Having just moved here from Panama City Beach, Fla., I could not agree with Jimmy Sisk more. ("Hall County must put more limits on growth," Jan. 15 letter.)

Panama City Beach is a prime example of poor planning and greed for the almighty dollar. The beach is now a concrete jungle. You used to be able to park and walk on the beach. Now you can walk on the beach, but there is no place to park because of all the condos and their owners.

I urge you, the powers that be, to think ahead and do good planning for this lovely community I now call home.

Miriam Gilberg
Gainesville

Constitution is rooted in Christian principles
As Ted Oglesby noted in a recent column, Christian principles did indeed heavily influence the crafting of the Constitution. This is not to claim that the Constitution is a Christian document or that it was written by devout and orthodox Christians. Rather, and I repeat, Christian principles -- Christian morality and the Christian view of man and society -- helped shape it.

The intricate set of checks and balances, for example, flows from the Christian view of fallen, sinful and selfish man, not from the Enlightenment view of the perfectibility of man and society. (Actually, Enlightenment philosophers were not of one mind on this point. They were a diverse lot. Rousseau and others rightly understood that "perfectibility" would lead to tyranny.)

Madison's Federalist 10 and 51 were built in large part on the Christian view of man. In 51, he wrote of checks and balances: "It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary."

The idea that government should have only limited claim on the individual, flowed naturally from Christian principles. The Founders clearly believed in Christian morality as exemplified in The Ten Commandments (incorporated from the Jewish tradition, the Sermon on the Mount, and Chapter 12 in Romans.) Even Deists and nonbelievers embraced it, and it shaped actions and ideas.

The Founders knew that America's long term success in its experiment with self-government would hinge not only on the institutional arrangements of any constitution they designed, but on the beliefs and values of the people, on their virtues. Without virtue, self-government would not last, and Christianity was a primary means of encouraging virtue.

The relationship of Christianity and religion more generally to the Declaration and the Constitution, then and now and all the years in between, is highly complex. Various strains of thought and experience tangled together at the start, and become more tangled over time.

Just how complex is made clear in a majority opinion of the Supreme Court written in 1952 by Justice William O. Douglas, a liberal's liberal, whose views on this point were akin to many of the Founders: "We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being."

Tack Cornelius
Gainesville

Abortion has robbed us of capable Americans
I was watching the "Good Morning America" program on Thursday. Robin Roberts was speaking with a man (I didn't catch his name) speaking on the subject of Freakonomics. He was telling what they (whoever "they" are) thought affected the overall crime rate fluctuation in this country.

He actually said that since abortion was legalized and fewer babies who are unwanted were being born, it makes for less crime. His logic was that unwanted children being born into the part of society that creates them would be the part of society that would create criminals. My question is how would they possibly know that? No way!

My opinion, and it's probably just as good as his, is that the very people we look to defend our U.S.A. -- young, able men and women -- have been killed in the wombs of people who did not value the life of another over their own.

How sad that we are a country that is killing our soldiers, doctors, nurses, teachers and our future. And this man comes along and tries to make it the right thing to do , by saying it decreases criminal activity. May God have mercy on us all!

Evelyn Swann
Flowery Branch

Water fee: Two wrongs don't make a right
First came the Corps of Engineers' fiasco earlier in the year caused by the faulty gauge. Whatever happened to looking out the window and using some common sense?

Then came the Gainesville city fathers with their infinite wisdom. They came up with the brilliant decision to remedy a bad situation by upping the water rates. Does it cost more to process a gallon of water in 1,000-gallon batches than a gallon of water in 100-gallon batches?

The area was already suffering an economic slump caused by the drought and now comes another negative impact. This tends to add insult to injury. Whose side are the city fathers on?

Robert McDonald
Gainesville

Honest soul returns lost wallet
Back on Dec. 24, I lost my wallet at J&J Foods store in downtown Gainesville. I just want to say a big "thank you" to the person who turned it in. There are not many honest people left.

All my cash and credit cards were just like I had left them. So I would like to say once again, thanks to the person who turned it in. May God be with you always.

Virginia Loggins
Gainesville