1576 - God and stuff

I was reading the letters to the editor Saturday and though as I read the last four, 'wow, these are really good.' So I waited a couple of days to see if I was still as enamored of them as I was a few days ago. I still am. Even though they reference older letters I don't think the meaning is lost by not reading what generated these responses.

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Which one?

Tad Armstrong's commentary "It's OK to say 'God'" (July 6) is an excellent example of the mind-set of many religious conservatives. Mr. Armstrong talks about America's culture being corrupted. He believes that, as a country, we need God in our lives. This is wrong. Many individuals need God in their lives, but civilizations fail when religious beliefs are imposed on unwilling citizens.

As Mr. Armstrong said, "Let's be candid." He obviously thinks that belief in God is the litmus test for a moral society. Will any God do, or just his?


Cheap shot

Conservative Tad Armstrong took a cheap shot at President Barack Obama for omitting reference to "creator" in recent speeches on the Declaration of Independence ("It's OK to say 'God'," July 6). Mr. Armstrong suggests this is consistent with Mr. Obama's supposed agenda to replace our system with godless socialism (if that were even remotely possible).

The whining of conservatives like Mr. Armstrong who see rampant religious "persecution" and societal downfall in every turn of phrase or Obama administration initiative is merely a political canard. They want control of the executive branch back and badly.

Because their base already is whipped into submission and compliance, far-right conservatives are trying to convince independent voters that God is on the Republican team. Their penchant for public grandstanding about their faith and their disingenuous (and dishonest) judging of the faith and intentions of others, however, is as far from the public teachings of Christ as you can get.

Now would be a good time to consult the St. Louis phonebook listing hundreds of churches and synagogues in the area and identify which ones the government (much less the Obama administration) has closed or restricted in worship practices. That would constitute real persecution by a real socialist government.


Talking trash

I don't like what is being said about my government. They say it's too big. They say this about this government, the largest and strongest country in the history of mankind.

They're saying this about my country's government, the most compassionate and best defender of human rights and human decency in history. This is the government my uncles and cousins defended. This is the country that allowed my ancestors to flee Prussian tyranny and gave them a home. This is my country, the one that gave me a post-graduate education, the first of my ancestry.

This is the country that used to ask "how" instead of saying "no." These people have forgotten that this is my country, "by, of and for the people of the United States."

What pessimism they have, what negative thinking they expound about this, my country. They embrace and protect economic isolation against all who want to examine it and change it for the good of many. They have little faith in this government. They want to reduce it to a mere shadow of its greatness. They want me to see my country and government as something a great deal less than it is and has been. Let their words speak for themselves and their record provide evidence of what they see for the future. I have listened enough.



We've given enough

How much of a beating can our working class take? How long will workers acquiesce to the will of Missouri legislators who wish to lower their hourly wage? They tried to eliminate the cost-of-living increases in the minimum wage law passed just a few years ago. Now Republican legislators are back at it under the guise of helping Joplin (Missouri) recover by eliminating the prevailing wage clause.

As indicated in the editorial "Foundation problems" (July 7), corporate profits are up as never before. Yet workers who toil under extreme conditions are expected to be paid less to help Joplin recover sooner. As shown by studies cited in the editorial "War on wages" lowering hourly wages does not mean contractors will automatically decrease their costs to rebuild. Will suppliers decrease their costs? Will the engineering company providing the new plans decrease its costs? Will the insurance company insuring for loss on the job decrease its premiums?

Why are workers asked to give up their wages and benefits? The people of Missouri have given up enough. The Republican revolution in our state has not brought about prosperity. As a matter of fact, it is stripping our state to its bare bones. Using the Joplin tragedy as a means of suspending prevailing wage is a travesty.


Here's the LINK back to the letters site.

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And then here's a Not Always Right short that goes along with the first two.

Thou Shalt Not Covenant Thy Neighbor
Retail | San Francisco, CA, USA |
(I’m working the floor at a local video game store when a visibly angry woman comes up to me with a game in her hand.)

Customer: “What sort of filth are you selling here!? My son has been playing this game, and I found out it’s about killing the Pope!”

(She’s holding a copy of “Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood”. Its antagonist is Rodrigo Borgia, the Pope of Renaissance Italy.)

Me: “Yes, ma’am, the villain in that game is an embellished version of an actual Pope who was historically known for–”

Woman: “Look! I know you’re just doing your job, but I live in a Christian household and I wont have my son learning to hate religion!”

(I give her a refund, and then try to find her a game she approves of.)

Woman: “Okay, what’s this one about?” *picks up Halo: Reach*

Me: “Well, in that game you play as a futuristic super soldier who battles a race of religiously devout–”

(She screams, throws the game down, and storms out. The next day, she comes back and buys “God of War III” simply because it “has God in the title”.)