Letters to the Editor

I also think Gonzalez erred in his endorsement of Dennis Kucinich. For one thing, I thought Al Sharpton did a better job of articulating a progressive vision for the Democrats. For another, the candidacy of Kucinich diverted the attention of a lot of progressives toward a candidacy that would inevitably be crushed by the party's corporate masters. And Kucinich made no bones about the fact that his candidacy was intended to undermine the Green Party.

The only way to break the corporate stranglehold and get to truly representative democracy is to build a noncorporate party based on grass-roots democracy. That party is the Green Party. I hope your readers will join me in supporting the Green nominee in Congressional District 12 in November, whether that turns out to be Pat Gray or Barry Hermanson.

Paul Quick
Upper Market

Gimme the veteran over the newbie:As a 24-year resident of the Sunset District, I want to thank SF Weekly for providing honest and thorough reporting on Rohit Khanna. Unlike the Guardian, which blindly endorses candidates left and right, SF Weekly has done the proper job of providing in-depth information about a candidate who receives notice only because of his ability to fund-raise.

Khanna hasn't even lived in the district for a year, much less the region, and feels he's qualified to represent our district. Even though incumbent Tom Lantos voted for the resolution to go to war in Iraq as well as the PATRIOT Act, these two resolutions are not enough of an argument to oust him. In fact, John Edwards and John Kerry both voted for these resolutions. But we would take them any day as president over Bush.

Lantos has done some great things in our district. He is the reason why we have BART to SFO. With his experience and political clout in Washington, he can represent us better than any Yale Law grad can -- especially one who doesn't know our area and with no political experience.

Christopher Saalfeld
Sunset

Ministers oughta keep their mouths shut about gay marriage: I was fascinated by Matt Smith's exposé of my organization ["Institute of Hate," Feb. 25]. What a cultural divide! He believes the defenders of traditional marriage are hatemongerers. And we on the other side believe the advocates of same-sex "marriage" are launching a rudderless ship without moorings or destination.

Yes, we at the Institute on Religion and Democracy are generally conservative. But the Penn Kemble whom Smith describes as one of our founders served for eight years in the Clinton administration. Perhaps we are not as stereotypically "right-wing" as Smith would like to believe. In general, we think church leaders should stay away from political specifics, whether of the right or left, and should uphold the teachings of their churches.

S.F.'s Rev. Karen Oliveto, when ordained, pledged to uphold the beliefs of the United Methodist Church, which has repeatedly rejected acceptance of same-sex unions. If she cannot abide by church rules, then perhaps conscience requires her to step aside.

It is interesting that Methodism on the West Coast, which professes to be so inclusive and liberal, has suffered steep membership decline. And Methodism in the Deep South, and in Africa, where it is the most evangelical and traditional, is growing. If the non-churchgoing Matt Smith likes the liberal policies of Rev. Oliveto and others, why doesn't he attend their churches? The truth is, when most people seek out a church, they find one whose theology is not "modern," but rather one whose beliefs are timeless and, yes, even eternal. Religion that is fashionable and transitory rarely inspires awe or loyalty.

Mark Tooley
Washington, D.C.

A right-winger under every bed:It seems that everywhere you look these days you see a conservative, corporately funded group telling us that global warming will be good for Antarctica, or that we need to be spending much more than just 56 percent of our budget on the military to be safe. I guess that it really shouldn't be so surprising to find out that there is a group like the Institute on Religion and Democracy active in religious affairs.

Typical of such a mind-set, they have an article observing that family problems are less damaging when there is adequate income without either advocating policies that would increase income or addressing our increasingly two-tiered economy.

Jim Holsen
St Louis, Mo.

In "Zine Stealers" [Feb. 25], Karen Zuercher reprinted a story from Little Elegy without mentioning its author. The piece, "July Fourth With Crazy Legs Miller," was written by Wayne Wolfson of San Mateo. SF Weekly regrets the omission.