Sun Journal staff writer Mark LaFlamme and I have similar styles. He is to journalism what I am to Christianity. We are both very unorthodox and can be interpreted as outlandish.

The bottom line is that we get the job done and we always get our point across.

Those who are exposed to us either love us or hate us for our blatant honesty. We find ourselves at odds over many issues, however, our strong characters, weird sense of humor, and our outside-of-the-box approach has made us more friends than foes.

The one thing we have in common is the way we paint the downtown area.

I love Jesus, the Bible and humanity, but I dislike formal religion that tends to be boring, cold and irrelevant to the needs of society.

I have been reading stories for weeks about all of the violence that has been taking place in the Bartlett Street area. The other day, I was traveling through that neighborhood and ran into a crowd led by clergy on the corner of Ash and Bartlett streets. I thought it might be in protest against the violence but, to my disappointment, it was a ceremony to pronounce a blessing upon animals.

I think we need to get our priorities straight. The situation bothered me so much it made me want to take a leak on a fire hydrant.

I told you Mr. LaFlamme and I are similar.

The Rev. Douglas Taylor, Lewiston