The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Righting Religion

2.21.07 @ 12:01AM

(Page 5 of 5)

The word "force" in America is probably the most overwhelmingly misapplied word in the dictionary. Mrs. Natoli would lead you to believe that Mrs. Natoli was "forced" to walk miles in Sorrento and Herculaneum and Roma last October against her will, by the evil Mr. Natoli, but in reality nobody was "forced" to do anything. If Ron and/or his daughters choose to be silent for the pledge's "under God", Ron and/or his daughters may receive dirty looks, but that does not constitute "force".

"Why won't they allow my gay and lesbian friends to lead the same normal lives as everyone else?"

The answer is that people who limit affection for their "partner" exclusively to consensual sodomy are not living "normal" lives. As a practical matter, very few people care to peer into bedroom windows to confirm or deny whether the aforementioned consensual sodomy is or is not being committed. But some people, perhaps not even a majority, do care to see children in a home with a father and a mother, not two men, not two women, not one man, not one woman, not an arbitrarily sized kibbutz. That concern for "the children" is contrary to Ron's desire to redefine family to...no definition whatsoever.

"Christians should leave their religion at home and not try to force it on me."

Funny, but that is probably exactly what all 17th and 18th century immigrants to America heard before they left their native shores for America. And that is why the First Amendment to the Constitution includes the phrase "Congress shall make no law...prohibiting the free exercise thereof." If Ron was present at the Constitutional Convention, Ron would insist on deleting that awful phrase "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." But Ron wasn't there, and the states approved the phrase. So Ron will have to get used to Christians exercising their faith, in public, or submit an amendment to revoke the right to do so.
-- Frank Natoli
Newton, New Jersey

We do not need people like Ron Schoenberg lecturing us about what the role of religion in a believer's life should be. What authority does he cite for his idiotic assertion that "religion should be about family and home?" Everyone is entitled to an opinion and he has expressed his; however, his superficial dismissal of people who take Christianity seriously tells me more about his ignorance than it does about any perceived injustice perpetrated upon him by committed Christians. Mr. Schoenberg may live a completely compartmentalized life, one in which he can leave his religious views at home in his closet while living by a completely different set of values away from it, but the rest of us are under no compunction to live our lives in a like manner.

Does Mr. Schoenberg think that believers should have left their moral outrage at home and chosen not to join with the Abolitionists in condemning slavery in the 1860s or not to march for civil rights during the 1960s? Should conservative Christians remain silent about the injustice of murdering innocent unborn children just because it might offend the sensibilities of those who presumably left their religion at home with their family? It seems to me what Mr. Schoenberg is really upset about is that not everybody believes what he believes about the morality of abortion and homosexuality and since conservative Christians are more vocal in their opposition to his viewpoint concerning these matters, he wants them to put aside their convictions in favor of his.

It is impossible to lead a coherent life with no immutable value system under-girding it. A person of true integrity can be counted on to behave consistently regardless of where he is or who he is with. There is no dichotomy in living this way but there is in trying to make Christianity just something you believe when at home spending time with your family. I suspect that Mr. Schoenberg believes that abortion and homosexuality are acceptable because his "religion" and the values it imparts to him tells him they are. For him to deny conservative Christians the same choice is disingenuous.
-- Rick Arand
Lee's Summit, Missouri

SHOW OF PUCK
Re: Andrew Cline's It's Mad in January and February, Too:

From a hockey fan in response to Andrew Cline's basketball article, aaaaaaaaaaaagh.
-- Tom Bullock
West Covina, California

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Education, Business, Religion, Abortion, Global Warming, Constitution, Law, Founding Fathers, NATO, Africa, Energy