Plaza Sweet
Re: "Save Paradise," by Mary Mulhern (June 1-7)
I was thrilled to see your article on the NationsBank Park Plaza. Having co-sponsored the Charles Birmbaum presentation – in which he expressed his dismay over Tampa's treatment of this wondrous treasure – I am pleased it's receiving deserved attention as a result. What I would have loved to have seen was some mention of the organizations that hosted this event, getting the ball rolling. We do programs like this twice a year and would really like more people to know about them. There were no more than 60 people at Birnbaum's talk. Luckily, they seemed to be the right people! Additionally, I love to see the results of volunteer activities (which this was) being promoted. Fighting development and working for a more artful world is often heartbreaking work. An article like yours encourages activism in our often apathetic world. Thank you for writing about this neglected plaza. Perhaps Paradise can be saved.
Suzanne Prieur
Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association Preservation Committee
Into The Toilet
Re: Review of Damage Control's CD The DaVinci Commode, by Scott Harrell (June 1-7)
I would like to thank the Weekly Planet for taking the time to review our CD. I have been trying to make Allen cry and you have succeeded where I have failed. Allen is very emotionally fragile (from NY), and has managed to go through all four stages of grieving within a 15-minute period. I'm sure that with proper medication he will fully recover his obnoxious nature and will live again to offend someone. Please let Scott Harrell know that we appreciate anyone taking the time to listen to our crap (the toilet is on the cover for a reason). Onward and upward, my friends.
Gene May
Damage Control
First Amendment, Amen
Re: Letter from David Meyer (May 25-31)
Yawn. Isn't anyone else really tired of people who immediately label anyone who dissents about anything concerning the decisions/actions of our government or the religious right as liberals? Just because the arbitrary phrase "separation of church and state" isn't in the Constitution doesn't mean that it wasn't intended. The words "fair trial" aren't in it either, or the word God for that matter. The following phrase does appear in the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" In an 1802 letter to the Danbury (Conn.) Baptist Association, Thomas Jefferson, then president, declared that the American people through the First Amendment had erected a "wall of separation between church and state." James Madison, considered to be the Father of the Constitution, said in an 1819 letter, "[T]he number, the industry and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church and state." In an earlier, undated essay (probably early 1800s), Madison wrote, "Strongly guarded… is the separation between religion and government in the Constitution of the United States." If there were no separation of church and state in this country, Christianity would be forced upon people who do not want it, and religious liberty would be severely threatened and non-Christians would be persecuted.
The worst thing about Christian radicals, and even most moderates, is that they don't even understand Jesus' teachings. People who aren't Christian justifiably are disturbed when people use Christianity to try do very un-Jesus like things. I do applaud David's effort to better understand Catholicism, and I would suggest he take it further by studying the ancient religions/philosophies of the East, like Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism. To get a more accurate interpretation of some of Jesus' teachings than you likely have received in your entire life, I implore you to read Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda.
And why the hell can't I buy beer at 11:30 a.m. on a Sunday?
Travis May
Tampa
This article appears in Jun 8-14, 2005.
