Arab-Israeli tensions and the chaos in Iraq
Re: “Arab-Israeli conflict key to U.S. goals in the Middle East,” Dec. 8 guest commentary.
James L. Hecht and others who have suggested that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will bring order to the chaos in Iraq unfortunately miss the mark. They are urging the United States to engage in new peace initiatives between Israel and the Palestinians as a false panacea to the broader turmoil in the Middle East.
First, even if one assumed that a peaceful settlement between Israel and the Palestinians already magically had been achieved, such a state of affairs would have no bearing on the sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq. The enmity between these two different Arab groups has no relationship to Israel.
Second, terrorist groups like al-Qaeda were not formed to oppose Israel, but to bring down the ruling regimes in Arab countries that were not deemed Islamic enough for extremists like Osama bin Laden. They desire to see the imposition of strict Islamic law over the entire world, including the United States. Israel is merely a small part of Islamic terrorism’s primary mission to eradicate Western culture and influence.
Third, whether or not his specific proposals for peace theoretically would work, Hecht ignores the reality of the most pressing problem in trying to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians, namely, that the Palestinians elected Hamas, a terrorist group committed to Israel’s destruction.
Finally, and most dangerously, Hecht’s position in essence argues for taking steps that would appease the terrorists and the regimes that support them. Appeasement of Hitler brought disaster to the world 60 years ago; we should not make the same mistake again.
Chad Asarch, Chair, Jewish Community Relations Council, Denver
Another Colorado pastor with a hidden life
Re: “Hidden life again claims a pastor,” Dec. 11 news story.
Hallelujah. Another pastor has ‘fessed up that he doesn’t fit the mold – yet another victory for honesty and integrity over hypocrisy. Let’s let him get his personal life together and welcome him back to the fold of humankind. May he come to accept the Bible as a historical document, a product of its times, albeit with some good lessons for wise living in its contents. And may those who happen to love someone of the same sex no longer feel disenfranchised “cuz the Bible tells ’em so.”
Anne Culver, Denver
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Pastor Paul Barnes says he knew at age 5 that he had homosexual desires. And that growing up in a strict religious family created a “confused little boy” and “self-loathing, guilty adolescent.” Yet his evangelical interpretation of the Bible rejects the possibility that he was born with same-sex inclinations, so he searches for childhood “influences” to explain his “horrible burden.”
Well, perhaps his childhood influences included classmates who taught him to ridicule effeminate males. Or friends who taught him to date girls to prove his manhood. Or co-workers who taught him to spout anti-gay jokes to be part of the clique. Or fellow ministers who taught him that putting anti-gay initiatives on the ballot will “preserve the family unit.”
“All people come to God broken,” Barnes says. But do they come from Him broken also? Placed on this earth by a loving God to endure a life of ostracization, ridicule and pain? Or are some indoctrinated from birth to be self-loathing, guilty and laden with a “horrible burden” by a society that can’t accept that love – in all its forms – is better than hate and a life of self-loathing secrecy?
William Autrey, Boulder
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Please stop assailing us with the sordid details of shameful, lying ministers on the front page of your paper. And when they have “found their way back to the right path,” with the help of their peers, please do not then applaud them on the front page. They are crooks, liars, cheats, perhaps more despicable than any in the business world, because they not only take the money people offer them, they accost people’s souls. They also endanger the lives and/or livelihoods of people they disparage in their sermons, e.g. homosexuals and non-Christians. Shun them and their actions. Do not give them the time of day.
Make the report, if you must, but bury it where they will receive the least amount of attention. Let their congregations hold them accountable and dispel them, and deal with them if they decide to take them back. Leave the rest of us in peace.
Roxanne Harrington, Highlands Ranch
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The anti-Christian, anti-biblical bias of The Denver Post was never more clearly demonstrated than in its Dec. 11 edition. While the other Denver daily reported on the resignation of a Denver-area pastor over a morals failure in a small inside article, The Post made it the No. 1 story on the front page.
Then you printed a cartoon on the editorial page likening the virgin birth of Christ to the impregnation of a female homosexual.
The editors of The Post are certainly entitled to their viewpoint, but, remembering that many of your readers do not share that humanistic philosophy, I would hope that you will moderate the expression of your bias in the future.
Earl F. Dodge, Lakewood
Xcel funding priorities
Re: “At this rate, Xcel’s not playing fair,” Dec. 11 David Harsanyi column.
Until I read David Harsanyi’s column, I thought I was the only person questioning the “generosity” of Xcel Energy’s donation to help bring the 2008 Democratic National Convention to Denver – this while raising the rates of its captive customers. Now I wonder if I am the only person who thinks it ironic that, while raising our rates, Xcel Energy is asking its customers to help pay the energy bills of those who cannot afford those high rates.
While I do not wish to discourage donations to help those in need, I do have a proposal: Let Xcel Energy set an example by reneging on its pledge to the Democratic Party and instead give that money to its own charitable program.
Patricia Eskoz, Denver
Same-gender classes
I am a sixth-grade student at Rocky Heights Middle School. I am writing on the topic of all-boy schools and all-girl schools. I believe that this idea is not the right thing to do. In the 1960s, schools were segregated between black and white people. The new government rules will promote that same type of evil. Also, in life after school, there will be no “all-boy companies” and “all-girl companies.” Segregating the schools would be unrealistic. Why now does the government think it is a good idea to change?
Connor Donaldson, Highlands Ranch
Editor’s note: New regulations from the U.S. Department of Education went into effect on Nov. 24 allowing for same-sex classes, grade levels and schools.
Life in Supermax
Re: “Bomber’s letters to paper lament life in Supermax,” Dec. 11 news brief.
Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph complains about his unpleasant life in the Supermax prison. I am reminded of a card or note often handed to chronic belly-achers during World War II: “I know your troubles are many, I know your pleasures are few, this little card will certify, that I feel sorry for you. My heart, she bleeds.”
Frederick C. Sage, Boulder
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