Obama's pastor

Critics show their ignorance of rhetoric

The current spasm of "righteous indignation" concerning Jeremiah Wright, Sen. Barack Obama's pastor, smacks of embarrassing ignorance. Such a critique of Wright is ignorant of black preaching rhetoric and the practice of liberation interpretation. It is also disturbingly ignorant of the prophetic traditions of the Bible that regularly expose the failures of society in savage rhetoric. I am grateful for the ministry of Wright, a colleague of mine in the United Church of Christ, who for a very long time has been a faithful pastor and a daring prophetic figure. It is odd when right-wingers misconstrue this belated Jeremiah as they do the original Jeremiah, who knew about God's passion for truth-telling in risky places.

WALTER BRUEGGEMANN

Brueggemann, of Decatur, is professor emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary

Guilt by association is absurd

The political process of our country has sunk to its lowest point. It seems clear that the only questionable thing against the character of Barack Obama is the past sermons of his pastor. This is guilt by association. Will this guilt by association be applied to Sen. Hillary Clinton?

Even though she lived with and knew Bill Clinton better than Obama knew his pastor, is she to be held accountable for Bill Clinton's actions with Monica Lewinsky? Of course not. Does her continued association with Bill mean that she believes in adultery, or cheating on your spouse? Of course not.

So should Obama be held accountable for the actions of his pastor —- of course not!

The majority of us Americans grew up pledging allegiance to a country that declares "liberty and justice for all," and if the principles of justice are not mere words, then Obama will not continue to be punished for the free speech of his pastor, just as Hillary was not punished for the actions of her husband.

SAM STINSON, Lithonia

Two more ranters make a trinity

If racist venom, treasonous rants and conspiracy mongering are the attributes of a prophet, then let's just throw in David Duke and resurrect George Wallace to complete the trinity ("In any age, a prophet draws wrath" @Issue March 18). The three of them "speaking truth to power" (gag) should be quite entertaining.

DAVID HICKS, Duluth

No justifying incendiary verbiage

I find it interesting, but not surprising, that the only ink on Tuesday's editorial pages about the Jeremiah Wright controversy consists of a lame attempt to justify his incendiary rhetoric.

BILL SANFORD, Woodstock

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Cleanup crew deserves major thanks

Congratulations to all the city workers and volunteers who did one incredible job cleaning up the debris from downtown [after Friday's tornado]. While photographing on Sunday, I was amazed to see how much had been done in such a short time. Thanks go out to all the police and firefighters who help in making our city safe.

CAROL MULDAWER, Atlanta

Invest in warning sirens for city

Now that it is proved that a tornado can hit Atlanta, the residents and tourists of Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb counties deserve the added protection of emergency sirens. This would require a major investment, but in major cities across the country, sirens have been credited with saving lives. This issue has been brought up before, but no action was taken. I left a restaurant in Cabbagetown minutes before the tornado hit. I had no idea we were even under a warning. Sirens would have provided the alert to take cover. Residents deserve this extra layer of warning when the next tornado comes through ... and it will.

THOMAS HOUSE, Atlanta

Who owns pols? Let labels tell it

While visiting a friend near the state Capitol, I noticed that race cars were parked nearby promoting the NASCAR race. The race cars had what seemed to be dozens of sponsor decals on them, and it struck me that our state (and national) lawmakers should be required to wear a jacket with patches indicating which industry or special interest groups "own" or have a vested interest in them (wink wink). The larger the financial ownership, the larger the patch.

Might as well be honest about who your master is!

PHIL DAVIS, Powder Springs

Lawmakers, or panderers?

Gov. Sonny Perdue recently implied that should Sunday alcohol sales be voter-approved, we dumb-as-a-rock voters will clamor next for legalization of prostitution. Alcohol sales are already legal six days a week in "wet" counties, and prostitution is illegal seven days a week in all of Georgia.

On another issue, Perdue is surprisingly correct in condemning the irresponsible repeal of taxes on cars and the capping of assessment increases. Both proposals are simply election-year pandering, benefiting only the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and poor. A far more perceptive comparison for Perdue to make would be between prostitutes and the majority of our legislators.

BIRNEY A. MONTCALM, Douglasville

Every vote counts

It is a shame when a government official, and especially an elected one, feels he needs to show up and vote only if his presence is going to make a difference in the outcome ("Caveats about a vote count," Letters, March 14). I was taught that every vote counts and that we have an obligation to exercise our right to get out and vote.

If state Rep. Fran Millar feels that he does not need to vote 100 percent of the time, then maybe the voters of DeKalb County should consider cutting his salary proportionately according to the number of times he feels his vote is necessary.

DORIE SOKOL, Dunwoody