Letters to the Editor: Don’t think elections are ‘religious wars’? Look at abortion rights

To the editor: In defending his intent to vote for neither presidential candidate, Jonah Goldberg dismisses how crucial individual elections are. He indicates that it’s wrong to see them as “religious wars about the nature of reality.”

However, that’s exactly what presidential and Senate elections have become. Had the outcome of the 2016 election been different, we would still have constitutionally enforceable abortion rights that no state could abolish.

Whether religious right-wing oppressors or supporters of the separation of church and state are placed on the U.S. Supreme Court and the lower federal courts depends on who the president is and who controls the Senate.

There are candidates who would turn the nation over to those intent on imposing their religious views on society. Others believe that the government should be neutral in matters of religion and that believers and nonbelievers should be equal before the law.

Such elections do become “religious wars about the nature of reality.”

Edward Tabash, Los Angeles

The writer is an attorney who chairs the board of directors for the Center for Inquiry.

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To the editor: I respect Goldberg. I believe him to be intelligent and generally fair. He has been clear that he does not believe that former President Trump is good for the country or even the Republican Party. Being a conservative, he apparently can’t bring himself to vote for a Democrat, so he will write in some other Republican.

There are many people on both sides who object to voting for Vice President Kamala Harris for various reasons. It is very frustrating to me that they think voting third-party or for neither candidate isn’t essentially a vote for Trump.

For someone like Goldberg, who knows that Trump is horribly unqualified, to waste his vote is inexcusable.

Patricia Colburn, Pasadena

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To the editor: I’m respectful of Goldberg’s decision not to vote for either candidate. That’s his right.

However, when he states that he won’t vote for Harris in part because he understands the vice president will carry the District of Columbia, where he lives, by 30 points is a perfect example of why the electoral college is antiquated. It’s an anachronism that makes many people believe their vote doesn’t matter, so they don’t bother turning out.

Dave Gershenson, Van Nuys

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To the editor: Goldberg says, “I will write in some normal, decent Republican on my ballot,” rather than vote for either Trump or Harris.

He may be able to write in a name, but it probably won’t count as a vote in the election. The District of Columbia, where Goldberg resides, has a rule (similar to most states) that a write-in candidate must file an “Affirmation of Write-In Candidacy.”

Although in the district, unlike most states, the deadline for this form (Nov. 12) is after the election, it is unlikely the person Goldberg writes in will ever file the form and, thus, his “vote” will not count.

Gary Clark, Los Angeles