Re: Religious values have a place in politics, Jan. 4.
Philip Gailey misses the point entirely. The majority of those who attend church on a regular basis vote for Republicans, not because they "talk" about their beliefs, but because they see them as the best vanguard against the full-scale war being waged against Christianity.
We see Republicans defending our positions on abortion, so-called separation of church and state (a statement that appears nowhere in the Constitution) and the sanctity of marriage. Democrats such as Howard Dean can spew forth their "beliefs" all day and then turn around and join the ACLU in its attempt to wipe out Christmas.
Gailey quotes Jim Wallis of Sojourners magazine when he writes: "How a candidate deals with poverty is a religious issue . . ." Wrong. Contributions to the poor are an individual issue. Jesus made this clear in the New Testament. His admonition to aid the poor was aimed at his disciples and his listeners. He did not address the Roman Senate.
Yes, everyone who calls himself a Christian should voluntarily work toward ending poverty, but not as an order from the government.
Wallis also stated that "Neglect of the environment is a religious issue." What? I still haven't figured that one out. Where in the New Testament did Jesus say: Go forth and hug a tree? Just asking.
-- David Manning, Dunedin
Piety may be out of place
Philip Gailey's column, Religious values have a place in politics, starting with an evangelistic broadcaster's proclamation that President Bush has been ordained to be re-elected, is a real wakeup call. But to suppose that the Democrats will lose the election if they don't also engage in religious demagoguery may be a mistake.
Howard Dean became the front-runner largely by being the first Democratic contender to express moral outrage at Bush's lies about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and ties to al-Qaida in order to gain support for his unilateral pre-emptive war. Dean's moral outrage resonates with Americans whether they are Christians, Jews, Buddhists or even true Muslims.
Although the former leader of the Christian Coalition is sending thousands of campaign volunteers across Florida using computers to get the faithful to vote for Bush (Bush-Cheney campaign puts Fla. shoe leather to work, Jan. 4), that is not the end of the story.
-- Arthur L. Arnold, Madeira Beach
Bush is blessed
Re: Religious values have a place in politics.
Philip Gailey wrote that "Democrats need to get religion . . . they need to be more comfortable with speaking to people of faith on religious values and moral lessons . . ."
Let's stop right there. Answer this question: How many of the Democrats seeking the nomination for president support abortion? Answer: All of them. Use your common sense! How can they speak to anybody about religion and moral issues when they support the killing of God's creations while in the womb of the mother? The word "God" and Democrat just don't mix.
And for you to say, "And it will be the voters - not God - who decide this election" just proves my point. As a Christian, we all know that prayer to God is what elected George W. Bush in 2000 - it's called divine intervention!
George W. Bush has not been afraid to profess his faith publicly, and he spoke for the unborn when he signed the ban on partial-birth abortion. Of course, God is going to bless him, and just watch the votes come in on election night.
-- Betty Dobson, Brooksville
Why play the God card?
Re: Religious values have a place in politics.
Allow me to compliment your Philip Gailey for attempting to offer a reality check to the "religion in politics" issue.
Howard Dean is coming out (in the South) to claim sincere faith, but I don't know whom he thinks he can fool. The good old boys and girls have their traditions, and Dean doesn't know beans about how to talk their talk. Gailey joins the multitude that thinks Pat Robertson is a crackpot, and he is right on this. Then sometimes I think all of these fundamentalists are cracked. When you start trying to please this audience, you lose the Democrats and many moderate Republicans who are actually waiting for someone to stand up and say it's time to quit playing the God card and get down to government.
If all we can do is repeat the rhetoric of the religious right, we have lost touch with thought processes that allow a nation to cope with changing events. It's time for politicians to break some new ground and take positive steps to manage the economy in a way that won't backfire in our faces every few years. If we were really going to be compassionate we would concentrate on human issues like education and financial stability for seniors. Knee jerk economics only shifts trouble from one sector to the other.
-- John C. Miller, Lehigh Acres
Aim at white collar crooks
Re: High cost of doing what's right, Jan. 4.
I need to praise the St. Petersburg Times for featuring this article. It points out that there is something wrong with our system of justice in this great country. Instead of the employees being fired, it seems to me the employer should be in jail. Perhaps if our system of justice treated white collar crime more seriously we would have fewer Enrons, WorldComs and TYCOs.
In the absence of this kind of justice, it is impossible for the little guy to shake the feeling that the justice system of this country is in cahoots with corrupt business.
Regarding the people who made it possible to uncover the crime - and not to diminish the great sacrifice the airmen made in the Battle of Britain - I think if Winston Churchill were here today he would say, "Never have so many owed so much to so few."
-- Charles E. Oestreich, North Redington Beach
Loophole label misleads
Re: An unfair share, Jan. 4.
There you go again! It is intellectually dishonest for your editorial board to continue to portray limited liability companies (LLCs) and S corporations as "loopholes" used to avoid Florida corporate income tax. A loophole, properly defined, is an omission or ambiguity in the wording of a law that provides a means of evading compliance. Florida tax law was intentionally crafted to exempt pass-through entities from corporate income taxes. The Legislature did not inadvertently forget to tax such entities. Instead, our lawmakers recognized that there should be a parity with the federal income tax system, which subjects income from these entities to tax only at the individual, not the entity, level.
The theory behind this is as follows. Employees are not subject to corporate income tax. Well, what if somebody loses their job and so they set up their own business (maybe a lawn service) via either an LLC or S corporation. To subject such a person to corporate tax would be discriminatory and unfair. Employees don't have to pay corporate taxes on their earnings, but the self-employed who utilize an LLC or S corporation would have to pay tax on their net business earnings.
It would behoove this newspaper to be judicious before labeling a carefully constructed law as a loophole. To do otherwise is to engage in behavior that is as subjective as touting oneself as "Florida's best newspaper." How do I take my Times? With a large serving of objectivity, please.
-- Joseph C. Skalski, CPA, JD, Clearwater
Businesses to back
Re: An unfair share.
This editorial made me wonder many things. I wonder how a person might get a list of the 5,303 businesses that pay corporate income tax. I wonder what the impact on those businesses would be if supporters of public education like myself chose to do business with them based on their commitment to community. I wonder what the impact would be on the other 1.495-million businesses if persons like myself chose to do business with the 5,303 corporations that support social services in Florida. As a mother, a teacher and a union member I wonder what impact people like me could have. I wonder, because corporate tax records are private, if those 5,303 businesses would be willing to identify themselves so that individual consumers like myself can have an impact.
-- Barbara Wilmarth, St. Petersburg
Osama on top
Osama bin Laden has won the terrorist war. No longer must he organize, train and support terrorist activities. No longer must he raise money to support his network. All he has to do is to send out a few computer messages, and airline schedules are canceled. He's diverted the FBI to searching for people who carry almanacs, and the public is no longer concerned about civil rights or American traditions. It's terrifying to conclude that he's stronger and smarter than we are.
-- Nelson R. Eldred, Tampa
[Last modified January 11, 2004, 10:02:47]
