The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, October 18, 1996              TAG: 9610170012
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A14  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                            LENGTH:   25 lines

WHAT ABOUT EXTREMISTS ON THE LEFT?

Why does Frank Rich, in his Sept. 23 Perspectives column, support the distorted view that religious people on the right are ``extremist''? Is it because we believe it is morally wrong to brutally crush the skull of a baby who is completely delivered except for its head - a.k.a. ``partial-birth abortion''? Is it because we believe God doesn't condone same-sex marriages? Or is it because we believe Christians deserve the same constitutional rights as everyone else?

People on the left who hold opposing views are never referred to by your liberally slanted paper as extremist. However, there is certainly just cause to do so. Supporting partial-birth abortions and not allowing children to carry Bibles to school - even when the Bibles are for personal use alone - certainly are two examples of extremism on the left.

Mr. Rich, in his extreme nearsightedness, evidently has no concept that people with opposing views to his own are not necessarily ``extreme.''

CAROLYN J. VENABLE

Virginia Beach, Sept. 24, 1996 by CNB