Belief

Re "Sergeant Claims Cover-Up by LAPD," Oct. 6 LAPD Sgt. Jim Gavin is exactly what we civilians would like all police officers to be, i.e., an officer who is not afraid to act on his belief that his duty to protect and to serve the public overrides the department's notorious "code of silence" mentality. Surely there are many other LAPD officers with similar beliefs but, sadly, without the courage or resolve to act upon them. Let's all hope that Gavin's actions turn out to be the first step toward what might become a real and lasting cleanup of the department.

Thank you for printing the story about John Sheridan ("A Hit Man's Guilt," by Fred Dickey, Dec. 16). Before Sept. 11, I believed that everyone was basically good inside. People thought I was being naive, but I simply called it having faith in humanity. I even thought that murderers pray for their victims' souls. But when I woke up to the terrified cries on that September morning, my whole belief system shattered. Dickey's article allowed me to regain my beliefs. Although Sheridan's actions were wrong, it was enough for me that he realized what he had done and had started to repent for it. I hope people have not given up on the hope that there is good in everyone, even if it's just a little bit. Nina Besin Baldwin Park

Re "Faith, family test gay Muslim," Column One, Dec. 17 It was great to read this article on Aliyah Bacchus. I have gone through the same thing in my life, but with a different religion in the equation. I am 39 years old and still feel much as Bacchus does ... split. People ask me how I can embrace a belief that tells me I will go to hell? I wonder that myself. I have a very strong mother who will not accept my partner. I can barely say my partner's name in my mother's presence.

The article by Charles Thaxton and Stephen Meyer (Opinion, Dec. 27) was well-written and thought provoking, though not wholly accurate. Thaxton and Meyer write that the concept of inalienable human rights developed from Judeo-Christian philosophy and therefore suppose that human rights rise and fall with the rise and fall of Western religious belief. The concept of human rights outlined by our forefathers was not an interpretation of the Bible or the past but a consensus as to what should be, which is after all the purpose of a political declaration.

Re "Skeleton Embodies Debate on Americas' First People," Aug. 13: The find of Kennewick Man in Washington seems to threaten the very identity of many Indian nations. If the discovery of an early man in the Middle East upset some Christians, because it conflicted with their myth of creation, would scientists have to give them the bones for burial? Why are we allowing the Indian nations to dictate where a scientific discovery should go because it conflicts with their myth of creation? An Indian leader, Armand Minthorn, states that his people "always believe that Native Americans were created here, and they did not cross no land bridge."

Re "God's dupes," Opinion, March 15 I read with interest Sam Harris' article on Rep. Pete Stark's (D-Fremont) coming out as a nontheist. I am one of a possible minority of believers who wouldn't mind a nontheist as a president if his or her qualifications were stellar. I would actually prefer that to someone manipulating belief for political purposes. But Harris lost me when he claimed that "Dominionist Christians who openly call for homosexuals and blasphemers to be put to death" were "the truest of true believers."

Re "The New Gospel of Academia," Oct. 18: So academia has awakened to the fact that religions, or spiritual belief systems, shape entire cultures, not just private lives? As the kids say: "Duh!" Democracy, the major political force of our modern age, is founded on these truths that we believe to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that government is by the governed, that is, the governors have no special status beyond that of ordinary citizens. Our entire legal culture is built upon the concept of individual rights and the due process to protect these.

I read Allan Rabinowitz's Jan. 24 letter regarding the Fox Studios renovation hearing with great humor. His claim that Friends of Fox consists primarily of Fox employees and hirelings is a downright lie. I started Friends of Fox in May of 1991 and have seen the group grow like wildfire. Friends of Fox now has more than 5,000 community households and businesses, which adds up to more than 10,000 people who have signed cards supporting the Fox Studios project. Our overwhelming support was evident at the Jan. 11 public hearing.

Olympic sprint champion Florence Griffith Joyner died after suffering an epileptic seizure, according to autopsy results released Thursday, and her family and friends say they hope the findings will put to rest rumors that drug use contributed to her death. Griffith Joyner died last month in her sleep at age 38. Her husband, Al Joyner, bitterly criticized those who suggested that she took performance-enhancing drugs.