Letters to the Editor

by the Readers

Mike Checked

Michael Marcavage is a delusional person who is out of control [Cover Story, "Jesus Geek Superstar," Doron Taussig, Feb. 3, 2005]. He feels he has the right to show up to events where he's not invited or wanted with the intent to put down the people who were invited and wanted. He thinks that his warped views of the world, fueled by a sick, twisted book, is his right.

It would be very pleasing if Marcavage dropped dead right now so that I can have the pleasure of defecating on his grave.
Rich Shoenemann
Center City

I am one of the producers of SundayOUT!, the closing block party to Equality Forum, the nation's largest gay and lesbian symposium. For the past two years, Marcavage and his "followers" have come to our event not to convert us but to flat out harass us. I have had other dealings with him and some of his followers in the past, and not once have I felt their love and compassion that Michael says he has for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered persons. All I have ever felt from him is a hatred that is far from Christian.

He comes to our events to provoke and attack. He loves the attention and he loves to defy the authorities, which apparently he can do since the judge wants to overturn his order to stay 100 feet away from gay events. I am tired of being harassed for who I am and for celebrating and being proud of my community. I am not going to allow Michael or any of his followers to come to our events and be hateful. That is why I will be at his hearing [today]. It is imperative that our community show the judge that we are concerned about the outcome of this hearing and that we will not be harassed anymore.
Marion Leary
via e-mail

Fascism can arise in virtually any society, utilizing existing cultural, religious and social backgrounds. In the U.S., conservative religion provides fertile ground for this type of movement. Marcavage is a frightening example of a modern fascist.

One other thought, I am sorry you mentioned that he lives in Lansdowne, because we are a "No Place for Hate" community with "all inclusive" wording in many of our community policies, a really nice place to live.
James Lawler
Lansdowne

I always wonder how things progressed to this point when I read articles like this. We have a nonworking, nontaxpaying individual with enough time on his hands to be able to preach hate against the same people who are working and paying taxes to keep free speech alive and well for him.
Mike Carcel
via e-mail

Nancy French likes to believe Marcavage was targeted for his anti-gay speechmaking [Slant, "Mouth Piece," Feb. 3, 2005], but it wasn't the message that brought in the police, it was the means. The Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, not one's choice of timing, venue or medium.

Marcavage and his "Bible-based" bullhorn would be hustled off just the same if he were to aggressively disrupt a Chinatown festival to invoke Levitical dietary laws, or a women's event to proclaim St. Paul's belief that women are subordinate to men. He would do better to imitate the Disciples by preaching civilly and to willing audiences. He should also consider that Jesus himself spoke no ill of homosexuals. I hope Marcavage will eventually overcome his apparent demons and find a better self.
Frank Hoffman
Mt. Airy

Smoked Out

Regarding [Mailbag, "Screw the Surgeon General," Michael J. McFadden, Feb. 3, 2005], I am deeply troubled by McFadden's obvious disregard of literally thousands of articles and years of research that clearly show that smoking is harmful. Secondhand smoking, a newer concept, has less but equally damning research results. Can McFadden point to an equal number of peer-reviewed research articles that state otherwise?

I lived in California over a nine-year span during which the smoking ban came into effect. There was a similar uproar. They said the ban would hurt business, people will suffer, rights are being stolen, etc. You want to know something? People who want to smoke leave those public spaces. I have never encountered a complaint regarding the clean air in those places and the fact that when you get home you don't smell like an ashtray nor do you have gray phlegm when you spit. Business is strong.

Maybe some businesses have suffered as a result of the cigarette ban. I don't have that information. Still, I won't weep for a possible couple hundred bars that fold. These people have the ability to find other work. The 360,000 Americans who die annually from smoking-related health problems, according to the American Lung Association, have no such comforts.

Lastly, I haven't read McFadden's book, Dissecting Antismokers' Brains, but I've read the reviews on www.amazon.com. Apparently the three people who reviewed the book and gave it the maximum number of stars all did so in May 2004. Two of the reviews were submitted on the exact same day and one of those is anonymous (coincidence?). The third reviewer apparently has a medical degree and is the editor in chief of the Journal of Theoretics — a dubious "science" journal that published Web articles that have no research. Gee, I wonder why that "journal" is summarily dismissed by the scientific community? One of the journal's science articles just so happens to be on the harmlessness of cigarette smoke. My father, who died from cigarette-related cancer in 1993, would probably appreciate the chance to argue that "research."
Scott Rapoport
Center City