Not that I don’t appreciate the fine work that Chris Johnson, D-Somerville, has done representing our district, but when we consider other issues confronting our Legislature, grammatical correctness seems rather insignificant.

I don’t know if the colonial revolutionaries of the 18th century described themselves as patriots. They comprised, in fact, a rabble of farmers incited to violence by the wealthy merchant class of New England who simply didn’t wish to pay taxes to England.

Funny how that works: Young men dying to protect the wealth of old rich white men.

Of course, that sometimes depends upon how we define wealth. In the 19th century, a group of southern states included the ownership of human beings as part of their wealth as in free labor. The states in the north had abundant water power, but needed the agricultural resources of the south. It was a matter of wealth vs. wealth, aside from the immorality of slavery. Who were the “patriots” here? It’s simply a matter of what side you’re on.

We’d be better to return to “Fast Day,” a day set aside to reflect upon and consider atonement for the injustices, small and large, we have, knowingly or unknowingly, inflicted upon others.

For instance, some atonement might be required of our ideologue Republican governor and legislators for withholding lifesaving health care to Mainers, which, by any standard, is an immoral act.

Peter FroehlichWhitefield