SN&R Letters 2012-04-05

Another effing dare

Re “Are you there, God? It’s me, Josh.” by Josh Fernandez (SN&R Arts&Culture, March 22):

Personal expression of spiritual beliefs, whether it be with hairstyles or clothing, may be an outward confirmation of a person’s profound connection to the faith within. And expressing one’s faith outwardly will probably attract other members of the faith, which builds a spiritual community. In this respect, each faith is the same and we are all one.

So I encourage you, Josh, to stop judging different faiths based on the appearance of their practitioners, and set down the issues your dad laid on you for just a minute. Take a look within to find your own guide. I don’t just encourage you, I fucking dare you!

Andria Chernis-Giorgi
Sacramento

What the frack?!

Re “Oh, frack!” (SN&R Feature, March 29):

Gasland, the movie, says [former Vice President Dick] Cheney exempted fracking from clean-water bills. That movie is believable and horrific. Don’t live near fracking. Thanks for this story, and please stay on it.

Alfreda Weiss
Fair Oaks

GMO guinea pigs

Re “GMO wars” by Jenn Walker (SN&R Frontlines, March 22):

I really appreciate you running this story about [genetically modified organisms]. I don’t trust the [Food and Drug Administration] anymore, considering all the drugs that are currently [involved in] lawsuits because of side effects that have killed, permanently crippled or medically sidelined people over the past 20-plus years. I don’t trust industries like Monsanto to have our best interests at heart. Every day, there are more and more horror stories about what they are putting in our food to make money, and they have no conscience about what it is doing to people. The medical associations seem to be involved with big industry to cover up these horrors as well, and are actively using our older Medicare generation as their guinea pigs to tests the side effects of new drugs.

All of this has to stop, and it is important to get the real truth out there and not allow the mainstream media to continue to turn a blind eye. Thanks again for your article, and print more just like it as long as you can.

Jeanna Maynard
via email

Perfectly ordinary

Re “Ordinary people” by Pat Lynch (SN&R Essay, March 22):

I was a friend of Bill Ayers’ brother when I lived in Chicago, and on a few occasions met Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn shortly after they surrendered to the FBI in 1980. I didn’t need personal encounters with the pacifist couple to suspect that their demonization in 2008 by [presidential candidate Sen. John] McCain supporters when learning of Barack Obama’s distant association with Ayers was purely political. Still, the vigor of the Republican attacks and gross mischaracterization of Ayers were disturbing.

I attended the Ayers-Dohrn appearance at California Stage. They spoke with clarity and passion about education, war, the Occupy movement and other issues, and confirmed my recollections of an intelligent, friendly couple whose Weathermen hearts were in the right place, even if some of their tactics were not. Both before and after the informal program, Ayers and Dohrn greeted and chatted with many of the attendees and conveyed sincere interest in the work being done by Sacramento-area activists.

We reminisced about earlier times and mutual friends from Chicago, and they signed my friend Dave’s daughter’s high-school term paper about the [Students for a Democratic Society] in the ’60s. Nobody talked about professional basketball. It was an uplifting evening, and given the recurring “notoriety” of Ayers and Dohrn, it should have garnered some local media attention. Unless I missed something, though, there was nothing—until I read Pat Lynch’s superb essay.

Thank you for being out there in the hard-to-find places that really matter.

John Morrison
Sacramento

Come to her church

Re “Are you there, God? It’s me, Josh.” by Josh Fernandez (SN&R Arts&Culture, March 22):

I stumbled across this article while having breakfast at Sammy’s [Restaurant]. I really enjoyed it.

If Josh is seeking the Lord, then look no further, because he dwells within you (us, everyone). There is a void within all of our souls that is meant to be filled with God (Holy Spirit). That is why we seek him.

But he’s very mysterious, omnipotent and hard for our carnal minds to comprehend. The hand of those who wrote the Bible was guided by our Lord. We need his Holy Spirit to gain understanding of the Word (Bible). I found it in Zion. Have you ever visited an Apostolic Church? You are welcome to visit my home church. It’s on Altos [Avenue] between Grand [Avenue] and South.

Kimberley Solorio
Sacramento

That’s MBR to you!

Re “Are you there, God? It’s me, Josh.” by Josh Fernandez (SN&R Arts&Culture, March 22):

Your paper has moved beyond anti-Christian with this piece of offal, and now must be considered plainly anti-Christ.

Firstly, you act as if Christianity, the religion our Lord gave his life to found, can be even considered in the same space as Satanism and witchcraft. Then you have a so-called “Christian” (a Christian in name only) using foul language in a phony attempt to evangelize an obvious Christ-hater.

Why don’t you call yourself the Mark of the Beast Review?

James Wilson
via email

What’s bigoted about protesting bigotry?

Re “Opinions, not hate” (SN&R Letters, March 22):

Jim Vo says that most of the bigoted behaviors he has seen has been from “the homosexual agenda.” To start with, how can an “agenda” be bigoted?

I agree it is true that everyone has the right to express their bigotry, but the right wingers cross the line when they try to enshrine their bigoted opinion into law. This is not a simple matter of opinion, since they want to make gay marriage, homosexuality, abortion and contraception illegal. They have the right to abstain from all these activities, but they have no right to enshrine their hateful bigotry into law. Vo’s so-called “homosexual agenda” is no more than a protest against the big government tyrannical oppression of the gay community by bigots.

Joseph Bruno
Carmichael

No cavities on the campaign trail!

Re “Say something nice about a GOP presidential candidate” (SN&R Streetalk, March 15):

I believe they all floss and brush regularly.

Sharon Goodnight
Sacramento