Letters to the Editor 4-9-15

No ‘greatest’ religion
Editor: I have read and admired many of the editorials written by Rollie Atkinson.  Therefore, I was not only surprised but astounded by an opening statement in his editorial of March 26 (“At Easter: Our sacred life”): “The Easter story is the founding miracle of the Earth’s greatest religion.” There is no “greatest” religion and it is worse than arrogant to make this claim for any religion. Surely, the rise of the so-called Islamic State is a terrifying example of what can result when adherents believe that their religion is superior to all others. And sadly and disturbingly, even in our United States, a key founding tenet of which is the separation of church and state, the beliefs of certain Christian groups are affecting the political discourse and impacting the civil rights of others. In certain settings, a religion may be described as great, but never appropriately as “the greatest,” especially in public discourse. The editor has a responsibility not to encourage such an unjustified and potentially dangerous philosophy.
Jack Levin
San Francisco
Cherry picking
Editor: Why do some people embrace the “West County” designation when they please (to collect parcel tax revenue for their kids’ schools), but claim specific “Russian River” status when they do not (to help fund a community hospital which they don’t personally anticipate using)? In her letter last week (“Cash cow”), Barbara DeCarly is upset that some of us don’t “get” that Sebastopol is not her community, which is why she feels she shouldn’t have to contribute tax money toward the Sonoma West Medical Center. But what she doesn’t seem to get is that while she may not live in Sebastopol, she does live in western Sonoma County, a large region that the hospital will serve irrespective of its physical location.
There’s a reason why people don’t get to cherry-pick which essential community services their taxes pay for. While I will never personally benefit from schools in Russian River neighborhoods that my taxes have helped to fund over the years, it is conceivable that Russian River area residents who currently think they have no use for a hospital in Sebastopol might nevertheless find themselves in need of one (like being in a car accident nearer to Sebastopol than Santa Rosa, or an EMT determining that Santa Rosa hospitals are too crowded or far away to quickly perform life-saving emergency care more readily available in Sebastopol).
West County had a hospital for over 70 years, when much of that time the area’s population was a fraction of what it is now. Such a large geographic and increasingly more populated region needs a hospital of its own, a hospital that should be supported by all its denizens.
D.J. Angelo
Sebastopol