P.J. owed an apology

I believe that my habit of expecting a higher standard from The Gleaner than from other dailies has been vindicated by the fact that The Gleaner was not misled like others perpetrating the egregious wrong done to former prime minister, P.J. Patterson.

There is a view being perpetrated that the Government of the day is not responsible for actions of persons down the line in the chain of command. The Government cannot escape blame in this instance. The least the PM should have done is to offer an apology on behalf of the entire Government, to those against whom this wrong has been perpetrated.

Certainly, the greater the mischief, the mightier the responsibility of those who would act upon it to have completed their due diligence. This was clearly not done, especially by those who feel that their reputation depends on being the first to get the story out. Well, in this instance, there was no story except the one that was made up.

- Garnett Roper, garnettroper@hotmail.com, Highgate P.O.

Merits of atheism

I would like to commend Michael Dingwall on his piece, 'Christianity, Rastafarianism and atheism' (May 21). I think it's full time now for us as a people to move away from this belief that an unseen being is going to come floating down on some clouds to wipe away our all challenges.

If only we would realise that whatever we need doing in this world, we have to do ourselves by physical and brain power, we could accomplish so much. But that is not going to happen any time soon, is it?

- The Realist, royalrida@hotmail.co.uk, London

Tired of Gayle's whining

I am tired of hearing Chris Gayle complain about how difficult it is to be captain.

For him to say that the old West Indies players are not understanding of the present team since they were on top in their time is simply out of line. We are well aware that the times have changed and the other teams have caught up to us through hard work to match what we had as natural talent.

However, the ball is now in our court to take it up a notch and work harder and not spend our time whining like five-year-olds about the task ahead.

Another point, the West Indies teams of old were not paid as well as you are today, Mr Chris Gayle, but they worked hard and were proud to be a part of the team.

- Sandy, softness19@yahoo.com, Port Antonio, Portland