Ralph Reed

Re “Christian Coalition Leader Opts for New Group: GOP,” April 24: Ralph Reed says the Christian Coalition’s progress has resulted in “people of faith” now having a voice in government affairs.

There are many people of faith who disagree with Reed on substantial questions in both religion and government. It would have been more accurate to say that people of his faith now have more organized influence on the government. I do applaud his organization’s acknowledgment of error and apology for having been basically racist.

BRIAN MILLAR

Encinitas

Re “A Voyage That Fell Short of the Promised Land,” Commentary, April 24: Now that Reed has come out of his church closet to emerge as the blatant politician many suspected him to be, I, for one, welcome his honesty. Although Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, wrote in 1802, while president, to some New England Baptists that the nation had erected “a wall of separation between church and state,” Reed ignored the wall and used tax-exempt church money to fund political candidates who beat up gays and pro-choice women.

Quitting the Christian Coalition to become a political consultant for GOP conservative candidates now makes an honest man of Reed at last.

MARSHAL A. PHILLIPS

Los Angeles