Houston Chronicle
Just call him ‘American hero’
Wow! Thanks to the editor who decided to run the picture of the 1st Division Marine on Page One Nov. 10. ADVERTISEMENT
This was the most poignant and memorable photo I can recall seeing since the 1945 flag-raising at Iwo Jima. The only title necessary is “American Hero.” Thank you, thank you, thank you.
PETER SCOPPA
Pearland
PETER SCOPPA
Pearland
Smoking is more likely to kill
I was shocked to see the large photograph on Nov. 10. A tired, dirty and brave Marine rests after a battle — but with a cigarette dangling from his mouth! Lots of children, particularly boys, play “army” and like to imitate this young man. The clear message of the photo is that the way to relax after a battle is with a cigarette.
I was shocked to see the large photograph on Nov. 10. A tired, dirty and brave Marine rests after a battle — but with a cigarette dangling from his mouth! Lots of children, particularly boys, play “army” and like to imitate this young man. The clear message of the photo is that the way to relax after a battle is with a cigarette.
The truth is very different from that message. Most of our troops don’t smoke. And most importantly, this young man is far more likely to die a horrible death from his tobacco addiction than from his tour of duty in Iraq.
DR. DANIEL MALONEY
The Woodlands
DR. DANIEL MALONEY
The Woodlands
Marines’ gear includes cigs?
I opened the Chronicle this morning and got slapped in the face by a huge picture of a “battle weary” Marine with a fine looking cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
I respect everyone’s rights, but do we really need to encourage our young people to think that this is part of required military gear?
MAYNARD HOVLAND
League City
I opened the Chronicle this morning and got slapped in the face by a huge picture of a “battle weary” Marine with a fine looking cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
I respect everyone’s rights, but do we really need to encourage our young people to think that this is part of required military gear?
MAYNARD HOVLAND
League City
Responses to conservative voice
Only slim majority
At this moment, American troops are fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan to prevent the next fundamentalist Islamic theocracies.
Meanwhile, on the home front, opinions such as those expressed by Frank Pastore in his Nov. 10 Outlook article, “Christian conservatives must not compromise / One nation, under a God the liberals reject,” urge us toward a fundamentalist theocracy of our own.
If I read the election results correctly, nearly as many people opposed to the current administration voted as those who supported President Bush. This refutes Pastore’s view that “the left hates the ballot box.” A slim majority of the people voted one way instead of the other.
I deeply value my voting rights. I also value my right to determine for myself what it means to be a patriot and a Christian.
For now, I suggest that the best way to support our troops on the battlefield is to not become our “enemy” here at home.
STEPHEN T. PHILLIPS
Sugar Land
STEPHEN T. PHILLIPS
Sugar Land
Bad sports
Frank Pastore’s rant was one of the most simple-minded, pathetic and malicious pieces of paranoia I have ever read. This piece from Pastore (a former baseball player who now has his own radio bully pulpit) clearly illustrates the hazards of looking to athletes as spiritual authorities.
DAVID S. HOOKER
Beaumont
Frank Pastore’s rant was one of the most simple-minded, pathetic and malicious pieces of paranoia I have ever read. This piece from Pastore (a former baseball player who now has his own radio bully pulpit) clearly illustrates the hazards of looking to athletes as spiritual authorities.
DAVID S. HOOKER
Beaumont
Respectful dialogue
Frank Pastore wrote, ” … We are against false ideas that hold good people captive.” Well, OK. How about the idea that the world was created in six days?
Frank Pastore wrote, ” … We are against false ideas that hold good people captive.” Well, OK. How about the idea that the world was created in six days?
I have no objection to anyone believing anything he or she wishes, I simply wish the same opportunity.
The so-called Christian right has hijacked Christianity just as Muslim fundamentalists have hijacked Islam.
The so-called Christian right has hijacked Christianity just as Muslim fundamentalists have hijacked Islam.
As a man who loves God, family and country, I object to the notion that I (to use Pastore’s words) “vomit upon the morals, values and traditions we hold sacred.” No! I simply have a different understanding of Scripture and what it means to be a Christian.
Pastore claims, “We are exceptional. We are unique.” Again, no. We are all the same.
If we are to progress as a species, we will have to move beyond “tribal-survival thinking” and learn to respect others and their differing ideas about religion. Perhaps even enter into a meaningful dialogue to determine which of the values we each espouse will produce the highest good for all humanity.
THE REV. ROGER ALDI
Houston
If we are to progress as a species, we will have to move beyond “tribal-survival thinking” and learn to respect others and their differing ideas about religion. Perhaps even enter into a meaningful dialogue to determine which of the values we each espouse will produce the highest good for all humanity.
THE REV. ROGER ALDI
Houston
Extremists rule now
For several years, I have been asking the women at my church and all my friends to pray for the women and children who had to live under the Taliban, especially that they might find a way of escaping such harsh rule. I am terrified now that this country is becoming a Christian Taliban, where only extremists are making the moral rules by which the rest of us will have to live. I read examples of this in the Chronicle daily. Now, I am praying for our freedoms.
OUIDA E. THOMAS
Rosenberg
For several years, I have been asking the women at my church and all my friends to pray for the women and children who had to live under the Taliban, especially that they might find a way of escaping such harsh rule. I am terrified now that this country is becoming a Christian Taliban, where only extremists are making the moral rules by which the rest of us will have to live. I read examples of this in the Chronicle daily. Now, I am praying for our freedoms.
OUIDA E. THOMAS
Rosenberg
Dowd: Why one blue’s gone red
For the first time in my life I voted for a Republican president. Maureen Dowd’s Nov. 6 column, “Don’t look for healing, reconciliation from this bunch,” was offensive to me. I have two sons-in-law who are on active duty (one in Afghanistan) facing the reality of jihad every day, and her casual use of the term demeans their service.
For the first time in my life I voted for a Republican president. Maureen Dowd’s Nov. 6 column, “Don’t look for healing, reconciliation from this bunch,” was offensive to me. I have two sons-in-law who are on active duty (one in Afghanistan) facing the reality of jihad every day, and her casual use of the term demeans their service.
Dowd should realize that one of the reasons many former “blues” went “red” is the result of her (and others like her) over-the-top inflammatory remarks.
Never have I read such disrespect directed toward our leaders. Four years of “stupid, liar, cuckoo clock, deserter” was all this former blue voter could stand. Somehow, there must be a standard of decency applied to disagreement.
DIANE WOODARD
Houston
DIANE WOODARD
Houston
