for the authentic gondoess of equal'.However, that equal', in real terms, isn't something just floating off in space all by itself. It is heavily weighted by the presumably equal persons' own choices. If a person chooses a self-destructive path, if he or she wants to avoid work and rely on welfare from the neighbors, if they decide to engage in un-safe sex, if they bring into the world a child which neither of them have any intention of nurturing, protecting and caring for, if they engage in a rich assortment of similar actions â?¦ are they, by their own personal choice, equal' to those who make more responsible choices?Well, yes they are, in the view of many. That many', of course, increasingly includes all levels of government throughout the modern western world plus, seemingly, a majority of the voters who repeatedly re-elect the members of those governments to office.That is â?? or should be â?? an astounding reaction to the situations these individuals very happily create. But it's not.You're obviously not receptive to that degree of acceptance and I agree you ought not to be. However, it appears that most around us are. It's that openly accepting reception of this position which I see as even more troubling than are the actual situations created by these individuals.Personally, short of reliance on the Bible, I can come up with no possible explanation of why this receptiveness exists. I realize that you wish to keep this site free of religious opinion/debate so I won't pursue that.I'll simply ask why there is now so much emphasis on equality and so little on duty and responsibility? Could it be that pandering â?? at any level of civic involvement â?? brings in votes far more quickly than leadership does? Could it be that we have lost the ability to even recognize leadership in the sense that it was practiced, for instance, by Lee?In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.Robert E. LeePeter KelleyMountain City, TN