Mailbag:

All praise to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) for stepping up to submit the federal appropriations request for money to clean up our harbor (“The Political Landscape: Rep. calls for $6M in federal dredging funds,” March 25). As we know, a clean and beautiful bay is the backbone of our vibrant local economy.

Sanchez stepping up is particularly admirable given the bay is outside of Sanchez’s district, although an argument is to be made that her district is part of the watershed that drains into the bay.

So this begs the question: Why didn’t Rep. John Campbell (R-Newport Beach) submit the appropriation? After all, the bay is entirely within his district and he presents himself as pro-business. Campbell’s lack of leadership is troubling.

When the clean-up funds are signed into law by the president, we should rename Newport Bay as Obama Bay. Got a nice ring to it, eh?

Ann Williams

Lido Island

Religious leaders’ response shocking

It was laudable for the Daily Pilot to acknowledge the mounting prejudice against Muslim Americans as reflected in a recent Gallup poll (“In Theory: Promoting positive Muslim image,” March 27).

You asked: “For you non-Islamic religious leaders in the community, what can you do to help your congregation foster a more positive image of Muslims?”

The response from two of the three “non-Islamic leaders in the community” that was published was utterly shocking. It shows that far from fostering a more positive image, these religious leaders are protagonists for perpetuating prejudice and hate. If these so-called religious leaders in our community continue to damn an entire religion, practiced by more than 1 billion followers because of the actions of a few, there is little hope for peace in this world.

The mindset of Pastor Dwight Tomlinson and Rabbi Mark Miller appears to be no different than that of the extremist mullahs, who blame all Christians for the mayhem and carnage wrought on their countries by Western powers since the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. While smugly decrying the Muslim-on-Muslim violence to denounce all Muslims, they forget the centuries long brutal blood-letting between the Catholics and Protestants, most recently in Northern Ireland.

There are no good religions and there are no bad religions. But there are good people and there are bad people, and no religion has a monopoly on either of the two. It takes good people to promote understanding, practice tolerance, denounce bigotry and stand up for justice for all peoples.

Jamshed Dastur

Newport Beach

President takes too much control

As I was reading this court decision I thought about our president. He has promised to make some changes and restrictions to the federal health-care plan by or through an executive order.

Without even opening a book, I’m sure the president has no such authority. That is, to usurp the power of Congress to create or modify legislation by executive order. The president can only sign, not sign or put it in his “to do” basket. I have come to agree with many Democrats that there is a just comparison to FDR, and it is not in his execution of the war.

The state Court of Appeal in Orange County has ruled 2 to 1 that the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles owns the St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach (“Court gives church to diocese,” March 30).

This ruling regarding St. James probably has more to do with the social engineers of the gay-lesbian agenda than any theory in law.

Since FDR tried to pack the Supreme Court in an effort to force the law to match the legislation, nothing is new. We replaced the “rule of law” with the “lawless rule.”

August Lightfoot

Newport Beach