Letters to the Editor
Ben Sen
Published Letters: 541 Editor's Choice: 98
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Don't Assume Otherwise
[Read the article: The holy blitz rolls on]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]All this talk and the real questions haven't even been asked yet.
Who is it who puts their faith in clerics? It doesn't matter what the religion is. Who says organized religion has some knowledge that any individual can't have if they take the time and make the effort to look at their own deepest values, and what provides them the greatest solace?
It is in the American tradition to choose our own beliefs--not have them chosen for us. Take a look at some Emerson, Thoreau, or Walt Whitman--perhaps the greatest poet of democratic values this country has ever produced--who was gay!
Every generation has to fight the battle between the individual and the collective belief. We are now in a period where a reactionary consciousness is in the ascendance. That's where Bush comes from. Don't kid yourself--religious values go so much deeper than the political it isn't a contest. Millions simply can't see through him. They don't know they are being exploited.
There is always a very thin layer of the culture that point the way. The retrograds hate us. They want to live in the past. Their "God" is a two car garage and all the cheap gas they can consume.
If the current generation of the deceived doesn't wake up (which is unlikely) the next will be better prepared to do so. That's how cultures evolve. That's why we don't hang people any more in this country, or burn them at the stake.
The best those who know better can do is live with as much dignity as we can without stooping to their level of bigotry and hatred. We also need to make it clear that we are not in their camp so they don't assume otherwise.
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How Long Is It Going To Take?
[Read the article: On to Iran?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I must admit I enjoy my status, or non-status as a gadfly on this. He looked a lot like a hot air balloon full of holes. How big is that Republican base at this point? That's my question.
In a way, given the fantasy world he lives in, he is increasingly irrelevant, and the focus is on the Congress, and those who have had enough. It's a charade really of one man's ego against reason and the judgement of more objective and mature minds.
The reaction of the voters is crucial in this regard to help them judge how for they can go--so it's not a time to be complacent. I hate appeals, but this one seems irresistible. In whatever forum is available, it's time to let 'em know.
I can't wait to see who will be the leaders of the charge. Is it going to be the "old timers?" Kennedy, Rangle, Conyers? Or will a new generation make itself known now--who won't let themselves be intimidated by the reactionary right who have ruled for so long, and allowed this fiasco to occur. Who will make their mark after this six years of darkness?
Will the "middle" hold? Will moderation and those who prefer peace to war join together so this monster, and this monstrous era in American history be brought to a close? How long is it going to take?
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Bush: The Neocon Boy Toy
[Read the article: Surge of anger]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It is very difficult to have any sympathy for Condi Rice. She made her bed, let her lie in it.
Where is the answer to the question: what possible difference can 20,000 troups make? It is clearly only a face saving device. The President doesn't want to be seen as "backing down." This is cowboy politics--bullies with chips on their shoulder asking to have them knocked off.
Maliki has been quoted in articles in the NY TIMES yesterday and today saying HE DOESN'T WANT ANY MORE AMERICAN TROUPS. If that and hanging Saddam despite American objections doesn't make his intentions clear, what could?
Once the Americans are out of the way, he and whatever army we have equipted and the Shiite militias will take possession of the country, and that is what will end the "insurgency". I don't think we have to worry about whether they'll know how to do the "job."
The Neocons certainly found their boy-toy in Mr. Bush. Now we can see where it leads. Hopefully, with this experience, a more balanced approach to American foreign policy will emerge. That could be the victory for moderation the country needs--and successive administrations, despite the party, will look before they leap.
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FIVE FINGERS, SAME HAND
[Read the article: The many faces of American Muslims]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Isn't this article and book saying there is no difference between the perversion of Islam than the abuse and misapproprition of any other religion?
Couldn't American Christians and Jews be asked the same questions and receive similar responses?
How is it that the extreemists keep taking over? Do the majority of people actually believe that "God" cares in the least what name she is given--or what tradition supposedly represents spiritual truth?
I've been listening to broadcasts all day about Martin Luther King Jr. and not once has anyone mentioned that his views about nonviolence were derived from Gandhi--who learned them from the Jains--whose founder, Mahavir--lived six centuries before Christ.
Have I become the pedant--or is this simply another indication of the level of ignorance that puts all religious "truth" in doubt. Why believe any of it, given that religion itself has become the harbinger of prejudice, war, and discrimination?
I learned the expression FIVE FINGERS, SAME HAND, from an illiterate Muslim boatkeeper in Kashmir many years ago when I asked him to explain the communal violence in India. It doesn't even take an education to understand these folks who thump their texts and pretend they have it all figured out are doing so for their own gain--and have nothing to do with anything that can remotely be called true.