Pubdate: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 Source: Red Bluff Daily News (CA) Copyright: 2009 Red Bluff Daily News Contact: http://redbluffdailynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1079 Author: Orval Strong Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n705/a06.html RESPONSE TO RECENT LETTERS Editor: I would like to respond to a couple letters to the editor that I read last week. The first was about the danger of pot farms. It was implied that marijuana itself causes thievery, vandalism, rape and murder plus all kinds of unwanted problems. The plain fact is marijuana does not cause any of those things to occur. If shootings do occur around a medical marijuana farm it is because the illegality of the product brought the price up a 100 to 1,000 times what it would be if it was not illegal. I seem to recall someone long ago saying that it was the love of money that was the root of evil. That weed does not force one to commit acts of violence. It is about time people educated themselves about this plant and stop blaming it for all humanity's ailments. Now my two cents worth concerning Israel. The author of Psalm 122 commands its readers to, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." It does not say sacrifice all you have for the upkeep of Israel or kill all foes of Israel. Even in biblical times the deity of that book did not condone all the actions of the Israeli government. America can no longer afford to finance Israel's belligerent practices or fight her battles. Besides that, there is no physical exam that proves an individual is a descendant of that biblical race. Even if someone was a direct descendant of Jesus that would not guarantee he or she would have the exact same attributes. Doesn't the New Testament command us to love everyone, even your enemy? Check out Matthew 5:22. Orval Strong Gerber - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr