Muslim quote out of context
Talk about quotations taken out of context! If you are to live up to your slogan of “credible, compelling, complete,” you’ll publish the following. A full-page ad by Muslims on Dec. 8 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution includes the following quotation from the Qur’an, 5,32: “Whoever kills a person [unjustly] … it is though he has killed all mankind. …” Conveniently omitted from that quotation is the following: “Only, the recompense of those who war against God and His Apostle [Mohammed}, and go about to commit disorders on the earth, shall be that they be slain or crucified, or have their alternate hands and feet cut off, or be banished [from] the land.” Since we “infidels” are no doubt considered by Islamists as warring against god and Mohammed and committing disorders, it is only fitting that we should be killed, crucified, or dismembered, which is happening every day.
WALTER H. INGE, ATLANTA
AJC investigations good for community
I was so happy to see Bert Roughton Jr.’s column about your investigations. (“Investigative reporting thrives here,” Opinion, Dec. 13). I agree journalism here is alive and well. The AJC is actively participating in the process of governing, business and transparency, which is its role in a free society. I especially liked his comparison of the business community in Atlanta with the Catholic hierarchy in Boston. My daddy, the legendary John Crown, used to say to me, “Investigative reporter? What other kind is there?” But when I see pictures of him hobnobbing with Mayor Hartsfield and Talmadge, I don’t think there was a lot of investigating going on. The paper is a lot different from the one I read as a young person and in my opinion the investigations and expose’s you are doing now are tremendous and good for all of us. Considering what you have to deal with, I think you’re doing great.
BRENT C. FORKNER, CARTERSVILLE
Cobb County playing shell game
I am glad for the headline, (“Cobb skimming water revenues,” Metro, Dec. 13). This is a shell game being played by Cobb County and I suspect the reason why is to cover all their assets for paying for a playpen for the Atlanta Braves. That, and the state and feds are good at this game. The states play the shell game with gasoline taxes. The feds have been playing it for decades with Social Security revenue. And I feel sure that just scratches the surface. It would be a delight to see the AJC do a full-blown story on the revenue shell game — local, state and federal.
FRED N. CHITWOOD, REX
