Kudos to Anthony Hales

Letters

March 20, 2009

Anonymous Picayune Item Fri Mar 20, 2009, 08:27 AM CDT

Editor:

In Chapter 26 of “Elmer Gantry,” Sinclair Lewis’s great satire of fundamentalist Christianity, Gantry forms an ecumenical “Committee On Public Morals” in order to “wage open war on the forces of evil” (primarily alcohol) which he claims are threatening “the morals of youth and the sanctity of domesticity” in the fictional town of Zenith. Clergy from all the Christian denominations of the town, the local rabbi, “four moral laymen” and a lawyer comprise the committee. Gantry’s purpose is to bully the committee members into taking vigilante action against the town’s various “dives” and houses of ill repute, Gantry, of course, being the self-anointed leader.

The reactions of the different ministers at the initial meeting brilliantly satirize the stereotypes associated with their denominations. The most sensible input comes from the Roman Catholic priest, who says: “My church, gentlemen, probably has a more rigid theology than yours, but I don’t think we’re quite so alarmed by discovering the fact, which seems to astonish you, that sinners often sin.” He thus exposes the basic flaw in the fundamentalist moral argument, which is that sin can be stamped out by making it illegal.

I was reminded of this scene when I read Patricia Older’s article “Supervisors Face Liquor Issue” in the March 10, 2009 Picayune Item. If only I had known, I would have bought a ringside ticket.

My hat goes off to Board President Anthony Hales for standing up to the bullying of the Baptist preachers and their supporters, who demanded that the Board of Supervisors take a formal position against a bill in the legislature that would designate some areas of Pearl River County as resorts and legalize liquor sales in those areas. Hales’ position—which makes sense to me—was that this is a legislative matter, and citizens with concerns should contact their representatives directly. This obviously did not placate the preachers. Apparently Supervisor Hudson Holiday tried to play both sides against the middle, voting to send the legislature a statement opposing the bill (but only on grounds of discrimination), while admitting to “occasionally” imbibing.

Apparently the preachers and their retinue didn’t like Hales’ point that there are “many more sins” than drinking alcohol, e.g., racism, but that it is only the alcohol issue that “brings people out the woodwork.” I note that the same March 10 edition of the paper had an article about Mississippi being the third largest consumer of internet porn in the nation, and it is well known that we lead the pack in teen pregnancy. Further, Mississippi’s history provides abundant proof that racism does, in many instances, literally kill.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan have religious police patrolling the streets, arresting and sometimes torturing and jailing people for not covering their heads (women), not wearing beards (men), displaying too much flesh, not attending prayers, and, yes, for consuming alcohol. This should be enough to make us pause and consider whether we really want a fundamentalist Christian theocracy in Mississippi or America. Would it really be any less evil than those Islamic theocracies we find it so easy to condemn? After all, we already tried that in colonial Salem, Massachusetts, with rather unpleasant results.

Willard M. Tucker

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Letters

Why are telemarketers with a personal agenda exempt from the “No Call List”?
Why are telemarketers with a personal agenda exempt from the “No Call List”?
I’m on the Mississippi ‘no call list’.
My family and I sat down to dinner last night at 7 p.m. (Oct. 17). At 7:10 p.m., we received a telephone call from a fast-talking, pro-life ‘Christian’ group saying they were call 33,000 Mississippians at the same time and that we were all in a live “town hall meeting” and, if we stayed on the line, we could ask questions. Of course, it turned out to be a pre-recorded call. My dinner got cold while I tried to figure out who was calling and to discover a way to delete my number from their calling list.

October 25, 2011
Reader has problem with utility bills
Gentlemen:
Even if rental spaces are vacant, I still have to pay the City’s utility bill for each space. At that rate, my utilities are $4,800; whereas, taxes on my building are $4,500.

October 20, 2011
Shock and grief on 9-11
Editor:
I spent September 11, 2001, as much of the world did: on the Internet, sharing in the global outpouring of shock and grief. I will never forget the juxtaposition of the ruined skyscrapers against an appalling blue sky. Americans of all backgrounds queued to give blood, to donate, to enlist in an imminent war. Others sought ways to serve at home through national service.

September 10, 2011
Writer opposes Contraflow
Editor:
And to all officials that have to do with starting Contraflow traffic.
Do not, do not do Contraflow traffic. Let the people go on about their way, they know where they are going.

September 3, 2011
Anger over checkpoint
Editor:
Mississippi State Troopers had a roadblock/checkpoint set up at the intersection of Hwy 603 & Hwy 43 in Kiln on Saturday morning July 30. As my wife and I approached this check point we were not worried, as my Dodge Ram Pickup was in good running order with all proper documentation.

September 2, 2011
From a senior’s point of view:
Editor:
We the public (people) have been lied to and have no idea where our taxed monies have been spent. All could not have been spent on the wars.
First: the federal taxes paid in the years we worked; were to run the country. Or so I thought and with any luck some left over.

September 2, 2011
Why I am a member of the Democratic Party
In response to your article prior to the Primary Election about the demise of the Democratic Party in Pearl River County, I am a Democrat and proud to say so. Let me outline my reasons for being a member of this demonized party.

August 24, 2011
Open primary ballot needed
The election on this past Tuesday once again proved the need for an open primary ballot. One that has all of the names listed in alphabetical order for each office regardless of party affiliation, independent or otherwise. If this had been in place at this election it would have been less confusion and more realistic democratic results. The restraints fixed by party vote prevent the voter from exercising his choice for each candidate. Many voters would choose some Republicans and some Democrats and would not make a 100% exclusive party choice. The party ballot that we are now using prevents a voter from exercising his own individual choice as to candidates for each office.

August 16, 2011
Salter’s Medicaid “Time Bomb” is an Economic Boom for Mississippi
Editor:
For too long as a state, we’ve been baited by pundits and politicians alike into a false sense of self-sufficiency. While Mississippi is indeed a charitable state, we receive our share of charity as well. That’s why Sid Salters characterization last week of Medicaid as a “ticking time bomb” is both puzzling and disturbing to me. I don’t know about you, but the thought of a ticking time bomb brings nothing positive to my mind. The constant campaign of mistruths, half-truths and outright lies about Medicaid continues to further the theme that Medicaid is a curse and not the blessing that it really is to this state. Medicaid, without a doubt, is one of the surest job creators we have.

July 29, 2011
Local reader is part of that one percentile
Editor:
I am one of the 1%
Entitlement? What the hell is wrong here?
Remember, not only did you contribute to Social Security but your employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged only 30K over your working life, that’s close to $220,500. If you calculate the future value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer’s contribution) at a simple 5% (less than what the govt. pays on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working (me) you’d have $892,919.98. If you took out only 3% per year, you receive $26,787.60 per year and it would last better than 30 years, and that’s with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit! If you bought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you’d have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month. The folks in Washington have pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff ever had.

July 28, 2011
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