This is in response to letters critical of Rex Rhoades’ Sunday, Nov. 7, column in which he expressed his belief that moral values encompass more than attitudes about same-sex marriage and a woman’s right to choose abortion.

My reaction to the column is one of praise. After my disappointment with the Sun Journal’s endorsement of George Bush, it was a relief to see that the executive editor has the freedom to express an opposing point of view.

I believe the Bush strategy to keep people’s minds focused on the issues of homosexuality and abortion as “moral values” was a way of keeping voters’ minds off the larger moral issues. One example is the immorality of lying to the American people to take this country into a war in Iraq which, in addition to American deaths, has taken the lives of thousands of Iraqis and laid waste to their land.

But even those who voted for him will suffer from his policies. The deficit grows by the millions while tax breaks for the wealthy continue to assure that the rich get richer and more powerful, and the rest get poorer with less control over their lives.

So, those of you who took offense at Rhoades’ column, keep it around, re-read it from time to time. He makes some points we ought not ignore. It’s too late to change the election, but it’s not too late for people to begin to see beyond Bush’s smoke screen of “moral values.”

Joyce White, Stoneham

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