First class crooks
Re " JetBlue flight attendant gaining support on Web," Aug. 11
The bankers and fund managers who caused the financial meltdown and subsequent bailout that will be harming the country for years to come are walking free and are basically unaffected by their gross negligence and corruption.
Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant who after 20 years of service with several airlines found his last straw with an obnoxious passenger, could face seven years in prison for his actions. Legal reform, anyone?
Ladeen Wegner
Thousand Oaks
The wild blue yonder
Re "The workaday JetBlues," Editorial, Aug. 11
As a recently retired high school teacher who couldn't take advantage of an escape chute or a galley full of beer, I empathize with Slater.
I have always taught students that the proper use of curse words is for venting rage — rather than employing a gun for relief. Reaching for curse words in this instance was the safe way to go. His "Geronimo" to his airline career and slide to the tarmac were both harmless, not to be confused with criminal behavior that merits legal action against him.
Perhaps all work environments should be equipped with an escape hatch (perhaps sans alcohol) to relieve the pressures of daily dealings with the public. I'd rather forgive and forget Slater's flagrant actions than see him behind bars.
Cynthia Sparks
Dana Point
Putting faith to the test
Re "The gap between faith and action," Opinion, Aug. 8
The week before William Lobdell's Op-Ed was published, 10 Christian medical personnel were slain in Afghanistan. There is faith in action.
We Christians are a flawed people. We try to conform to the tenets of the faith, but fail. We get divorced. We don't tithe.
Lobdell is correct when he states that the mainline churches are losing membership. But the non-denominational churches continue to grow. How many Christians through their churches gave to the people after the South Asia tsunami, after Hurricane Katrina, after the earthquake in Haiti? Millions. How many Christians volunteer their time to help their fellow citizens? Millions. How many Christian missionaries, supported by their churches, go to India, Uganda and Korea to help with medical, educational and nutritional problems? Thousands.
Like Paul, we don't do what we should and we do what we shouldn't. We live in a difficult world, surrounded by temptations. Even though we are imperfect in our struggles, we continue to stand by the tenets of our faith and overcome our worldly temptations.
Claudia Cooley
Placentia
The "gap" between faith and action cited by Lobdell is a key attribute of "low church" Protestantism, whose tenets focus on faith, not works. To "born-again" Christians, belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior — not being kind or generous — is what saves you from hell. Nonbelievers are eternally damned.
The significant "actions" required of those who have "accepted" Christ are pious abstentions, such as not having premarital sex, and corollary deeds like voting against gay marriage. Individual failures to live righteously can be overcome by sustained faith; after all, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."
Though some people come to enlightenment on the faith-and-action gap, many more of the faithful take it in stride. Their calling is to save souls, not the world.
Robert P. Sechler
Seal Beach
Re "Leaving Christianity in the name of God," Aug. 7
Anne Rice "quit being a Christian" 12 years after her return to Catholicism.
Being Catholic is more than a crucifix, statues and social issues. All Rice really needs to do is study the teachings of Jesus Christ.
I am an active Roman Catholic. My faith does not rise or fall on social issues. We are asked as followers of Jesus to love one another. It is that simple.
Maureen Conrey
Duarte
Homelessness and help
Re "A shot at hope on skid row," Column, Aug. 8
Project 50's no-strings-attached approach places a Band-Aid on a disease that requires surgery. Scarce taxpayer resources should support homelessness programs with proven track records.
My support of Project 50 was contingent on the promise that mandatory mental health and substance-abuse treatment would be included. The Times' series revealed that this was not the case.
Indefinitely housing the mentally ill who refuse treatment, or are unable to consent to it, only to helplessly watch as they trade their welfare checks for drugs and alcohol to use in publicly-funded apartments is unconscionable.
Steve Lopez failed to acknowledge the variety of Los Angeles County's successful programs for the homeless — many in the district that I represent. Since 2006, we have developed cost-effective public/private partnerships providing housing, meals, employment, healthcare and other services — coupled with mental healthcare and substance-abuse rehabilitation — to nearly 50,000 individuals and 20,000 families throughout the county, including the 62 in Project 50.
