If your neighbor asked to borrow your lawn mower because his was in the shop, you probably would gladly lend it to him. But if he borrowed your lawn mower surreptitiously while you were at work, mowed his lawn and put it back without your knowledge, is this honest? If you found out about it, would you be angry?

If the government had asked American citizens if it could monitor phone calls because it was the best way to track terrorists, we probably would have allowed it (“Obama: NSA programs have saved lives,” June 19). When government surreptitiously monitors our phone calls, is this honest? Now that we’ve found out about it, shouldn’t we be angry?

RICHARD CROSS, Bloomington