Dear Mr. President:

With all due respect, as a minister of the Gospel, I find it very hard to believe you meant what you said recently. When you closed your address to the nation you said, “God Bless America.” I formed this opinion by gathering facts. Your stand on abortion and gay rights seems to be a complete contradiction from what I read in my Bible. Your lack of support for the National Day of Prayer and your attendance of worship services also leads me to think that your relationship with God in merely political.

The latest anti-Christian move was to hold a Beer Party in the White House Garden. Perhaps you were unaware that the American Medical Association and the Center for Disease Control point out that alcohol is a drug!!! Alcohol is a deadly drug that results in 100,000 plus deaths in the U.S. each year and is listed as the fourth leading cause of death among persons ages 10-24. Beer is listed as the alcoholic beverage of choice by this same group, which annually consumes over one billion cans each year in the junior and senior high school age group alone. 33 percent of all preventable deaths is the U.S. are directly caused by alcohol.

During your Presidential campaign you seemed sharp, witty and very well informed. Therefore I find it hard to believe that you did not realize the costly mistake that you made. Not only did you give beer companies free advertising during prime time news each night. You gave the impression that when problems arise you can solve them with a few cans of beer. A White House Beer Summit or as I view it the beer party does not solve any problems. Alcohol only intensifies and makes bad situations worse. I too was a police officer and never once saw alcohol make a change for the better. The times that I stood before a parent in the wee hours of the morning to say your son or daughter has been killed in an accident as the result of their or another persons excessive use of alcohol reminds me of that fact. Alcohol only makes things worse. How offended with this nation have been if the news read “President throws cocaine party on White House lawn.” Basically that is what happened, but you chose a different deadly drug.

I think you showed bad judgment and sent a wrong message to our nation especially our underage group.

Dr. Ed Eaton

Pastor, Westwood Baptist Church