Religious freedom laws protect all
If it wasn’t for Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, Native American Indians would not be allowed to use eagle feathers and peyote in their religious ceremonies. Jews in prison would not get kosher food, and Sikh inmates would be prevented from wearing their turbans and would be required to cut their hair. All were protected via lawsuits referencing federal or state RFRAs. Rather than enabling discrimination, RFRAs actually prevent government and businesses from discriminating on religious grounds.
BRIAN WILSON, JACKSON
Exert our influence for Mideast peace
In her March 31 column (“Coming to grips with the chaos we created in the Middle East,” Opinion), syndicated writer Mary Sanchez writes about the “geopolitical whirlwind we have created in the Middle East” and that “America can’t wash its hands of these wars.” What we can do, however, is use whatever influence we now have to convince Muslims worldwide, Sunnis and Shiites, that peace is preferable to war. Under the auspices of the United Nations, we could convoke leading clerics of both sects to issue a joint fatwa condemning the killing of innocents and calling for peace conferences between the two sects in the areas now enveloped in war.
DENNIS BALLOU, ATLANTA
Seniors should still pay school taxes
Seniors should not have to pay for public schools if they don't have children who attend them. That's the rationale you hear in Cobb County, which exempts residents over 62 from paying school taxes. Now, a legislator from Buckhead thinks this wrongheaded idea, which has starved schools in Cobb for years, will work in Fulton County ("Bill would reduce seniors' taxes," News, March 30). The timing is ironic — cutting revenues to schools when we're trying to save them. On the very day this story broke, the AJC carried a front-page story about an emergency so dire, the governor is seeking dictatorial powers to rescue failing schools.
Maybe ironic isn’t the right word. How about asinine? As seniors, we may not directly benefit from great public schools, but the indirect benefits are enormous. Our children may not be in public schools, but if we eventually go to nursing homes, let us fondly hope those who care for us will be able to read our charts. Many of us seniors have been blessed financially. This is a time for us to give back a bit of what we have received. As seniors, we should know the difference between selfishness and self-interest that is enlightened.
GENE GRIESSMAN, ATLANTA
