" Whatever!! "

" This letter has no place in a newspaper. This is blatant preaching. The Citizen should stop printing letters like this. "

" Dear editors, I am writing this letter first to question the Citizen’s policy on “editorial” letters which are in fact, tracts of blatant religious proselytization—such as the recent letter by Larry Maguet, which was nothing less than a Biblical sermon. I believe that the Citizen already has in place a policy against such tiresome preaching, and I for one, would like to see that policy enforced! Secondly, I cannot resist the opportunity to illustrate the sheer ridiculousness of Maguet’s assertion. Maguet’s proposition that “good works do not save us, Jesus does” is known in theological circles of debate as the “Grace vs Works” argument, propounded by the Protestant faith, and one of the major dogmatic rifts between Catholicism and Protestantism. Espoused by no less than Calvin, Augustine, and Luther, the basic idea is this; it doesn’t matter HOW good a person is, or how charitably or selflessly they live their life, in the end, Humankind is hopelessly depraved, and can only achieve “salvation” by “believing in Jesus”.It further asserts that when a good deed is done, it is only by virtue of a person’s belief in Jesus, ie, that a nonbeliever cannot possibly be a “good” person! How utterly vile and denigrating! In the predictable Evangelical style, Maguet then goes on to selectively choose Biblical verse to support that opinion, apparently unaware that there are just as many verses to refute it! Larry, look up James 2, 14-18, go ahead, you’ll love it! (if you believe in this sort of stuff!) It bears mentioning that a recent news item (sadly, ignored by The Citizen) told how letters written by Mother Theresa herself admitted that, in spite of being vaunted by The Church as a very model of Christian Charity, she indeed had lost her faith and belief in Jesus, in God, and no longer prayed. She had, in fact, become a de facto Agnostic. And yet she continued to minister to the world’s Poor, to the point of being considered for Sainthood. In Maguet’s eternity, Mother Theresa—and anyone in her mold--is burning in hell. "

" Thank you Larry. So it is not un-christian to have wealth. It is un-christian to not help your fellow man. Now about the talking sheep........ "