Opinion: Still labeling our candidates and ourselves

Regarding the controversy surrounding Joe Lieberman's nomination, we find ourselves at the beginning of a new millennium and not much has changed in the way we regard our fellow human beings. We still choose to attach labels to ourselves.

Most of our ancestors arrived in this country to enjoy freedom of religion and expression, only to find that we are still being labeled as Greeks, Italians, Jews, Catholics, gays, blacks -- rather than being considered as individuals.

Will we ever be able to accept ourselves and each other as simply members of the human race?
-- Mario Vecchi, South Pasadena

Sabbath not just for Jews

Recently, not only your paper but the media in general have been reporting on Sen. Lieberman's entrance in the presidential campaign with a great deal of focus on his observance of the Sabbath. Although newsworthy, there has been a misconception in identifying the Sabbath as only a Jewish observance.

It is true that the largest group of Sabbath observers in the world are the Jewish people. However, there are literally hundreds of thousands of good Christians who observe the Sabbath. All Sabbatarian belief is founded in the pages of the Old Testament, which details the establishment of the seventh day at the time of human creation as the Sabbath, made and sanctified holy by God and first observed by God with Adam long before a Jewish people ever came into existence.

In Exodus 20:9-10 the day is referred to "as the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," not the "Sabbath of the Jews" or the "Jewish Sabbath," as most of the media have been obstinately reporting. The misunderstanding comes from the belief that all those who came out of Egypt during the Exodus were Jews. They were and are today but one (the tribe of Judea) of the 12 tribes of the Nation of Israel that received the Ten Commandments after the Exodus. The very first time the word "Jews" is even mentioned in the Bible, they are at war with the House of Israel (II Kings 16.6), and its ally, Syria.

I make this point to show that the Ten Commandments were given to the whole Nation of Israel, not just the Jews. In Mark 2:27 it says the "Sabbath was made for man," which is a strange and unusual way to say it was made for only the tribe of Judea.

I would suggest for accuracy in the future you might consider referring to the Sabbath as the "biblical Sabbath," the "Lord's Sabbath," the "Sabbath of Creation" or the "Sabbath of the Ten Commandments" in respect to those hundreds of thousands of people around the world who observe the Sabbath and are not Jewish. Referring to the seventh day as the Jewish Sabbath is like saying to the Protestant community that the first day, Sunday, is strictly Roman Catholic.

I applaud Joe Lieberman's faithful adherence to the Sabbath and would ask you, when writing your future articles, to understand and respect those non-Jewish people who observe the same creator God on the Sabbath day.
-- Michael J. Roy, St. Petersburg

Presidential role reversal

What we need is Sen. Joseph Lieberman for president and Al Gore for vice president!
-- Arthur R. Mitchell, New Port Richey

Lieberman sets a good example

I have read with interest about Sen. Joseph Lieberman and his keeping of the holy seventh-day Sabbath. This day was given by God in the beginning of the world; he blessed this day and sanctified it, and gave it to all mankind (Mark 2:27-28; also Genesis 2:2-3).

God promises a blessing in keeping this day holy (Isaiah 58:13-14) and his saints will worship forever in heaven and in the new earth on this holy day.

The senator is setting a good example!
-- Paul Stearns, St. Petersburg

Viagra, Playboy and politics

Personally, I'm glad the Democrats canceled their party at the Playboy Mansion. But with a top Republican advertising Viagra, maybe it wasn't all that inappropriate.
-- Beverley J. Combs, St. Petersburg

A problem befitting this administration

Re: White House has cyber-porn trouble, Aug. 13.

In the article it was noted that White House officials punished a handful of employees a year ago for downloading pornographic material from the Internet. It was thought that they had snuffed out the problem. But the problem has resurfaced.

"There was a recent uptick in incidents of this in the last month or so," Jake Siewert, a White House spokesman stated. "This is clearly against White House policy."

This brought to us by the most ethical administration ever.

There is a computer phrase that describes this entire administration from the bottom, all the way to the oval office. Garbage in -- garbage out!

I'm sure the next president elected is going to have the place fumigated after the present bunch leaves the White House!
-- Robert E. Guthrie, Seminole

Candidates' actions will speak louder

Re: Both parties trying to convince voters of their matches made in heaven, by Maureen Dowd, Aug. 10.

Not since H.L. Mencken has there been a journalist with the talent to criticize public servants as Maureen Dowd. I thank the Times for printing her columns.

This column powerfully reminds us that no matter the alleged purity of candidates or their invoking of God in their public statements, hypocritical piety reigns in our country. I get fearful with the emphasis on religion; the history of man's behavior guided by religiosity has always led to terrible abuses.

The candidates don't have to prove their religious values with rhetorical gymnastics. Their deeds will reveal more about the depth of their beliefs.
-- Hal Bronfin, Largo

Physicians should listen up

Re: With proper diagnosis, child might have been saved, Aug. 13.

Marcus Drayton did not have to die at the tender age of 14.

The salient facts here are that he was in pain -- he was complaining of severe chest pain -- and had been brought to the hospital at his own request. Did he have a history of malingering or psychosomatic complaints? I doubt it. I also doubt very much that hanging out at the hospital ER was his idea of a good time or a funny practical joke, particularly given the history of his complaint of a rapid heartbeat two days earlier.

Absent some reason to suspect that Marcus Drayton's complaints were either fabricated or imagined, the medical personnel who saw him owed him the respect that they owe every patient, which includes listening to the symptoms the patient reports and assuming that the reported symptoms are real. Along with this goes the common-sense assumption that something is causing those symptoms and the obligation to rule out every possible pathology before telling the patient that everything is normal.

The fact that Marcus may have had a rare genetic disease is beside the point. Any doctor should have enough concern for the patient to keep looking for a cause (or to refer the patient to someone else who is qualified to do so) after the most typical causes are ruled out -- at least where, as here, the complaint is not trivial. I hardly think that severe chest pain is ever trivial, even in someone as young as Marcus, in whom one would not expect a myocardial infarction (heart attack).

If every physician would listen more carefully to what their patients tell them and would consider all of that information in attempting to diagnose the problem, I suspect that there would be fewer tragic deaths like that of Marcus Drayton, a young man who never got the opportunity to reach his prime -- even though he did nothing wrong and even though he and his mother promptly sought medical attention for a problem that could have been successfully treated if his chest pain had been treated like the medical emergency it was.
-- Susan Dunlevy, Tampa

Cremation society should honor wishes

Re: Family angered by delay in cremation, Aug. 9.

I am outraged at the policy of the National Cremation Society! How dare they insist that the adult children be involved in this matter? Why do we bother making our wishes known and have wills written?

Daniel Burford was entitled to have his wishes honored. I thank the family and your paper for bringing this to the public's attention.

On a personal note, I plan to be cremated. It will not be handled by the National Cremation Society.
-- Diane M. Williamson, Belleair

A disturbing scenario

Unfortunately, I saw it again yesterday: Beautiful car, all the windows rolled up tightly, a young woman driving with the tiny new baby snuggled in the carrier, the air conditioner blowing through the car along with the cigarette smoke. Poor little baby, having to smoke at that age.
-- Bonnie Baker, St. Petersburg

A cell phone program for seniors

When are these cell phone companies going to cater to the majority of us folks here in Florida (and elsewhere) who would like to have a cell phone but are not interested in paying the rates required to get hundreds or thousands of free minutes each month? Most older people are from the old school. We don't make needless calls. We could use something like paying for 10 or 15 minutes a month.

After all, we 60-and-olders never had to grow up with phones stuck in our ears as teenagers and don't need all that time to be available to us. Give us something we can use and charge us if we go over a certain time limit. But make it cheap enough for a basic rate.
-- Patsy Dentale, Clearwater

No need for nudity in the news

I am an avid reader of your newspaper. I have been living in Florida all my life and was brought to St. Petersburg by my parents at the age of 2.

On Aug. 13 I sat down to remove the junk (namely ads) from the paper and to put everything in order. As I came to Section F, I was shocked to see a hideous picture of a naked man. I nearly threw up my breakfast.

I am seriously considering canceling my subscription to your paper. Enough smut!
-- Mary Juna McLeod, St. Petersburg

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