Food for thought

The size of food portions should not be an issue ("Why we are fat," Aug. 30). Restaurants compete for my entertainment dollars on ambience, service, taste, and also portions. Every restaurant that I go to has always been happy to give me a "doggy bag" for what I don't eat. Let the free enterprise system work. - David DiMartino, Prospect, Ky.

Whether the monument stays in the judicial building rotunda or not is of no consequence. For decades Christians have been in retreat to an increasingly hostile and liberal federal judicial system. The monument represents one man's stand and refusal to retreat. - Paul Froede, Montgomery, Ala.

I find Justice Moore to be both champion and villain: He's valiantly standing for and intelligently arguing for his convictions, but he is going about it in the wrong way. In a day when the rule of law is embattled on many points, the last thing conservatives need is someone who disregards the law because he disagrees. - Douglas Hallman, Syndertown, Pa.

I found it ironic that the same day the Ten Commandments monument was removed, the media carried a dramatized celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speech. Three-fourths of it is biblical quotation ("Let justice roll down" is from the book of Amos). Where would the civil-rights movement have been without the imagery of the Old Testament? Where would our laws be without the heritage of the Ten Commandments? It's not just the attempt to prohibit religion that I object to, it's the rewriting of history. The establishment clause has become the god of secular liberalism. - Phil Mehrens, Joplin, Mo.

Shame on you for giving aid and comfort to those in the tax-protest industry. While the Internal Revenue Code is not a model of exemplary drafting, the imposition, return, and required payment of tax are readily found in Sections 1(a), 6012(a), and 6151(a). The income tax may be confiscatory, unfair, and plain stupid, but the courts have universally rejected the complaints of these protesters that the tax is illegal. - J. Kevin Crain, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

A man once said that when we pray, we should go into our room and pray in secret, and that He who sees in secret will reward us openly. Could this not also apply to acts of devotion? Could erecting a stone with the Commandments on it be the moral equivalent of standing on a street corner praying, "O God, I thank you that I am not like other men, this tax collector here"? - Nelson Page, Austin, Texas

We should remember that only three of the Ten Commandments (prohibitions against murder, stealing, and false witness) may currently be upheld in American courts. In a land that guarantees freedom of religion, what are Buddhists and Hindus defending themselves in court to make of "no graven images" and "no other gods"? The Christian God is present in courts and schools in and through believers rather than granite monuments and pro forma prayers. - William S. Sailer, Wernersville, Pa.

I believe the Ten Commandments monument should stay in the court building. The whole issue is a strong illustration of how far our nation has gone from God. I am thankful for the stand Justice Moore has taken. - Joseph Witherspoon, 11, Molino, Fla.

Mr. Olasky implies that perhaps the Ten Commandments issue in Alabama is not ground worth dying on or even worth fighting for. The Ten Commandments in a courthouse may not be "high ground" in the opinion of some. Perhaps that is because all the high ground has already been given to the enemy without a fight. - D. Pruiett, Savannah, Ga.

Mr. Olasky asked, "Do we want a civil war?" Fortunately we are not yet at that point. If Christians, Jews, Muslims, and nonbelievers with moral decency and common sense were to stand up and be counted, the current impositions of the libertine left and imperial judiciary could be stopped. - G.H. Thompson, Thornton, Colo.

Ire and the IRS

Thank you for your wonderful portrayal of Vernie Kuglin's fight with the IRS ("Code of silence," Aug. 30). - Shane Steinfeld, Milwaukee, Wis.

Apparently not

I truly enjoyed Mr. Olasky's article "Harley's high honor" (Aug. 30). I had to leave the room to giggle so I wouldn't wake my sleeping 2-year-old. Liberals just don't get it, do they? - Jewell Price, Winder, Ga.

General mistake

In its article on Liberia ("Out with the new, in with the old," Aug. 30) WORLD writes, "Theoretically, Gen. John Abizaid could find himself in Baghdad and Monrovia in the same week." This is inaccurate. Gen. Abizaid is commander of CentCom, which does not include Liberia; that nation is a part of EUCOM, which is commanded by Gen. James L. Jones. - Wayne A. Bley, Deputy Joint Staff Chaplain Office of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Cheered

I so appreciate that you changed your illustration for Beyonce's album Dangerously in Love from a nearly nude photo to a modest picture of her face (Bestsellers, Aug. 30). We noticed, and we cheered. - Alynn Deatsch, West Des Moines, Iowa

Range wrestling

Andrew Coffin did not mention in his review of Open Range perhaps the most shocking line in the movie ("Range rovers," Aug. 30). Boss (Robert Duvall) calls "the man upstairs" (God) an epithet, apparently for allowing one of his cowboys to be killed. A friend said that line ruined the movie for her, but it reminded me of Revelation where it says God desires us to be either hot or cold toward Him, and Job's painful and forthright wrestling with God. It is a movie worth seeing and discussing. - Stephen W. Leonard, St. Louis, Mo.

In our hearts

Symbols can be damaging to a nation when they fail to reflect reality and instead become only icons to hypocrisy ("Showdown," Aug. 30). Despite our Judeo-Christian roots, our courts have practically abandoned the Ten Commandments. If well-intentioned individuals want to see symbols of faith freely displayed, we should seek not the symbols themselves but that which gives truth and reality to those symbols. To truly hold up the Ten Commandments as sacred, we should first display them in our hearts-then displaying them elsewhere will never be an issue. - Lori & Joseph Gattuso, Muskegon, Mich.

To say I was disappointed in Marvin Olasky's article would be putting it mildly. In this and other cases, the federal courts have ruled on matters that are constitutionally way beyond their jurisdiction. Justice Moore, as a duly elected civil magistrate, has the duty before God and the people of Alabama to uphold the law of that state. It is time for Congress to rein in the federal judiciary. - Mary Huff, Hillsboro, Wis.

I am profoundly disappointed that you do not support Chief Justice Roy Moore. Without adherence to the biblical principles incorporated into our Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, our government cannot operate or function as was intended by our Founding Fathers. Our nation will face God's righteous judgment if we depart from such governing principles. - Laura Molinari, Redwood City, Calif.

Praise the Lord for Judge Moore, who is more like an Elijah, a Paul, and a William Wallace than he is like the typical evangelical, Republican, conservative Christian. Peace and "strategy" have occupied the latter's political rhetoric for decades now. If defending God's law as the foundation of this nation's laws isn't of significant importance, then I don't know what is. - Roxanne Sitler, Colville, Wash.