Conservative Forum — Week of March 8

Passions Over: The Passion

Regarding Rabbi Lapin's article on Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, the film stirs many emotions.

In listening to the varying emotions expressed, one might see the obvious: a division of passions.

On one side of the divide, we have those who understand as Gibson himself stated, "This is a movie about love, faith, hope and forgiveness." On the other side, the movie necessitates a crusade to vilify, cancel, make politically or spiritually correct, with or without a viewing. Ignorant bigotry is used to attack the film and is excused readily.

Gibson said. "He died for all mankind. He [Jesus] suffered for all of us. It's time to get back to that basic message. The world has gone nuts. We could all use a little more love, faith, hope and forgiveness."

For many, clearly his words speak to reality, as we daily view events, passionately seeking Christ and his truth is seen as something to passionately avoid by a separated people. With so much of our Judo-Christian values under attack by liberal activist judges: traditional marriage, pledge of allegiance, and God's name in public rejected or damned, value of life and death minimized, it is evident passionate people of faith are needed.

The Passion of the Christ was an experience for me that awakened the passion and love for my Redeemer, as never before. As one that left the theater being unable to speak without tears, this courageous endeavor by Mel Gibson was so appreciated. For with each wicked action taken, my soul heard what Christ's sacrifice and death personally meant, it was all about God and it will always be.

Applauds Buchanan Article On Kerry and Vietnam War

Of all of the probably millions of words written about the disgrace in Viet Nam, Pat Buchanan's article probably summarizes this abysmal period in our history better and more succinctly than any other that I have read.

This was a totally unnecessary mess, which could have been resolved successfully, but was lost totally here by both the incompetence of a liberal establishment and the betrayal of a "me" generation like Jane Fonda, who now basks in her millions of dollars while hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodians who were lucky enough not to be killed by the Communists wallow in enslaved misery in a backward nation.

The attempt to "pin the blame" for the liberal Democrats failures on Nixon remains especially galling, and it also remains incomprehensible why people were not prosecuted for treasonous acts, or, like Kerry, for providing false and libelous testimony to Congress under oath.

Thanks for summarizing the truth, Mr. Buchanan!

On The Dornan-Rohrabacher Feud

John Gizzi is one of the best political columnists in the United States and I look forward to reading his column every week. However, in his piece on the Dornan-Rohrabacher "blood feud," he inadvertently lent himself to a smear against an honorable man.

Khaled Saffuri is not a "lobbyist for the American Muslim Institute." Saffuri heads up the Islamic Institute Free Market Foundation, an organization that has worked tirelessly to promote more freedom and democracy in the Middle East. After 9/11, he helped American agencies acquire knowledge about a part of the world they knew little about. That is why he has worked with Rep. Rohrabacher (R.-Calif.), who for his entire career has championed human rights in places like Afghanistan and Burma when no one else cared.

I have known Khaled Saffuri for five years and know him to be an American patriot and the victim of a smear campaign by people who should know better.

True Warrior For Freedom

Regarding your "Conservative Spotlight" column, Dr. Baskerville is a true warrior for freedom, as no citizen of any nation conducting an undeclared war on the family can justifiably call himself free.

It is high time we heed his advice by replacing policies based on "false statistics" with ones based on time-tested facts, refocusing our efforts towards strengthening the family instead of growing government to solve the very problems it creates.

Thanks.

I'm writing in response to your February 9 article on Dr. Baskerville. I am very much in support of what you wrote. For what it's worth, four years ago I gave up my career as a successful aerospace engineer to enter law school at the University of San Diego.

I did this when I found out that the stories my own father told me about the Family Court excluding fathers were actually true.

I have also worked in the Family Court, and Dr. Baskerville's claims are accurate.

Thank you for your article.

I wish to sincerely thank you for your article highlighting Dr. Stephen Baskerville and his championed cause, the father.

Being a divorced father of four beautiful and wonderful children, I have experienced first hand, the second-class citizenry that divorced fathers have become. In court, I have been guilty before the fact and been incarcerated for being temporarily broke. A judge even had the audacity to publicly chastise me for representing myself, though clearly it was out of financial necessity.

It is imperative to my own children and children of others like me that they have their fathers. Not merely their money, but their love and spiritual support. Nothing like time spent together compares as of real value for the children of divorced families.

In my own instance, even those claiming good deeds are questionable, as my previous church has a written policy that it's parishioners cannot communicate with ex-members. The father has too long been an easy target subject to the quiet wrath of feminists and their politically correct courts.

I applaud Dr. Baskerville and your publication for inclusion.