Letters

What's the Opposite of a Stool Pigeon?
Arthur Jay Harris' article about the murder of Stanley Cohen ("Hit or Mrs?" January 7) was a great story. It's clear, however, that the wrong people are locked up. As morally corrupt as Frank Zuccarello and his gang appear to be, television reporter Gail Bright, her cameraman Mario Hernandez, and retired homicide detective Jon Spear seem to be the guilty ones.

People who would allow another person potentially to go to the electric chair without a peep deserve to go there themselves. These white-collar pinheads are the real sleazeballs.

Terri Mitchell
Los Angeles

Praise For Demko's Portrayal of Pastor Bob
I would like to commend Paul Demko on his excellent write-up on Calvary Chapel ("Channeling Jesus," December 31).

Given the dramatic front page it was given, I expected a thorough trashing of the church. I was pleasantly surprised at the research and unbiased information Paul expressed in the article. As a Christian I am always amazed at how supposedly "open-minded" organizations are not open at all to Christian views. You don't necessarily have to embrace the beliefs, just give them equal format as more liberal views. Paul did an excellent job doing just that.

Peter Vorrias
via the Internet

Condemnation For Demko's Portrayal of Christian Conservatives
Excuse me sir, your bias is showing. In the article on Cross TV and Calvary Chapel, while commenting on how attendees of Calvary Chapel and other "Christian conservatives" have little tolerance for people of other beliefs (untrue) and have to "attempt to legitimize" their world view, Paul Demko has betrayed his lack of tolerance or fairness to those not of a liberal persuasion. It all depends on how you define tolerance, doesn't it? Also, I do not have to "attempt to legitimize" my world view, why do you have to "attempt to legitimize" yours by using such patronizing language?

While I realize the comment about legitimizing world views was a quote from Donald Miller, religion professor, the article's use of that quote as well as the comment that people like me have their world view "constricted" by the Bible, is telling. The Bible has not constricted me, it has liberated me. I am very sorry that you do not see that. God did not give us His Word to make us miserable but to give us life more abundantly.

Caryn Parsons
via the Internet

Spanning the Globe to Bring You Comment on the Party Piece
I am writing in response to "Let the Party Begin" (Ben Greenman, December 31). How well we know it all!

Chris Van Gerwen
Amsterdam, Netherlands

From the Guy Formerly Known as Fior
Mr. Greenman obviously knows nothing about the Artist (formerly known as Prince), his music, or what it means to be a creative human being.

Joseph Fior
San Francisco

It's Always About Money
I found Ralph de la Portilla's bilious assault on Sean Rowe (Letters, December 31) to be unwarranted. Rowe's article on Dan Marino ("Chasing Danny," November 12) was not intended for the simple-minded. Rather it was vintage Ralph Ellison. De la Portilla missed the valuable lesson Rowe was trying to teach us. In his unsuccessful bid to interview Marino, Rowe became the nonperson, or if you will, the invisible man. He exposed a side of sports that many are reluctant to admit exists: the growing incapacity of the common sports fan to relate, on a person-to-person level, to his or her favorite sports hero.

The salaries these guys make are -- like de la Portilla's rebuff of Rowe -- as ridiculous as pitcher Kevin Brown's recent comment that "it's not about money." (Brown said this after signing a contract for more than $100 million, making him one of the highest-paid athletes in history.)

I agree with de la Portilla that children are "mesmerized" by these sports heroes, but at what cost? In fact children are so mesmerized that many are renouncing academic or intellectual aspirations for a shot at the dream. It seems to me that football, instead of helping children, is profiting at their expense.

The lunacy of it becomes all the more clear when one considers that Marino and his colleagues are grown men who are hitting each other for no apparent reason. Just think how silly these men in pads are going to look to future generations, for whom Sean Rowe will seem to have been the only rational person on the face of the planet.

Manny Losada
Miami