Devon Dick's article of March 20, discussing the implications of Dabdoub v Vaz is, in my view, somewhat skewed in its analysis.

He appears not to appreciate the importance of Form DS11 which requires a United States (US) citizen to confirm allegiance to the US under the penalty of perjury prior to obtaining a valid US passport.

Allegiance is taken very seriously in the US and failure to tell the truth on Form DS11 is a Federal felony under 18 USC 1011.

There is absolutely no question that the chief justice was correct in her finding that the use of a foreign passport is an indication of US allegiance. Why would committed, patriotic members of parliament need American citizenship? Perhaps we could hear Rev Dick on that topic at a later time.

David P. Rowe

University of Miami School of Law

Florida

Fee shocker

I am a Jamaican who is married to a foreign national. I got the shock of my life when I went to renew my marriage exemption certificate, only to find out that a processing fee of $1,000 was increased to $14,400.

I am not against an increase, but what justification can be given for a $13,400 increase? These fees were hiked in April of 2008. I would like to inform the Government that not every foreign national is 'rolling in dough'. I would have understood if this were a new marriage, but we have been doing this every three years for the last 15 years.

Needless to say, we had to take the bus all the way back to Hanover because we could not come up with the amount needed.

K. Hutchinson

karhutb@yahoo.com

Green Island, Hanover

Misplaced religious service

It is amazing how religious leaders are able to facilitate their ambitions within the context of Jesus' refusal to seek or accept political appointments. If Jesus were really the pattern for Christians today, many have departed from His own attitude to worldly affairs, if we are to go by John 6:15.

I suppose the justification that may be provided for Christians holding political office is Romans 13:2, which appears to say that the authorities stand placed in their positions by God. However, it seems that a reasonable equivalent here for 'placed in positions' would be 'allowed' or 'permitted', for 2 Corinthians 4:4 also says that Satan is the god of this system, or world.

Even if God is using human vessels to accomplish His purpose, His supremacy would still be evident. The God of the universe cannot be constricted by the presence of evil. That would be an unsatisfactory state of affairs. On those grounds, I am opposed to religious leaders accepting political appointments.

Homer Sylvester

homersylvester@hotmail.com

Miami, Florida