.Letters for September 30

Readers sound off on new Oakland tax, NUMMI plant, legalizing pot, and Bishop Cordileone.

“A New Tax Angers Small Oakland Retailers,” Full Disclosure,
9/16

Good Lord

Just like making it illegal for Oakland muffler shops to install
those loud mufflers on mostly import cars, guess what boys and girls,
all the out-of-town muffler shops installed more than their normal
share of this fad-driven mufflers (heard one lately?). Without a basic
core of how a small business works, the City of Oakland looks to small
businesses as an inexhaustible source of tax cash. If a few close down
well they were probably run by Republicans anyway, and a “model” city
has no use for anyone that is not a progressive.Good Lord, man, how
much more of this insanity can we take, with cities just over the
border holding their arms open wide for our hopes and dreams???

Ingvard Christensen, Oakland

“A Tribute to NUMMI Workers,” Photo Essay, 9/9

Thank Reagan

Thank you to David Bacon for this poignant photo
essay. There’s something very wrong in our culture that the
basic human desire to do constructive work to make one’s living
has been intentionally denied for the sake of larger profits to be
made where cheaper labor can be found. We have Ronald Reagan
to thank for making sure his corporate supporters could readily
move their operations offshore to the cheapest labor source, all
the while assuring us that what we wanted to be was a service
economy (code for low-paying jobs and no labor unions). And
he largely succeeded in this effort

Charlene Woodcock, Berkeley

“A New Front in the War Against Pot?,” News, 8/26

Protect the Consumer

Please note that we must address the people with legalized cannabis.
It won’t do any good to do this to appease Law Enforcement and big
business. We will still have prisoners and the crime will still be
going on. Lee’s initiative is the only way to save the black market in
the face of legalization. Look at CCI and the Lee one — which one
creates a way to protect the consumer? Not Lee’s. Please reconsider
your support.

Ernst Berg, Turlock

“I Am Annoyed and Disappointed,” News, 8/5

Not Dogma

My wife and I are writing to you regarding an article by Sam Levin
in the East Bay Express in August. Mr. Levin misrepresented our
company suggesting in his article that we have employees and managers
at our Café Gratitude take a program (The Landmark Forum) that
might conflict with their religious or spiritual beliefs. There is
absolutely nothing religious or spiritual about The Landmark Forum,
which is a training and development course.

Landmark holds memberships in the American Society for Training and
Development, the International Society for Performance Improvement, and
offers Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Numerous religious and
spiritual clergy, including Catholic, Episcopalian, Jewish, and Mormon,
have confirmed this. In addition, Dr. Paul Knitter, a professor of
theology and expert on world religions and culture from Union
Theological Seminary, stated, “The facts are clear that Landmark
Education and The Landmark Forum are not a religion or religious in
nature, are not contrary to religion and do not interfere with the
religious beliefs of participants in The Landmark Forum. The Landmark
Forum provides no theology, dogma or doctrine to believe in or follow,
there is nothing to worship and there are no practices to repeat. In
addition, many participants in The Landmark Forum have reported that
their participation in fact enhanced their own religious beliefs and
practices
.” Landmark has been recognized by HR.com/James Mc Neil as one of the top
training and development companies in the world. Although ours is a
small business, we want the best training possible for our people.

Mathew and Terces Englehart, owners, Café
Gratitude

“The Father of Proposition 8,” Feature, 8/12

Deeply Disturbed

I just wanted to thank the East Bay Express for running the
piece about Bishop Salvatore Cordileone. Being a gay man living in the
Bay Area, I had no idea that this person had moved into the area, and
was deeply disturbed by his language and message. I’m sure you will
receive lots of mail about this, both for and against the article, and
thought it important to send a letter of deep gratitude and thanks.

Andrew Wedge, San Francisco

Censored Voice

I wanted to share with you that I read your article. Also, I
received an e-mail from the new musical director at the Christ the
Light Cathedral asking me to join the choir and the exclusiveness of
the music that would be sung at the regular services at the Cathedral.
In response, I wrote the following to the Catholic Voice, which
is a publication of the Oakland Diocese, to express my disappointment
of both situations. Here is the e-mail, which was entitled “What is
Happening to the Church of the People?”:

“I was very saddened when I read the article in the Bay
Express
dated August 12 entitled The Father Proposition 8. From the
Bay Express: ‘As an auxiliary bishop in San Diego, Cordileone
played an indispensable role in conceiving, funding, organizing, and
ultimately winning the campaign to pass Proposition 8. It was Bishop
Sal and a small group of Catholic leaders who decided that they had to
amend the state constitution.’ The article goes on to talk about how
the Bishop influenced political figures and the steps he took to move
this measure forward. I am concerned that a governmental issue where it
would give equal rights to all to provide for their loved ones is being
influenced by the Church and the Bishop of a diocese with a highly
diverse population. I am not saying that the Church sanction gay
marriage in the Church. This is civil marriage. God will decide whether
to sanctify or not without our help and judgement.

“Also, I received an e-mail from Rudy de Vos, the new Music Director
for the Cathedral. I was a member of the Dedication Choir and the
Installation of the New Bishop choir. The e-mail I received was asking
to join the new choir he was forming. What troubled me the most from
his e-mail was what he wrote: ‘I am looking forward to develop a music
program of excellence, befitting of and suitable to a Cathedral.
Repertoire that will be focused on will include Gregorian chant,
Renaissance polyphony and other staples of the choral repertory (i.e.
music by Byrd, Tallis, Attwood, Stanford, Parry, Howells,
Duruflé, Colin Mawby, Joel Martinson, Leo Nestor etc.) and no
music by Haugen and Haas.’  Again, I was under the impression that
the church belonged to the people and not to an elite few. If we the
people of the Oakland Diocese are a diverse group and we are to
celebrate our diversity in our spiritual world, would we not include
people like Haugen, Haas, Mannebusem, Sullivan-Whitaker, as well as
others who write very spiritual music for the people and have roots in
our diocese?The church wants us to celebrate as a unified church and as
a family of God’s people. But it seems that the leaders of the Oakland
Diocese wants its people to return to the days of pre-Vatican II and
let the leaders worship  for the people and for the people to
worship in the closet. It is not surprising why so many Catholics are
not at the forefront claiming that they are Catholics.”

What was published in the Catholic Voice was this letter
entitled Muscial Exclusions:

“I recently received an e-mail from Rudy de Vos, the new music
director for the cathedral, asking me to join the new choir he is
forming. I was a member of the cathedral’s dedication choir and the
choir for the installation of Bishop Cordileone.What troubled me was
that de Vos wrote that he was ‘looking forward to develop a music
program of excellence, befitting of and suitable to a cathedral.
Repertoire that will be focused on will include Gregorian chant,
Renaissance polyphony and other staples of the choral repertory (i.e.
music by Byrd, Tallis, Attwood, Stanford, Parry, Howells,
Duruflé, Colin Mawby, Joel Martinson, Leo Nestor etc.) and no
music by Haugen and Haas.’I was under the impression that the Church
belonged to the people and not to an elite few. If we the people of the
Oakland Diocese are a diverse group and we are to celebrate our
diversity in our spiritual world, why would we not include people like
Haugen, Haas, Manibusan, Sullivan-Whitaker and others who write very
spiritual music for the people and have roots in our diocese?The Church
wants us to celebrate as a unified Church and as a family of God’s
people. But it seems that the leaders of the Oakland Diocese want its
people to return to the days of pre-Vatican II and let the leaders
worship for the people and for the people to worship in the closet. It
is not surprising that so many Catholics are not at the forefront
claiming they are Catholics.”

Sebastian Romeo

Via e-mail

Frankly I am not surprised that they deleted the section on Prop 8,
but I wasn’t going to do anything then I decided to see if you would
follow-up.

Sebastian J Romeo, San Leandro

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