Letters to the Editor

Correction from an expert:That takes the (devil's-food) cake! Larry Krueger's nasty remark about Felipe Alou qualifies him as "messenger of Satan" ["Satanic Hacking," The Apologist, Aug. 24]? Now Satan is a racist? The devil, by one name or another, is merely the balancing dark force to the gods of light in every culture -- the God-ie-two-shoes who giveth and taketh away, the latter more often than not. The devil is an equal-opportunity god, found in cultures of every color and creed.

I don't even know what the offending epithet was, so will leave it to others to decide whether or not it reveals Krueger as an insensitive lout. Alou is mistaken about Krueger being Satan's messenger, though: The devil is and always has been a gentleman.

Diane LaVey
Co-founder, Church of Satan
San Francisco

But what's wrong with tweaker drag?:I don't know why you're surprised that everyone recognizes you ["My Evening With Amber Frey," Harmon Leon as Infiltrator, Aug. 17]; you did allow your picture to be published in one of your articles a few months ago. True, you were in that goofy '70s-amphetamine-dealer drag, but it wasn't that much of a disguise. And if you don't want people to recognize your name every time you use a credit card, you should have used a pen name for the column in the first place.

Have you considered a career with the CIA?

Rose Skytta
San Francisco

Beane there, liked that:We read your article and really enjoyed it. You did a great job of weaving humor with the absurdity of the whole thing. Lots of laughs.

Jim and Sue Beane
San Francisco

With another fan letter for Ron Russell:At the very start of "Blind Eye Unto the Holy See" [July 13], Ron Russell sets the foundation for his story, claiming that Archbishop William J. Levada asked Father Gregory Ingels "to help write the guidelines for a 'zero tolerance' sex-abuse policy that the pope could later sign off on." Like much of Russell's long story, this statement is absolutely wrong. The independent Canon Law Society of America asked half a dozen canon lawyers, Ingels among them, to write implementation guidelines, separate and apart from the U.S. bishops. Beyond Russell's absolute errors of fact, he regurgitates a familiar offering of half-truths, guilt by association, fictional interpretations, one-sided comments by critics with an ax to grind or self-interest to promote, while omitting pertinent facts and information -- all aimed at reaching a predetermined judgment. Russell is part of a cottage industry of Catholic Church bashers, who see -- in the appointment of Archbishop Levada to a high Vatican post -- an opportunity to recycle their previous agenda-driven efforts to throw mud at Catholic bishops and the Catholic Church.

Maurice Healy
Director of Communications & Outreach and Executive Editor,Catholic San Francisco
Archdiocese of San Francisco