Church Pew

Pastorization techniques: Regarding the article " Church Mice" by David Martin (October 14): It seems that the Pitch is continually looking for opportunities to bash the church. This stems from a basic misunderstanding of the primary aim of the church, which is evangelism: sharing the Gospel of salvation so that people can subsequently have changed lives. But when the church endeavors to do what it is set up to do, people like you criticize it for forcing its ideas on others. I don't blame those pastors. You expect them to do a job that even the cops aren't doing? Either the police are too inept or too corrupt to stem the flow of drugs into these neighborhoods, beyond token gestures of closing drug houses. And where are the community groups like ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)? They don't show up unless there is some payoff, like hustling residents to sign up for automatic bank drafts to fund them. Even the church doesn't go that far! This is the kind of truth you don't print.

Imani Malaika
Kansas City, Missouri

Stream of Consciousness
Lifeguard on duty:I thank God for Kendrick Blackwood's courage to write " Walking on Water" (October 14). It's about time that the Pitch started judging people for making mistakes. Some people might think it's tacky -- after all, a man's entire family drowned -- but honestly, I don't think Kendrick was critical enough.

Y'know, I met Robert while he was planning for his family's funeral. He had a warm smile and was surprisingly in control of himself for someone who had just lost his entire family. But when I looked into his eyes, I could see how much pain he was in. It's the same look I saw in my English teacher's eyes when his son drowned in a sailboat accident his first year away at college.

Whose personal religious beliefs can I look forward to Kendrick ridiculing in his next editorial?

Bryan Stalder
Kansas City, Missouri

Pimp my ride:It puzzles me why writers at the Pitch, a paper with a deviant focus, would ever attempt to write anything about Christians. As Kendrick Blackwood questions Robert Rogers losing his family in the flood, he should pick up a Bible and read the book of Job, a man who lost everything and God gave him back more than ever.

My advice? Leave Christian people and topics alone -- after all, this paper is the home of sexual service, right?

Mrs. Rocha Gray
Kansas City, Missouri

Accent Notes
Brogue states: Regarding your Best of Kansas City (October 7) pick of " Best Irish Bartender in a Not-So-Irish Bar": Matt is an awesome barman and will be back soon. As for "Jonathon Ramsey fakes his accent to epic proportions ... " SHOOT HIM! He's easy to find, every Thursday night at Harling's. I'm sure he'll be glad to let you hear a few dozen songs to test his dialect.

Actually, I come from the same neighborhood as he, and I never noticed he had an accent. Don't tell his parents that he's been faking it.

Cheers!

Jonathan Ramsey
Kansas City, Missouri

Road Rage
Fatted 'Calf: Regarding " Cruisin' the 'Calf" (September 23): You could have gone to Kansas, Central, Quindaro, Independence, Truman or Prospect avenues but instead went to the great golden ghetto of Johnson County. So now we know that there are cool hand-drying rappers on the "Calf" and also purveyors of Tabac and, on 335th, a swanky saloon.

We Jacksonians also have hillbilly, country, gay and straight and cool old hotel signage. But alas, the car-dwelling Pitchites enter cars. There is a whole lot shaking on Baltimore and Wyandotte, and you only have one scooter-riding writer? Shame on Jo. Yes, there are good and interesting people there, innumerable poets and prophets, but Pitch, this is lowdown. The "Calf" is a transmogrified landscape of automobilia and electric garaged minions.

Please don't do this. Go to Lawrence or to a demolition derby in Wyandotte or Platte. Your Calf article left me flat.

P.S.: Six out of 17 Pitch parking-lot plates were Kansas. (Three were out-of-state.)

Patrick Sumner
Kansas City, Missouri

Minor Key
Voter fraud: I've been a loyal reader of the Pitch for quite some time. I must say Nathan Dinsdale's most recent article, " Voter Rapathy" (October 28), is a rather unsavory retread of an earlier piece done on "Rap The Vote! 2004" ("Voter Rapathy," June 10) and it's likely the most laughable piece he's ever written.

His disdain for hip-hop is annoying to say the very least. His stereotype-laden material is sickening to members of the local hip-hop community. It's disheartening, especially when considering the fact that the media are rather standoffish to the local hip-hop scene. I'm certainly not advocating that he dish out any fluff, but give us a break. Hip-hop isn't composed solely of weed-smoking, baby-making criminals. Some of us are good people. One would think he'd been beaten up by a group of random rapper types in high school.

It's obvious that he's not completely comfortable with the garbage he spews on the local scene. He shows up at random hot spots and tries to blend in with the other patrons so that he won't be taken to task for what he says. The jig is up. His act is tired. Be fair or find another job. He makes the Pitch look like a supermarket tabloid.

Udochi Wilson
Kansas City Missouri