Winston-Salem Journal LTE MO 02/27/12

The government's responsibility

I hear conservative Christians say that, yes, it's good to feed the poor, but it's not the government's responsibility. Our tax money shouldn't go for that; it's the churches' responsibility (even though they can't meet all the needs and don't really try).

Neither is it the government's responsibility to teach children about religion or lead people in Christian prayer.

But if this is a Christian nation, and schools and governments do have the right to direct sectarian prayer, then I want to see them use their authority to act out the rest of the Christian doctrine. No one can seriously argue that a Christian government should lead prayer but shouldn't feed the poor.

It's got to be one way or the other, Christians; it can't be both.

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BUDDY OSBORNE

Winston-Salem

Greece and the U.S.

Like it or not, what's happening in Greece right now (demonstrations, riots, vandalism, looting) will probably happen in the U.S. soon. Why? Because our politicians, Democrats, Republicans and independents, don't have the guts to present a plan to the American people that will address our soaring debt and implement drastic, but necessary solutions to rein in our debt. All the politicians want to do is get re-elected. They don't want to tell the public what must be done to fix the debt problem.

The politicians are scared to tell the people the facts. The politicians are afraid that they will lose votes and have to leave office if they tell the American people that sacrifices must be made; that yes, taxes will have to increase, but also all "entitlements" will have to be reduced or eliminated in many cases, or delayed. That's what's happening in Greece right now, and the people are rebelling, as they don't want their "entitlements" reduced or eliminated. So what do we do? Nothing? That's what our politicians are doing.

If your household debt was getting out of control, you would reduce spending and cut out frills as you couldn't afford them. Why isn't our government doing the same thing? That is, cut spending and try at the same time to increase income, in order to get the debt reduced to manageable numbers.

This idiocy cannot continue. We must reduce national debt now. But, our politicians don't have the guts. Greece, here we come!

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HOWARD W. MOFFATT

Winston Salem

Womble's recovery

While we are glad to see N.C. Rep. Larry Womble's recovery ("Womble says he won't run," Feb 22), it was a puzzling and sad missed opportunity. Everyone was enthralled with his first public comment since the accident, noting his now "strong voice," friends "excited to hear" him and praising his "consistent voice for fair and equal treatment of all people."

In his long-anticipated first public comment, Womble didn't mention the accident, express remorse to the family of David Allen Carmichael or explain what he remembered about his car crossing the center line and taking the life of another human being. The very best that can be said about Womble on the night of Dec. 2 is that he was not driving with alcohol in his system — yet his driving skill and attention compared unfavorably with the victim of this accident, who was over the legal limit for driving after alcohol consumption. Until there is, at a minimum, some public expression of regret, let's not get so excited about politics and talk of a comeback.

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ARCH EMBLER

Winston-Salem

Protecting marriage?

Amendment One is the crowning achievement of a General Assembly that has managed to marginalize and alienate just about everyone. In reference to state Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam's comment in the Feb. 19 article "Marriage law stirs legal issues," I would say our legislators are the ones who have tried to take voter's eyes off the ball.

I can see that many people could be harmed, emotionally or financially, by this amendment. What I can't understand is: Who will this help?

The only thing I've heard supporters say is "this is needed to protect marriage." Who the heck is marriage? We are putting an institution ahead of human beings? Well, I guess if corporations are people, marriage has the same rights as citizens.

What kind of convoluted logic is this?

I think the majority of North Carolina voters are decent, compassionate people who realize how unjust and unwarranted this amendment is. There is not enough love in this world, and we need to respect the rights of others even if we don't agree with them. What we don't need, and should not tolerate, are lawmakers who manufacture problems to distract us from the real challenges we face.

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MELODY THOMSON

Winston-Salem