Blatant attack
Regarding "Equal rights fight goes to pulpit" (Page A1, Wednesday), I am dumbstruck that Mayor Annise Parker has authorized city attorney David Feldman to subpoena the lectures and writings of local pastors she suspects have spoken out against HERO, or the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. To say that such an action is heavy-handed is an understatement. Given the traditional American disregard for politicians who use the offices of government to harass individuals and groups, I would have expected our savvy mayor to approach this matter with a much more delicate hand. Instead, she bluntly unleashed her legal dogs on people of faith from across the political spectrum.
Feldman, in justifying Parker's actions, is quoted as saying: "If someone is speaking from the pulpit and it's political speech, then it's not going to be protected." Given the very large extent to which morality and legality overlap, this is a questionable assumption at best, but it also raises the question of why the city was attempting to confiscate "all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession."
With her actions, Parker made it clear that church leaders have no right to speak out on matters of public policy. What is disturbing is that she also apparently believes that they're not even entitled to express an opinion on such matters outside the pulpit.
Finally, we must speak of the blatant hypocrisy at play: The Democratic Party has openly campaigned for votes in houses of worship for decades and not a single instance drew so much as a stern word from Parker, much less a subpoena.
Pete Smith, Houston
http://www.chron.com/default/article/Friday-letters-Common-sense-left-behind-5827996.php
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Regarding "Equal rights fight goes to pulpit" (Wednesday Front Page), I am dumbstruck that Mayor Annise Parker has authorized city attorney David Feldman to subpoena the lectures and writings of local pastors she suspects have spoken out against HERO, or the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. To say that such an action is heavy-handed is an understatement. Given the traditional American disregard for politicians who use the offices of government to harass individuals and groups, I would have expected our savvy Mayor to approach this matter with a much more delicate hand. Instead, she bluntly unleashed her legal dogs on people of faith from across the political spectrum.
Regarding "Equal rights fight goes to pulpit" (Page A1, Wednesday), I am dumbstruck that Mayor Annise Parker has authorized city attorney David Feldman to subpoena the lectures and writings of local pastors she suspects have spoken out against HERO, or the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. To say that such an action is heavy-handed is an understatement. Given the traditional American disregard for politicians who use the offices of government to harass individuals and groups, I would have expected our savvy mayor to approach this matter with a much more delicate hand. Instead, she bluntly unleashed her legal dogs on people of faith from across the political spectrum.
Feldman, in justifying Parker's actions, is quoted as saying: "If someone is speaking from the pulpit and it's political speech, then it's not going to be protected." Given the very large extent to which morality and legality overlap, this is a questionable assumption at best, but it also raises the question of why the city was attempting to confiscate "all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession."
With her actions, Parker made it clear that church leaders have no right to speak out on matters of public policy. What is disturbing is that she also apparently believes that they're not even entitled to express an opinion on such matters outside the pulpit.
Finally, we must speak of the blatant hypocrisy at play: The Democratic Party has openly campaigned for votes in houses of worship for decades and not a single instance drew so much as a stern word from Parker, much less a subpoena.
Pete Smith, Houston
http://www.chron.com/default/article/Friday-letters-Common-sense-left-behind-5827996.php
-----------------------------------------------
Regarding "Equal rights fight goes to pulpit" (Wednesday Front Page), I am dumbstruck that Mayor Annise Parker has authorized city attorney David Feldman to subpoena the lectures and writings of local pastors she suspects have spoken out against HERO, or the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. To say that such an action is heavy-handed is an understatement. Given the traditional American disregard for politicians who use the offices of government to harass individuals and groups, I would have expected our savvy Mayor to approach this matter with a much more delicate hand. Instead, she bluntly unleashed her legal dogs on people of faith from across the political spectrum.
Feldman, in justifying Mayor Parker's actions, is quoted as saying: "If someone is speaking from the pulpit and it’s political speech, then it’s not going to be protected." Given the very large extent to which morality and legality overlap, this is a questionable assumption at best, but it also begs the question of why the city was attempting to confiscate "all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession.”
With her actions, Mayor Parker made it clear that church leaders have no right to speak out on matters of public policy. What is disturbing is that she also apparently believes that they're not even entitled to express an opinion on such matters outside the pulpit.
Finally, we must speak of the blatant hypocrisy at play: The Democratic Party has openly campaigned for votes in houses of worship for decades, and not a single instance drew so much as a stern word from Mayor Parker, much less a subpoena.
Pete Smith
Houston, TX
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