Mailbag - July 7, 2002

For some time, I have been thinking that perhaps the so-called

“Establishment Clause” (Amendment 1 of the U.S. Constitution) had endured

all the stretching possible. Well, I guess I was wrong.

Now comes John Nelson to contend that the “Establishment Clause” is

being violated not by Congress, not by the federal courts, not by the

state of California, but by, of all things, the city of Newport Beach

(“Resident sues Newport over church parking,” Jan. 15).

The first amendment to the U.S. Constitution sets forth in simple and

straightforward language, “Congress shall make no law respecting an

establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or

abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the

people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for the

redress of grievances.”

“Establishment” in the English used by our forefathers meant the

establishment of a “State Church” such as the Church of England, etc.

Remember, we disestablished the Church of England in the colonies and

those who strongly adhered to the Church of England were against that

and, therefore, must have been referred to as (you guessed it)

anti-disestablishmentarianists.

I sincerely hope that our city fathers all the way up to the U.S.

Central District Court, and beyond, preserve the “right of the people

peaceably to assemble” without “abridging” Nelson’s “freedom of speech”

or his right “to petition the government for a redress” of his aggrieved

state. I’m sure we’ll all sleep better.

ROBERT E. BADHAM

Balboa Island

Editor’s note: Badham is Newport Beach’s former congressional

representative.

Nation can survive without ‘under God’

Bishop Fulton Sheen once defined intelligentsia as a disorder

afflicting persons who have been educated beyond their intelligence. Not

sure if that applies to Michael Newdow, the Sacramento doctor/attorney

involved in the Pledge of Allegiance flap, however his being an atheist

doesn’t necessarily make him a bad guy (“No loss for words on Pledge

ruling,” June 27).

I have an atheist friend who is kind, warm, sincere, witty, ethical,

compassionate and honest. I have never heard him speak an unkind word

about another. He treats all people with respect. He just doesn’t believe

in God. He has no interest in arguing about it. Nor is he an atheist

because he thinks it makes him sound like an intellectual, as some may

do. He is the most spiritual person I know.

I like the way the pledge sounds without the “under God” inserted. And

I think that the God that I believe in can handle being deleted. It tells

me that this great nation deserves our allegiance, love and respect, in

and for itself. The God that looks down on this earth, in the year 2002,

is more concerned about the dozens of nations slaughtering each other in

his name.

The more distance we put between church and state, the safer I feel.

Believing in God, as I do, doesn’t make me religious, it makes me

spiritual. We are involved in a fight with despicable terrorists, who

seem to spend their days obsessing with an unhealthy, sick dependence on

God, babbling endlessly about jihads, and the hereafter and God knows

what next.

Under God isn’t needed; we don’t need to kiss up to God to have his

blessings for our way of life.

GARY DRIES

Costa Mesa

Greenlight tactics need to stop

Mayor Tod Ridgeway is exactly on point when he says that city revenue

is not keeping pace with the increased cost of services and

infrastructure (“Mayor’s speech draws harsh reaction,” Feb. 2).

When are the Greenlighters going to wake up and realize that a city

cannot simply stop economic growth and expect to maintain a satisfactory

level of necessary city services?

When? Never.

With no other thought than to stop all economic progress and growth,

these wealthy, NIMBY zealots will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

They tried to influence the City Council to block the Koll project issue

from the voters and when that failed and with the resources only they

could afford, they plastered the city with “No on G” posters.

They managed to squash a reasonable and well-thought-out development

well within the boundaries of an under-utilized industrial area -- one

which would have had virtually no traffic impact within the residential

confines of the city. They have also complained that such projects would

bring outsiders into the area. That kind of thinking has a very

descriptive name. Any guesses?

In another Daily Pilot article (“Newport Beach finalizes general plan

committee,” Feb. 28), another Greenlight effort was one in which they

tried to use their influence to keep younger voters from sitting on a

citizens council review board. When are these pressure tactics going to

stop?

When? Never.

DONALD RAMSAY

Newport Beach

AT&T; should assist customers or lose them

In the fall of 2001, AT&T; Broadband took over a fairly well-run

company, Media One, and immediately ran it incompetently. I tried to get

some sort of service from them. Finally, after several months of

incompetent and unreliable service, the largest communication company in

the world was able to regain the competency of those that it had

purchased.

The only reason that I kept this inept service, was my e-mail address.

Then the company proved that its computer ineptness was surpassed by its

legal incompetence when it sent letters stating that it didn’t have the

right to keep and use Media One addresses. The company’s next move was

o7 attbi.netf7 -- oops wrong, then o7 attbi.comf7 . The company

couldn’t even figure that out. I still have people asking me what my

address is.

AT&T;’s total incompetence reflects its feeling for its customers

(remember those that provide the cash flow). Our inconvenience doesn’t

seem to matter to the company’s “big picture.” I fully realize that my

business is like a grain of sand on the beach and will not affect AT&T.;

But enough grains of sand can eliminate a beach.

The company’s answering machines, lack of customer service and lack of

consideration for what makes its customers’ lives easier should be a

great benefit to AT&T;’s competition.

J. SANDBAR ORR

Costa Mesa