Regarding the Daily Record's August 22, 2008 article "Hamas Aid Costly", the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) has no knowledge of or involvement with alleged donations to Hamas by Richard David Hupper. The core of ISM's mission is nonviolence. The allegations against Mr. Hupper appear to relate to the period after Mr. Hupper was expelled from the ISM.

Mr. Hupper volunteered with the ISM in the West Bank during 2004. In the fall of 2004, the ISM concluded that, despite his evident goodwill, Mr. Hupper's skills were not compatible with those required by the ISM to conduct its work. Therefore, in a meeting with him in the fall of 2004, two ISM founders expelled Mr. Hupper from the ISM.

Anyone working with the ISM is prohibited from perpetrating or aiding any form of violence. This prohibition obviously includes giving money that would be used for armed resistance. Providing funding or support to any Palestinian political party, including Hamas, would also violate ISM policies, and the ISM has never violated these policies.

The ISM has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for courageously supporting Palestinian nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation. The ISM continues today to support West Bank Palestinian communities in places like Bil'in, Ni'lin and Tel Rumeida, Hebron as they nonviolently resist Israeli settlers' and soldiers' efforts to expel them from their ancestral lands.

Adam Taylor
Media Coordinator
International Solidarity Movement
Ramallah, Occupied West Bank, Palestine

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This letter is in response to Anna Attig ("Speak of God in Schools," August 22). Ms. Attig asserts, "How come we dare not talk about [God] in our schools?" Normally I choose to ignore such religious fanaticism, but this is just one instance where I can not. Ms. Attig, we do not discuss God in America's public schools because our nation has the Constitutional principles of freedom of religion and separation of church and state. Thomas Jefferson himself declared in an 1814 letter, "Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." The U.S. Constitution begins "We the people" and contains no mention whatsoever of God, Jesus Christ, or the Bible. If America was established as a "Christian nation," why does our governing document fail to mention this?

Because we do not promote God in the public schools, Ms. Attig claims that we are guilty of atheism. Nonsense! Promoting atheism in the schools would involve advocating the viewpoint that God and gods/goddesses definitively do not exist. Christian fundamentalism is, sadly, all too common in York County. This fanatical mentality is what led to the 2004-05 Dover school board saga that made York County a national embarrassment.

Justin Garcia
Lancaster

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Aided by compliant mainstream media pundits and anonymous emailers endlessly repeating the same lies long circulated as part of a well-orchestrated smear campaign, Jerome Corsi's Obama Nation currently enjoys New York Times bestseller status, despite having been thoroughly discredited and debunked by fact-checkers on all sides of the political spectrum. Though the book is riddled with easily-refuted misinterpretations, half-truths and outright lies, Corsi is being accorded by many in the media the status of a serious scholar, despite a long history of championing crackpot manifestoes and and assertions so outrageous and patently false that even his fellow right-wing hatchet men have been moved to disavow him.

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Do we really need another administration whose ticket to the White House is based on lies? Are we Americans that stupid as to believe every slanderous and deceitful email, news report, or editorial? If you caught someone lying to you, wouldn't you think twice about believing them a second time? Remember the WMD story that got us into Iraq?

The so called "conservatives" have the resources to control much of the mass media such as Fox news and most of AM talk radio. We were taught that the communists use brain washing and propaganda to control the masses. That is exactly what the extreme right is doing. They count on the theory that if you hear the same lie repeated enough times, it will become your truth.

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This is in response to a Viewpoints piece by Rev. Robert Nugent (John Edwards and the stone throwers - August 17, 2008). Father Nugent lays out a convincing case for "forgiving" John Edwards of his marital infidelity and for allowing him to seek public office because of his other leadership qualities. Of course, Fr. Nugent is right. We should "forgive" Edwards just as we would hope for forgiveness for our transgressions. However, it seems to me, that to gloss over this as a minor character flaw in favor of his other positive qualities is just asking for trouble. That's not how the world works and for good reason.

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Anyone else tired of reading Norman Fulkerson's hogwash? It is all well and good to point to studies that show for instance, that homosexuality is a "brain altering" activity. I would have Norman remember though that studies are just that - studies. Beacuse one scientist, sociologist, theologist, etc., bases his/her conclusion on their study does not make it gospel. This is especially true when one can find studies on the same topic, with a completely different conclusion. In the case of homosexuality, there are many studies that show homosexuality to be a genetic factor, ie., not a choice.

I suppose my main point is this. Norman, mind your own business. No one can control the world. Keep your gay-hating ways to yourself and let people live their lives in peace. I'm sure homosexuals leave you and your ultra-"Christian" ways alone. You could at least have the decency to do the same concerning them.

Laurel Malinowski
East Berlin

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In his letter "Discrimination against gays unfair" Harry Brown makes an erroneous affirmation that homosexuals are born that way.

Research projects done by Dr. Simon Levay, a practicing homosexual, have been commonly misinterpreted to support this conclusion. In his book, "The Sexual Brain," Dr. Levay said that there are "subtle, but significant differences" between the brain structures of homosexual and normal men.

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I am just amazed that anybody can believe that Homosexual Marriage is the most important issue in the coming presidential election. The latest offering came from Norman Fulkerson who agrees with Richard Ritchie.

People who believe that homosexuality is a choice are as dangerous as people who think that global warming is a hoax, Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and the holocaust was a myth. They passively sanction prejudice.

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If Mr. Fulkerson wants to call me naive I would appreciate it if he would at least research the things he's going to use to illustrate his point.

First of all, the majority of states have laws saying that a marriage is between a man and a woman. Without laws requiring recognition of same sex marriages it's not as simple as going out of state, marrying and then returning home.

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Ben Timmins claims that citing Bible passages to argue against gay marriage is "poisonous" to our democracy. There's a real laugh. Sixty-one percent of voters in gay-friendly California voted to ban same-sex marriage, but gays convinced the California Supreme Court to overrule the will of the people. So I guess democracy is OK as long as your side wins, right Ben?

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