March 13, 2008 07:47 am Atheist views hurt America Cary Brunswick agrees with Nietzsche: "God is dead." Nietzsche was a dedicated atheist with a hatred of Christ. In his book, "The Antichrist" he opposes Christ. His last book, "Ecce Homo" claims Nietzsche is the victorious rival who would supplant the teaching of Christ. Our Founding Fathers founded a government on the belief that each human being is endowed with certain inalienable rights and governments are instituted to protect those rights. It was the first government in history created with only delegated and limited power. Our Constitutional rights on paper are worthless unless a people believe that God's law controls, and acts of tyranny are void. The Ninth Amendment re-enforces these rights, and the Declaration of Independence mentions God four times. The Nazi-German view of government was expressed in the atheistic philosophy of Marx and Nietzsche. In this view, our rights are vested in the state, not the individual. What the state gives the state can take away. Scott McCallum wrote, "We took our God, killed him, proclaimed him dead. And God will do just that, stay dead. The writing is on the wall; I told you so already. It's called the Apocalypse, where man kills all Mankind." ("Goodbye beloved world"). In 1980, Father Francis Canavan, S.J., wrote, "Christian society has ended ... We shall soon see no more nominal or post-Christian Catholics. The gap between Catholicism and the general culture will be so wide and so visible, we shall have to stand on one side or the other side." ("The Catholic Eye".) Rita Armstrong Oneonta FISA mustn't be approved When our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution they discussed it, and re-wrote it for months. Every word was carefully chosen, and where they felt future generations might need wiggle room, they left options open. Where the Founding Fathers wanted to be clear and specific with certain "inalienable rights," they were. "Amendment 4 _ Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." If Congress gives Bush the FISA bill he wants, it is in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. And, "terror" threats are no reason to change what works. We're not the first generation to know "terror" even on our own soil. Our Founding Fathers lived through the Seven Years' War, where neighbors' homes and barns were burned to the ground in the middle of the night, and civilian scalps were taken. Anyone could be next. During the War of 1812, the British burned down the White House and captured our Capitol. They weren't scared enough to abandon our Constitution, why should we be now? Write Congress! Bush and company should be held accountable, not given carte-blanche to defy the Constitution! Robert E. Orlando Cooperstown Ethics code a little too late I am writing regarding to the Davenport Town Board adoption of a Code of Ethics. This is a worthwhile endeavor on the board's part, but perhaps a little late. I have always praised the local highway departments for a job well done clearing our roads of snow in the winter time. The only problem I have had is, that after 20-plus years, my mailbox post apparently moved itself into the path of a snowplow. This happened only after I wrote a few letters to the local papers regarding the ethics involved in the purchase of the no-bid highway department garage. This is too much of a coincidence. My brother lives one mile down the road and he happens to have the same last name as me. His mailbox also jumped in front of the snowplow. I am disabled and on dialysis and cannot do much anymore. I certainly don't need this aggravation and expense. I never asked the town to make a repair and I don't intend to. I just want them to keep up the good work and stay away from my mailbox. If residential mailboxes are in the "right of way" I think it would serve the public well if they were notified properly, not by destroying personal property. Bill Evers Davenport Star got it right on conservatives I just wanted to send a great big BRAVO to The Daily Star for the March 5 editorial. The conservatives without conscience today are so out of touch with the middle class that they think everything is great, and the country is only in a temporary slow-down. Perhaps as the dollar sinks lower and China owns most of our debt, these people will begin to feel an impact as the stock market groans under the pressure. The middle class is being hammered by corporate greed that has led to job outsourcing, health-benefit loss, predatory mortgage practices and bankruptcy laws. Fuel costs will be more than $4 a gallon soon while our government has no alternative energy program. Our government had the vision, drive and the expertise to send men to the moon in 1969. Surely it could focus some of this amazing resource toward solving the energy crisis. Today we have "compassionate conservatives" who do nothing but start contrived wars and watch oil profits reach record levels. As a platform to express these concerns, your editorial has helped very much. I thank you. Paul G. Meyer Milford Look at Obama's `anti-war' record Let's all jump on the Obama anti-war bandwagon. After all, we hear in every speech he gives that he did not vote for the war. This is true! However, Obama neglects to mention that he was not a senator in 2003 when the vote was taken. He took office in January 2005, long after the vote. He couldn't have voted for or against. He wasn't there! And what about Lieberman when he was defeated fairly by Ned Lamont in Connecticut? We all know what a "hawk" Sen. Lieberman is. But Obama went zipping on out to Connecticut and supported Lieberman's independent bid for Senate. What a guy. The speeches are carefully designed to deceive. Anti-war, my eye! Jane Carr Treadwell
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