What this country needs most of all is a sense of history.

Recently I made a remark to someone that since our parish has a large Hispanic component, I was delighted to see that our bulletin is also in Spanish. I received the same hysterical reply I hear elsewhere: "They should learn English." Then came a lecture on the woman's grandmother, who was Polish and who had learned English.

Most immigrants to this country once lived in neighborhoods where churches, in particular, were designated by their ethnicity. For instance, in New Orleans there was an Irish church (named what else but St. Patrick's) and a French church and a German church and an Italian church. This custom survived until the 1950s at least.

The assumption that someone speaks another language because they do not want to learn English is both untrue and unfair. My mother and my grandmother spoke French all their lives when they didn't want us to know what they were saying.

Matthew 25:35: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me."

MADELINE G. KORFF

Canton

Deregulation led to this oil mess

I couldn't disagree more with Arnie Dill ("Oil blame game keeps us hooked," @issue, June 26). We definitely need to identify those who have exacerbated and manipulated dramatic oil and gasoline price hikes. President Jimmy Carter's energy policies provided subsidies for alternative energy sources and mandated auto gasoline mileage standards. But Ronald Reagan, Republicans and free-market deregulators reversed those measures and reinforced the profligate oil consumption of today.

Now, 30 years later, Dill wants to impose $4-per-gallon gasoline even if the "free market" reverses and prices fall. More significantly, no one wants to address the egregious structural inequalities inherent in the "free market" capitalist system. As admirable as the achievements of Bill Gates may be, why should one man be allowed to amass $50 billion while others eat out of garbage cans and live on the street? Every item we buy has a built-in provision for yachts, mansions, limousines, etc., for CEOs and a few others at the top of the financial pyramid.

MUHAMMAD YUNGAI

Decatur

A basic right's been preserved

I see the usual suspects crying about the Supreme Court's ruling on the right of citizens to bear arms. Of course the AJC was indignant ("A militia of one," @issue, Saturday) and all but guaranteed shootouts. I wonder whether they would have been concerned if a 5-4 decision was all that guaranteed their right to free speech?

Wake up, America. The Supreme Court almost took away one of your basic rights by judicial fiat. When did the court gain the responsibility to make new law and deny basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution?

The framers of our Constitution did not trust big government. It does not take a genius to know what these men intended.

M.C. HILL

Fayetteville

MARTA not a limo

For over 30 years I have been a daily rider on MARTA from Buckhead to downtown. I am pleased to report that I have not run into any major problems of any kind. People have to realize that MARTA is public transportation, not a limousine service!

TONY ROOZEN

Atlanta

Call them bipolar

Re: Mike Luckovich's cartoon of Tuesday: I'm not offended by the dead Santa; he had a good long run.

But what the heck are penguins doing at the North Pole? If they flew 12,000 miles on a commercial jet for no good reason, then they need to examine their own carbon footprint. Flightless aquatic hypocrites, that's what they are.

STEVEN DOYLE

Atlanta

 Mike Luckovich cartoon