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• Poisoning victims remain hospitalized

• Expert: Half a mushroom cap can be deadly

• Tokay grad files claim over Lodi's Grape Bowl

• No motive or suspect in shooting

• Galt High students want board to approve open-campus policy

• Holiday drive spreads cheer to U.S. troops

• Sacramento cop arrested for alleged kidnapping

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi Middle School holds annual Turkey Trot

February 9th, 2010

• Middle College High School rated one of the best — and a bargain, to boot

• Lodi decathlon boasts top team in county

• Man who sparked counterfeit case pleads guilty

• Local businessman will visit Haiti to look for family

• Man who claimed to be Yosemite Sam pleads guilty to meth charge

• David Harmer seeks Republican congressional nod

• Lack of evidence in case against suspect in 'drug deal' stabbing

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Regional Roundup

February 2nd, 2010

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Correction

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Jumpers across California

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• President Obama's first year (45)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (44)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)

ADVERTISEMENT

Past speeches aren't always relevant today

I'm responding to the letter in the Nov. 2, 2009, edition of the News-Sentinel titled, "Bible entwined with American civic life." The writer asserts that President Obama is the first American president to deny that America is a Christian nation.

President Obama stated at a press conference in Turkey on April 6, 2009, that Americans "do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Muslim nation, but rather, a nation of citizens who are bound by a set of values." I believe this is the statement to which the writer refers, but if there is another statement of which I am unaware, I apologize in advance. I invite that writer to put forth the evidence supporting his assertion.

To me, the above statement was a re-iteration of one of our most hallowed principles — separation of church and state — and a reference to the shared values that bind us together as Americans and are enshrined in our Constitution. In my opinion, this writer asserted something that was neither said nor intended. I find this kind of distortion particularly objectionable inasmuch as it puts words in a person's mouth to support a personal agenda. Opinions are one thing, but false assertions are entirely different; to me, they are outright lies.

And I don't believe that what other presidents throughout history have said on this topic automatically have relevance. We have no idea what they would say were they president today. To me, it makes the mistake that is described in 20th century philosophy as "the fallacy of misplaced concreteness," which is an academic way of saying we shouldn't mistake our perceptions for reality. Similarly, we shouldn't assume that the utterances of politicians or statesmen of past years automatically have relevance to the contemporary reality. They may or they may not, but I object to the assumption that they automatically do.

Unlike others, I have no objection to the phrase "under God" in the pledge of allegiance. I'm not a religious person and regard that phrase as an affirmation of the faith that helped make this country great, rather than faith in a particular notion of God. We are a much more secular country than we were in 1776, but there's no denying the role that faith and Christianity have played in our history.

Jon Davis
Lodi