As someone who is involved with the Church, I have made efforts to find out which churches host bingo parties and raffles and I have yet to come across one that does any of these activities. Maybe Mitchell could help us by naming the churches that he knows of which do.

As a Methodist, our view on gambling is that one person should not profit from the misfortunes of another, gambling is not a productive activity and that for someone to win, another person has to lose.

One of the Church's missions is to point the way to the moral high ground, not to win a popularity contest and in spite of criticisms, it must continue its work, whether it is to criticise gambling, abortion or any other behaviour which is against the principles espoused in the holy Bible.

Mary Chambers

emcee_jm@yahoo.com

Unity Hall, St James

Hall's negative theology

Dr William 'Billy' Hall's letter yesterday presents a narrow and somewhat negative perspective of biblical theology. Biblical theology features very distinctly the grace of God, of which all of creation is the beneficiary.

Biblical theology begins with the kindness and gifting of God, and should seek to recognise and encourage the best in humankind and all of creation. I humbly ask Dr Hall to consider not just the "fall" but also to reflect on the "blessed creation".

Pablo DaCosta

irlaint@aol.com

Break JPS monopoly

In an era when energy conservation is widely practised, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) has not provided any incentive for one to continue to do so.

Have you ever tried turning off all your appliances for an extended period of time in a bid to conserve and save and when the bill arrives it 'slaps' you in the face? Consistently, it bears no reflection of your conservation efforts!

When enquiries are made, they (JPS) tell you "it is based on your consumption pattern", leaving you with a long string of estimated bills. How come JPS? How come?

This is really disheartening as you are trying, not just to reduce Jamaica's energy bill, but to save a penny in your pocket.

The end of this light-and-power monopoly could not come any sooner. One does not have to look far to see the far-reaching effects the breaking up of a monopoly will have. As we see and hear it playing out every day in the media, with the three cellphone providers, when companies compete, the customer ultimately wins.

- Rohan Dixon

rohzandixon@gmail.com

Kingston

More power to parish councillors

It is my firm opinion that if Government gave greater administrative powers to parish councillors this could diminish the authority of so-called area leaders and place such authority in the hands of our legitimately elected individuals.

I am a resident of Linstead and often wondered why someone of the commitment and calibre of say Councillor Denise Daley is not given more authority to administer the affairs of that community. In fact, I believe that townships such as Linstead should have their own mayors and all else that goes with such designation. Towns would be better managed, hence would be much more organised, kept cleaner and able to garner much more resources to enhance both the social as well as the financial capital of each township.

I am not pretending to have all the answers to our nation's problems, but I firmly believe this one would work. "

Hugh M. Blackwood

hblack3@hotmail.com

Linstead PO, St. Catherine