Letters to the editor

Marital friction

The domestic bond is strengthened by traditional beliefs

Editor, The Times:

With a vote approaching in a few short weeks, the U.S. Senate is faced with the decision of whether to pass or reject the Marriage Protection Amendment. Liberals argue that the MPA, which would define marriage solely as the union of one man and one woman, would write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Yelling "discrimination," the left argues that gay marriage is a civil-rights issue akin to the African-American struggle for equality. However, civil-rights icon Jesse Jackson denounced that claim, stating that "gays were never called three-fifths human in the Constitution."

Believing that state marriage-protection amendments will be sufficient, some conservatives don't think there is a need for the Marriage Protection Amendment either. Despite that belief, a federal judge has already struck down Nebraska's marriage amendment. Clearly, a federal marriage amendment needs to be put into place now while the opportunity exists in order to put marriage out of federal judges' reach.

So don't delay: Efforts to pass such an amendment stalled in Congress two years ago, but we have another chance to convince our senators before they vote in early June to make the right choice in supporting the Marriage Protection Amendment. The time to act for the future of traditional marriage and America is now.

— Elisa Baggenstos, Renton

The homewrecker

In a recent e-mail message to supporters of the campaign to get Referendum 65 on the ballot, Tim Eyman wrote, "Tell Olympia NO! ... No to same-sex marriage."

Our new anti-discrimination law has nothing to do with same-sex marriage. Mr. Eyman's attempt to confuse the issue is a despicable tactic to manipulate people whose convictions lead them to oppose the union of two gay people. Perhaps that's part of the reason why Referendum 65 is getting support from some religious Washingtonians ["Effort to repeal state gay-rights law gathers momentum from pulpit," page one, May 24].

Let us make the issue clear: This anti-discrimination law has nothing to do with marriage. It protects people from being kicked out of an apartment, denied a mortgage, or fired from a job because of their sexual orientation.

I know people who believe that homosexuality is sinful. I disagree with these people, but I recognize that most of them are decent human beings. These are not people who want a man who has worked hard all his life — be he gay or straight — to be fired by his boss, kicked out by his landlord, or denied a loan by his bank because of what he does in the privacy of his bedroom.

People of Washington, don't let Tim Eyman play politics with your beliefs. Where people of faith are concerned, compassion for those who are persecuted should prevail.

— Teresa Valdez Klein, Kirkland

Undoing the right thing

The pastor of the Northshore Baptist Church is an example of religious right spreading hate. The Bible tells us to love our neighbors. It doesn't say love your neighbors unless they are gay or believe in birth control.

The U.S. government is pressuring Saudi Arabia to change its teaching to eliminate the hate of nonbelievers of Islam. Perhaps the U.S. government should start pressuring the religious right to be tolerant of others who do not believe that GOP stands for God's Own Party.

— Joe Thomason, Shoreline

We give it 6 months

After seeing all the anti-Referendum 65 letters to the editor slamming Tim Eyman and those of us who believe that special rights shouldn't be given to people based on their "sexual preferences" ["Righteousness' sake," Northwest Voices, May 26], I see that the battle lines are once again drawn: Seattle vs. the rest of the state.

Come November, let's see who wins this "battle" in our ongoing "Culture War."

— Randy Miehls, Issaquah

House of cards

The higher it goes, the more nerve it takes

Our government illegally spies on us and Congress yawns. Our confidential phone records are turned over to our government without our permission and Congress twiddles its thumbs. A congressman [William Jefferson, D-La.,] accused of serious crimes, who has refused to turn over requested documents, has his office searched and records taken and Congress has a hissy fit ["Rift over raid on lawmaker's office heats up; House leaders demand return of documents," News, May 25].

An outrage! says Congress. Unconscionable! says Congress. Too bad the constitutional rights and freedoms guaranteed the rest of us aren't taken as seriously.

— David Gardner, Seattle

Compromised memory

The cavalier guards

It is beyond my comprehension that, in this age of networked technology, a jerk (including his/her superiors) from the Department of Veterans Affairs had to take a loaded laptop computer out of the office to an unsecured home office [" 'Enormous' security breach leaves veterans vulnerable to ID theft," News, May 23 and "VA chief blames data analyst for theft," News, May 26]. I cannot think of any reason why this would be necessary. Remote access to data (sensitive or not), has been possible for many years. The VA is decades behind the times.

It is apparent the VA is remiss in establishing proper internal-control mechanisms and policies that would have prevented this breach. This should never have been allowed.

As a veteran of the Vietnam era, I'm very concerned.

But what really tipped my boat was when I heard the U.S. attorney general say on national TV that "We don't know that the burglars realize the value of the data they now posses." Well, if they didn't, they sure know now. Sure, it's possible they would just sell the computer for cash, but someone will see what's there and if they have half the brains that the VA or Justice Department might have, they will know what to do with it.

I'm disgusted with this administration and all its blundering; it's an embarrassment to us all. Anyone in this database who experiences identity theft or loss of any kind should sue the VA for damages!

— Mike Dahlstrom, Everett

Wicked weather

Expect sun by tomorrow

Pat Robertson says God told him, at his prayer retreat, that there would be hurricanes and maybe a tsunami hitting the U.S. this year ["God is warning of big storms, Robertson says," News, May 19].

That's nuthin'. I predict there will be hurricanes this year, and the next few years after that. And get this, I predict there'll be an earthquake in the West sometime, plus plenty of tornadoes in the Midwest.

Pretty good, huh. Can I have my own radio show now?

— Howard Schlenker, Ravensdale