Letters to the editor

Re: The following in Daniel Quinn's recent letter: "Marriage provides the next generation. Gay marriage/civil unions do not. Marriage is the basic cell of society. Without it kingdoms fall."

What a load of crock that is!

A man and a woman having sex and conceiving a child provides the next generation — which happens in this day and age, more often than not, without the "benefit" of marriage.

Not everyone who enters the union of marriage does so to have children. Does that make their marriage any less valid?

Humanity is the basic cell of a society. Being good to one another and working together is the foundation of society.

Kingdoms do not fall because the idea of marriage is changing and evolving. Kingdoms fall because of greed and war.

Magdalena Cancel

Philadelphia

As an Ahmadi Muslim, I oppose the president's position on gay marriage.

Islam teaches us to be kind to other human beings. Therefore, discriminating against a gay person would be a violation of my faith. However, the Quran also reminds us of the people of prophet Lot, who practiced homosexuality. After countless warnings, Lot's people were destroyed by God because they refused to change.

As a Muslim who loves and prays for the United States, I worry that the same could happen to this great country.

Nameer Bhatti

Blue Bell, PA

What sports really is

I read with great interest the letters written by Oren M. Spiegler and could not bite my tongue anymore. In one letter, you try and hammer hockey "from afar" by criticizing it as a "slugfest" that seems integral to the sport and how it is held out to young children as wholesome, appropriate entertainment. You wonder if responsible individuals feel it is beneficial for children to attend games while fans hold up signs that read "WE HATE YOU!" You ask the question, "Does that serve to instill good values in the child?" You criticize the NHL because it does not stop this violence and "insist" on good sportsmanship through suspensions and fines. You state that you enjoy baseball and, though it is not perfect, you add that it "remains the game which by its nature is not one which is populated by goons determined to sideline and injure their fellow athletes."

Yet, in your most recent letter, you actually rip Cole Hamels for engaging in the baseball of "thugs"! You called it an "assault" by Hamels! That there is "no room in a storied sport for those of the ilk of Cole Hamels." And that Hamels "poisoned" the game! And what will his children think of his actions when they are old enough to understand? And comparing Hamels to criminals off of the field.

He plunked a rival player on the lower back. Do you know the history of baseball? It is filled with many real "thugs." Drunks, drug addicts, womanizers, cheaters, steroid Neanderthals, etc. I am not condoning the actions of Hamels, but you go way overboard. Baseball, like other major sports, is far from perfect. It is a game, not life.

Has anybody ever claimed that any major professional sport is "wholesome"? You fail to understand that these athletes are competing at the highest level. They are competing for championships, individual and team records, contracts, etc. The NHL has taken steps to quell the violence in the game, such as imposing fines and suspensions. These athletes are competing for Lord Stanley's Cup.

There is no better sport to watch than playoff hockey. How many other sports have the players line up and shake hands after a hard-fought game or playoff round? That's right, Mr. Spiegler, the answer is …hockey.If that is not sportsmanship, then I don't know what is.

In closing, I would like you to know that as a child (during the Broad Street Bully days), I was taken by my father to many Flyers games. I played sports my whole life. I graduated with honors from high school and chose to join the Army instead of going to college. I served in Panama, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. I am a productive citizen of society. And do you know why Mr. Spiegler? Because it was my parents who instilled good values in their child, not a professional athlete.

Lance Moore

Bethlehem, Pa.