge is a patriotic statement, it is a political statement. I see no reason why it should be a religious statement.
-- Arnold C. Jones, Dunedin

Our rights were endowed by God

I think the people who support the ruling that the pledge is unconstitutional have it wrong. They focus on the individual -- does "one nation, under God" say that I believe in God, rather than one nation, the nation as a whole? All it essentially says is that our rights derive from something other than the government -- I think from a higher power, but if you personally don't want to believe in one, that's fine.

To me, "our rights were endowed by God" is a fact, and overturning it makes about as much sense as overturning+the law of gravity.

When will this country get back to the concept that, well, you can be "offended" sometimes -- and if you are, we aren't going to offend everyone else just so you won't be?
-- Ernest E. Lane, Trinity

What's good for the government . . .

I think in order to show just how much we honor and love the freedoms of America, from now on, you guys should print "One nation, under God" right below the title of your newspaper. Anything less would be unpatriotic. A true American would not be offended in the slightest to see that glorious statement in bold print right above your headlines everyday. And if some God-hating atheist doesn't like it, well, nobody's forcing him to read that particular line of the news. So unless you want your paper to be deemed some antireligious, anti-American piece of propaganda, you guys should join the bandwagon and print that starting tomorrow, no questions asked.

Oh wait, or do you think that might impose upon the impartiality of true journalistic merit? To hell with impartiality! If it's good enough for my government, it's good enough for you, too.
-- Jason Franks, St. Petersburg

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