Brent Castillo, Right-Wing Nut

I do not read this gentleman's columns, which apparently appear in the Wichita Eagle, but I do occasionally read the Letters to the Editor and several made reference recently to his columns.

One statement Castillo made was that Obama's tax proposal "reeks of socialism". This false allegation would not be surprising coming from a talk radio call-in nut, but it takes one aback to see it coming from a columnist in a respected newspaper. The fact is, as letter-writer Gaylord Dold pointed out, the poor do pay a very high percentage of their income in taxes, when you factor in payroll taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes. To call it "socialism" for wanting to repeal the Bush tax cut on the very wealthy is just plain wrong. All Obama's plan would do is to take us back to the tax structure under Clinton, which was a good era economically for this country.

Another Castillo column causing controversy was an attack on gay marriage. Several letter-writers complained about this homophobic column of Castillo's. The writers completely refuted Castillo's poorly-reasoned arguments for being against gay marriage. People, if you don't like gay marriage, don't enter into one! Same with abortion.

I am sick and tired of people trying to dictate to other people how they should live their lives. As the Bible says, "Judge not, that ye be not judged". Also, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone". The sign in front of Spirit One Christian Center about America electing a Muslim president contains a judgment against America, i.e., they are trying to play God. Kudos to Leeann Toews for a great letter in a recent issue of Mennonite Weekly Review, pointing out the problem with judging others, i.e., with playing God.