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GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS By William Tells Ithink Imayhave aprob- lem. Not a life and death problem, but a problem just the same. In my September 2, 2015, column I reported that, in spite of never having met in person, America's fa- vorite actor Tom Hanks and I had become reasonably good friends. Unless you have been liv- ing under a rock, most of you are aware that Tom's par- ents divorced when he was a small child. Tom divided his time between living with his father in the Bay Area and spending his summers here in Red Bluff with his mother. Perhaps we have formed our special friendship be- cause I, too, am a product of a broken home; and I have spent virtually all of my sum- mers in Red Bluff as well. Tom Hanks has been the recipient of two Academy Awards, seven Emmys, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, one Academy of Science Fic- tion Award, two American Film Institute Awards, three American Comedy Awards, seven People's Choice Awards, and on and on and on. Perhaps we have formed our special friendship be- cause I, too, have received numerous awards, including the prestigious Red Bluff Ro- tarian of the Year Award, the Gene Penne Businessman of the Year Award, the Tehama County Farm Bureau Volun- teer of the Year Award, the Chico State 3 on 3 Intramu- ral Basketball Most Valu- able Player Award and most important, first runner-up to Jim Calegari for the 8th grade American Legion Cit- izenship Award. While one might argue over which list is the more impressive, it is undeniable that both Tom and I have similar resumes concerning our considerable contributions to society. Or perhaps, like most friendships, Tom and I really don't know why we like and admire each other; simply put, we just do. That said, I am starting to feel that because I have been kind to Tom, he may be reading more in to our relationship than there really is. Let me tell you why. A week or so back, I re- ceived yet another personal letter from Tom, bringing the total number of letters I have received from Tom in the past four years to three. Turns out that Tom some- how got his hands on my September column — I sent him a dozen or so — and he responded as follows. "Bill, (He calls me Bill) I greatly enjoyed the column in the Daily News, a paper I once helped deliver around town with a local friend who had a route. His Dad, Max Ca- vette was one of the print- ers. (Correct) This was when the paper was in the old bank across the street from Reed's News Stand. (Tom knows his stuff and is correct again). Anyway, good to get the Daily News from the Daily News". Tom goes on in his letter to discuss his typewriter col- lection — he "has enough to last several lifetimes" — as well as his mother and the goings on at the State The- atre. As is his practice he closes with, "All good things, Tom Hanks." While his latest letter may seem innocent enough, I am frankly concerned that Tom is getting a bit too clingy and may even run the risk of be- coming a pest of sorts. What if Tom decides to call me on the phone just to shoot the breeze when he comes to town to visit his mother? What if he decides to honor his old hometown by attend- ing a screening of Forest Gump, Sleepless in Seattle or Apollo 13 at the historic State Theatre? And heaven forbid, what if he actually takes me up on my weekly of- fer to have him and his wife over to my place to share a box of wine and a large bag of Cheetos; and just hang out and talk about stuff only best friends talk about. Okay, I admit it; that would be really cool indeed. •••• Congratulations to the 1959 Red Bluff High School Varsity Football team on their recent induction into the Red Bluff High School Athletic Hall of Fame. As an emaciated slow-footed 93-pound freshman foot- ball player who shared a P.E. class with these guys, I was both terrified and in awe at how big, fast, strong and good they were. Today, some 57 years later, I am no longer emaciated, nor am I terrified or even in awe, but I remem- ber clearly the exploits of this scrappy group of players. I salute them for their accom- plishments on the gridiron. •••• One of the great things about being involved with the State Theatre project is being able to experience first- hand how much the resto- ration of this beautiful old building means to the entire community. In addition to writing a check, folks come to us on a regular basis to of- fer time, materials and other in kind services. Take Katie Gleim for instance. Katie Gleim is the owner of the magnificent House of De- sign, located in the beautiful old Kraft Library building at 909 Jefferson St. Folks travel from near and far to visit the most beautiful Christmas Boutique anywhere north of San Francisco. Katie and her staff literally spend hundreds of hours each year prepar- ing her winter wonderland, and the finished product is a sight to behold. A few years back Katie knocked on the State Theatre door and suggested that she and her elves would love to donate and decorate a State Theatre Christmas tree for the holiday season. For the past four years, Katie and her helpers have without fanfare descended on the State The- atre, only to leave behind the most beautifully decorated Christmas tree in this entire community. Thank you Katie. You are the best. •••• ThisFriday,December 4, world-famous Big Bad Voodoo Daddy appears at the historic State Theatre. With tickets at $40-$50, this promises to be a sell out. Tickets can be obtained at the Tehama Country Visitor Center or at www. statetheatre.com. Better get yours now. Commentary Letting our friendship go to his head? Cartoonist's take While one might argue over which list is the more impressive, it is undeniable that both Tom and I have similar resumes concerning our considerable contributions to society. Americans, particularly mil- lennials, are becoming less reli- gious these days. That's among the findings of a recent Pew sur- vey, which deter- mined that "the percentages who say they believe in God, pray daily and regularly go to church or other religious services have declined modestly in recent years." It's true that the majority of American adults — roughly three quarters — still claim a religion and are, more devout than they were a few years ago, finds Pew. But there is a growing minor- ity of American adults, mostly younger adults, who say they don't belong to any organized faith. "Altogether, the religiously unaffiliated (also called the 'nones') now account for 23 per- cent of the adult population, up from 16 percent in 2007," re- ports Pew. I'm glad I am not one of the nones. My parents made Cath- olic faith an important part of my upbringing. Though I am far from the best Catholic, I still attend Mass and it still fills me with a calm and sense of meaning that I can't find anywhere else. It is the place I go when new children are brought into my family and baptized. As a boy, I experienced the sacra- ment of Holy Communion and Confirmation — big events as we passed through important stages in our lives. Christmas was special every year. At St. Germaine School, we'd put up decorations, sell items to raise money for the needy, attend Mass and prac- tice for Christmas concerts. We'd sing real Christmas songs, too, such as "Silent Night" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." My sisters were married in the church and the ritual and ceremony — the Catholic Mass, the music, the incense, the wine — gave their union greater meaning. When my parents and sisters married, they really did believe that they became "one flesh" with their spouses. The church has comforted us through dark times. It is al- ways tragic to lose loved ones, but the funeral rite consoles us and reaffirms our belief that the death of the body is not the end, but the beginning of ev- erlasting life — particularly when my second cousin, Father Robert Miller, delivers his won- derful eulogies. And when I attended Mass in Washington, D.C., the Sun- day after the 9/11 attacks, St. Joseph's was packed beyond ca- pacity as people sought comfort in the face of evil. To be sure, my church is far from perfect — what some priests did to children is ter- rible and a huge blight that hangs over us still. But as I get older, and my flaws become more apparent, I want to go to church more. And I see that it is good for our republic, too. The church promotes values that are good to have in a rep- resentative republic: prudence, temperance, courage and jus- tice. It teaches us to avoid ex- cessive pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth. These are the seven deadly sins — activities I usually save for the weekend! Certainly there are people who have no faith who are fine, moral people and there are peo- ple who go to church who are immoral, but I am glad I belong to a religion that helps me be a better person. It is better to be hot or cold than lukewarm, says the New Testament. Some of the nones, atheists and agnostics, are of- ten "hot" as they actively try to seek truth. But the "lukewarm" nones are often wishy-washy and that is not good for a re- public. As traditional religion goes to the wayside, "religion" won't go away. Some will simply prac- tice it in new forms: leftism, en- vironmentalism, etc. But don't ask me, ask the great philosopher G.K. Chester- ton: "When people stop believing in God," he said, "it's not that they believe in nothing, it's that they believe in anything." Tom Purcell, author of "Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood" and "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom at Tom@ TomPurcell.com. Commentary Declining religious belief among Americans these days Tom Purcell By Ron Paul The interventionists will do anything to prevent Americans from seeing that their foreign pol- icies are perpetuating terrorism and inspiring others to seek to harm us. The neocons know that when it is understood that blow- back is real — that people seek to attack us not because we are good and free but because we bomb and occupy their countries — their stranglehold over foreign policy will begin to slip. That is why each time there is an event like the killings in Paris earlier this month, they rush to the television stations to terrify Amer- icans into agreeing to even more bombing, more occupation, more surveillance at home, and more curtailment of our civil liberties. They tell us we have to do it in or- der to fight terrorism, but their policies actually increase terror- ism. If that sounds harsh, consider the recently-released 2015 Global Terrorism Index report. The report shows that deaths from terrorism have increased dramatically over the last 15 years — a period coin- ciding with the "war on terror- ism" that was supposed to end ter- rorism. According to the latest report, terrorist activity increased by 80 percent in 2014 to its highest re- corded level. In addition, the num- ber of people who have died from terrorist activity has increased nine-fold since the year 2000. The world's two most deadly terrorist organizations, ISIS and Boko Haram, have achieved their prominence as a direct conse- quence of U.S. interventions. Former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn was asked last week whether in light of the rise of ISIS he regrets the invasion of Iraq. He replied, "absolutely. ...The historic lesson is that it was a strategic failure to go into Iraq." He added, "instead of asking why they attacked us, we asked where they came from." Flynn is no non-interventionist. But he does make the connection between the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the creation of ISIS and other terrorist organizations, and he at least urges us to consider why they seek to attack us. Likewise, the rise of Boko Ha- ram in Africa is a direct result of a U.S. intervention. Before the US- led "regime change" in Libya, they just were a poorly-armed gang. Once Gaddafi was overthrown by the U.S. and its NATO allies, leav- ing the country in chaos, they helped themselves to all the ad- vanced weaponry they could get their hands on. Terrorism is increasing world- wide because of U.S. and west- ern interventionism. That does not mean that if we suddenly followed a policy of non-interventionism the world would become a peaceful utopia. But does anyone really be- lieve that continuing to do what in- creases terrorism will lead to a de- crease in terrorism? Commentary War on Terror is creating more terror OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, December 2, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6