READERS WRITE

Responses to “A wealth of difference in two tax-cut plans,” @issue, Oct. 5.

Obama and the middle class

The editorial on the comparative tax proposals of Barack Obama and John McCain was highly enlightening, but not in the way the editorial board intended. While the Obama statement that those making less than $200,000 will pay less taxes than today is true, he doesn’t mention that his proposed reductions for those earning between $39,000 and $200,000 are considerably less ($471-$2,355) than the reductions they would receive under McCain.

Talk about deception in advertising for the true middle class, those earning between $38,000 and $169,000. Hold on to your wallets in an Obama presidency!

PATRICIA YANDLE

Smyrna

Plans show candidates differences

The editorial on the tax plans of the two candidates for president should be must reading for all voters. This clearly shows the difference between them. While John McCain’s plan continues and expands the unfair Republican policies that have brought us to the current disaster, Barack Obama’s plan shows that he does care about people like me.

It is definitely time for change on a fundamental level. Since the ’80s, government has sided with big business and the wealthy to the detriment of average people. We are working harder and longer for less and less, if we are lucky enough to still have jobs, while CEOs and executive pay has skyrocketed. It is time we stopped voting against our own best interest and leveled the playing field so that those who actually do the real work in this society have a chance to succeed.

MARY BAGWELL

Atlanta

Self-correction won’t work

I wholeheartedly endorse Scott Beaulier’s and Peter J. Boettke’s “Hoover-era” suggestion for the market to self-correct without bailout (“Market needs to self-correct without bailout,” @issue, Sept. 30).

So, after both Mercer and George Mason universities no longer need the services of these gentlemen due to lack of students from the resulting Depression, I invite them to join me in a three-person consortium.

It will be located at the corner of Peachtree and Peachtree. We will pool resources, which may enable us to sell apples at 4 cents apiece rather than 5 cents!

CHUCK DATRES

Weleska

Shed penalty, not chaplains

I was dismayed at the story reporting that the state budget crunch may lead to the laying off of prison chaplains (“Lifeline to inmates may be cut,” @issue, Oct. 6).

It would be better for both the souls of the prisoners and the souls of the citizens of Georgia if we saved that money by eliminating the death penalty instead.

The Rev. CAROLE MADDUX

Roswell

Politics OK in the pulpit

I disagree with the premise of “Politics need to stay out of the pulpit” by the Rev. C. Joshua Villines (@issue, Oct. 5). Liberal churches have a long history of supporting their candidates and the IRS rarely, if ever, took action. Conservative churches should not now be singled out.

Naming candidates is one thing but that is not the issue here. Preaching biblical principles, as each pastor, church or denomination understands them, to encourage congregations to vote their conscience is speech protected by our Constitution and should not be regulated.

I pray the Supreme Court will so rule but if not, I am willing to lose a tax deduction in the interest of free speech.

Those using government to stifle speech from the pulpit would have made good Tories at a time in our history when bold patriotic ministers were risking more than a tax-exempt status to enlighten their congregations regarding tyrannical excesses of the crown.

JAMES COOL

Johns Creek

Dogs get better treatment

Last week a friend went to the Grady Hospital emergency room and waited 15 hours to see a doctor. No, I am not kidding —- 15 hours!

One recent day we took the dog to the vet for treatment. We waited about two minutes before being called into an examination room to see a vet.

The enormous difference in wait times to see a doctor or a vet gives some indication about the low value society gives to medical care for the uninsured. Dogs get better treatment than people!

JONI PELTA

Atlanta

Open mind is not ‘anything-goes’

I take exception to Lorraine Murray’s article “Religion is not a buffet,” (Living, Oct. 4), where she equates respect toward many sources of wisdom with an “anything-goes” mentality. The two are quite different.

People with an “anything-goes” mentality really don’t care about testing their beliefs to see if they are actually true or helpful in their lives; but people who respect many sources of wisdom think about what they believe and go in search of truth no matter where it comes from. An open-ended search for meaning has nothing to do with “anything goes.”

Open minds do have a limit —- and that limit is the test of reason, conscience, justice and love.

Murray is clearly out of touch with today’s pluralistic world, which brings to people the riches of the world’s religions, science, literature, the arts and scholarship.

In the face of this, Murray cites some shallow theology and a spurious interpretation of the Bible to call people back to a narrow “one-way, one-truth” kind of religious path.

For my part, I’m grateful that a prophet like Martin Luther King Jr., ignored calls like this.

He discovered the power of peace through the works of a Hindu saint, Gandhi, and his eyes were opened to the New Testament’s message of love when he read a spiritual classic of Hinduism, the Bhagavad Gita.

To me, this says that a spiritual life which draws wisely from multiple religious traditions can change lives and the world.

It also says that if you want to be enriched in your home religious tradition, don’t be afraid to explore other voices and other ways.

God is too big to be contained by any single tradition, and this is but evidence of God’s goodness and God’s mercy.

The Rev. ANTHONY DAVIS

Davis is senior minister, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta.