I took a chance in seeing the movie The Da Vinci Code. After all the hype about Dan Brown¹s novel fueling controversy with Christians worldwide, I had to see the movie to judge for myself. It might have been nice had the movie actually been suspenseful and held my attention.

The movie, like the book, takes the viewer on an implausible journey through a fictional story with bland characters and a maze of religious landmarks. Where was the Ron Howard¹s movie magic, I kept asking myself?

But then the bigger question hit me. The Muslims experienced a worldwide outrage over the comic drawings of the prophet Mohammad. These were drawings of a prophet and not their god, Allah. These drawing were met with violent protests and death threats. These people respect their prophets and hold them in great esteem.

With The DaVinci Code, where is the Christian outrage? The book and movie don¹t attack a prophet, but God himself. Jesus, the Bible, and Christian history are mocked. Where is the evangelical community?

It would seem that Christians are at home living their lives in isolation. Just like we see on Election Day, many, including Christians, stay home and don¹t exercise their right to vote. If anything, by staying home, they are voting for apathy.

Things in this country, including Hollywood, don¹t change because we don¹t demand it. If half of the Christians picked up the phone, wrote a letter, or spoke with their senator or congressman, we would live in a different country. But we live in a time where traditional values are under attack and Dan Brown and Ron Howard can profit from trash passed on to the public as art.

Where does it stop? Well, if history is any indicator, Christians will stay on the sidelines, while the margins of decency get smaller.

         Cameron Curry

         Escondido

Every day I am offended by the people who are offended by my God-fearing heritage and the official symbols of our country (such as our flag). Where is my right as a citizen of this country?

If a couple people don¹t like what America stands for, they get to protest, and usually get their way -- no matter that there are thousands who don¹t feel as they do. What happened to my rights, and others like me? We want our heritage back (God and our country). Let others have their say, as long as it doesn¹t offend the constitutional rights of other American citizens.

Our judiciary system needs to come off of their high horse and remember the country and the people they are representing, not just a few unhappy souls. Keep the San Diego¹s Mount Soledad Cross. It¹s part of us!

         Bonnie Mansfield

         Oceanside

Over the past years, I have seen where we vote for the liberal GOP to avoid the liberal Democrat and end up diluting the GOP even more. We were told to vote for Arnold, Pete Wilson and many others in an attempt to keep power and avoid the liberal democrat.

Liberal GOP people always stab us in the back. We do not win anything with that strategy. It would be helpful if the GOP actually lost some races because they do not support pro-family candidates. This would be better in the long run. Otherwise the GOP will never learn and we should not support the GOP with our finances and support.

I could not in a million years want to vote for Bilbray who is a pro-abortion and pro-homosexual guy. It would be a sin.

Please consider what I am saying. I have seen this situation over and over again over the past 20 years and the truth is diluted by putting the wicked into office.

         Phil Magnan

         Chula Vista

Vote your conscience — not the party vote. There really is no difference between Bilbray and Busby — they are both pro-abortion liberals. You have to answer God not the party. In fact, the party works against us much of the time. The party even opposed Reagan -— they want someone who agrees with them - not someone of principle. Because Christians have withdrawn from activism, only people with wealth can win. That is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind. They were biblical men of God.

I don¹t think voters understand that there are two votes for ³Duke² Cunningham¹s Congressional District on June 6. One is between Busby and Bilbray in the special election to finish out this term, which ends next February. And the other vote you must cast in the primary is to decide the party choice for the vote to be decided in November for the two-year term. On that June 6 vote, all candidates will be listed by their party. The candidates had to declare early in the year before we knew how the special election would turn out.

Conservatives split the Republican vote and we get Bilbray.

However, after the special election, one man of character did try to do the right thing. Howard Kaloogian had breakfast with Eric Roach the next day and began working to get him support. Kaloogian even flew with Roach back to Washington, D.C. to introduce Roach to all of the conservative groups and garner their support - giving Roach all of Kaloogian¹s financial and political backers. Yet, with all that conservative support and Roach¹s money, Roach has announced he was withdrawing from the race. It¹s very disappointing that we have no men of character willing to lay down their own personal goals as Kaloogian did to raise up a champion - and no champion willing to be raised up!

And so we are left with no choice at all — two pro-choice candidates in the special election. And no one with enough financial backing to make an impact in the primary. The Republican party has taken the conservative pro-life vote for granted -- that if they push hard enough and only give us a liberal to choose, we¹ll fall in line and vote for him when it is all said and done. But, I do not answer to a political party. I only answer to God. And in this election, I will only honor Him by voting for men of character and principle, who are willing to be our Christian champions. It grieves me that no other candidates did the same. I am voting my conscience.

         Dana Serrano Chisholm

         Valley Center

Many people today are talking about the movie, The Da Vinci Code. They are afraid that it will shake the faith of those who believe in the history of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels.

Nonsense! True believers will always believe that Jesus was God manifested in the flesh. To them, this is but another attack and a resurgence of the ancient cult of Gnosticism. Gnosticism denied that Jesus was God. The ancient Christians survived this heresy and so will the Christians of today. Jesus was indeed God and still is God. He reigns eternally! No attack by His creatures can dethrone Him.

Let this piece of fiction do its worst! Believers will be believers still.

Those who in any way are associated with the making of this movie, unless they are later born again, will find to their hurt that this Jesus, whom they have denigrated, will at the Last Day, say to them, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew 7:23, ³Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.²

Then they will have to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

         Wallace A. Bell

         Oceanside

I am a conservative Republican and a Christian who believes in God and upholding traditional values, but that is being corrupted by liberal modernists are like Democrats. I also support Bush for what he believes. Abortion is murder. Gay rights are immoral. We take our freedom of religion for granted.

Democrats need to face facts. Jesus is coming back. God¹s word will be fulfilled.

I appreciate his stand on the immigrant situation. I do wish some politicians would do something about gas prices without blaming each other and loving money.

The Democrats need to step up to the plate and join the Republicans in the fight against terrorism.

God bless President Bush. Have mercy on him. In Jesus¹ name.

         Clinton Wolford

         Poway

The commentary about Arnold Schwarzenegger by Dr. Michael Suozzi in your April edition is for all Christian voters, regardless of denomination or church. The two essential books mentioned by Dr. Suozzi are Scott Lively and Ken Abrams, The Pink Swastika, and Lothar Machtan, The Hidden Hitler, must be read by every Christian.

Students need to know that Hitler, Heydrich, Hess, Himmler, Roehm, Karl Ernst and other Nazi leaders were homosexuals. The nonsense that Nazis persecuted homosexuals is a trick to give homosexuals a status in history that they no not possess. The homosexual movement idolizes Nazi methods and espouses violence as a methodology of revolution. The anti-Christian ideology of homosexual militancy is widespread.

Christians invite all homosexuals to repentance and change. All sexual immorality is not permitted so heterosexual immorality is as heinous a sin as any homosexual immorality.

All are invited to repent and be born-again. Christianity embraces all people as is taught in the prophet Isaiah, Chapter 56. Christianity loves all people, excluding none.

         Ted Jennings

         La Mesa

Though I realize that the U.S. has a serious problem of illegal immigration, I can¹t help but imagine that American Natives are rolling over in laughter at the irony involved. They too were faced at one time with the problems of illegal immigration. They feared the loss of their lives, livelihoods, and lands.

Today, U.S. citizens may worry that ³What goes around, comes around.² Everyone needs to remember that this nation was started by immigrants who did not go through any legal process of immigration. Unless descendants of the European illegal immigrants are willing to accept that their forefathers were criminals, they should not be so eager today to make criminals of those crossing our borders illegally searching for a better life and better opportunities.

If the U.S. is a nation of Christian values and morals, we need to begin to resolve this dilemma by first agreeing that all people on earth are the children of God. We must faithfully keep in mind and strongly believe that we are God¹s children first, renting on God¹s personal property, before we are citizens of any nation or members of any race.

         Bob Montañez

         Odessa, Texas

My Mexican ancestors did not sneak in across an unguarded border. They were already here when the border was moved. Some of them went south so as to be in Mexico and to continue to be Mexicans. Most, however, stayed where they lived, made sure their children learned English, and became good Americans. This was not technically an ³immigration,² but it certainly added a lot of new people to the country.

The United States is greatly benefited by immigration. But there are limits. The questions are, ³How many immigrants a year can the nation profitably absorb?² and ³What qualifications must they bring?²

Our leaders pretend to be concerned about the immigration issue, but you will notice that they refuse to discuss two questions:

1. How many immigrants a year shall be allowed in? (A million? Ten million?)

2. What qualifications shall be required? (Healthy? Honest? Skilled? Strong?)

Our leaders are too politically smart to say they want to let everyone in without any limits at all. But by not saying how many nor how qualified, they have to mean exactly that.

Thinking it over carefully, it becomes obvious that, for what ever political advantage it offers them, our leaders deliberately intend for the immigration question to remain in turmoil. We should remember this at election time, regardless of what they say.

         Glenn Jacobs

         Eagar, Arizona