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Attack on America A-bomb, terrorists' attack not comparable October 9, 2001 Vernon Broyles, director of the Congregational Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (USA), is wrong. There is no similarity of the use of the atom bomb in 1945 and the terrorists' attacks on Sept. 11. We were in a state of declared war with the empire of Japan. Millions of lives had been lost because of that state's aggression against China and other nations. We were faced with the task of preparing to attack the Japanese homeland. There was reason to expect that hundreds of thousands of lives would be lost in the attack. It is correct that the atomic bomb is a terrifying weapon. Thus, we have had five decades of total security in our nation because of it. We are now in a new era. For one to liken the use of the atomic bomb to the terrorist attack is as erroneous as to think the war in which we are now engaged is similar to that we were forced into in 1941. We are now engaged in a worldwide war on Western Civilization. Shame on Broyles for trying to rewrite history. David C. Ghen Confusing the issues October 9, 2001 I think you guys are confusing two separate issues! Just because the Witherspoon Society is wrong on the homosexuality issue does not mean that they haven't made some valid points about human rights issues in U.S. foreign policy. Wake up, people. Doesn't the Bible also condemn oppressing the widow and orphan and persecuting the innocent? While not everyone overseas is a Christian, they are innocent in the general sense, though not in the theological sense. We are all sinners before the eyes of an Almighty and Holy God. We are prone to sin and to defective thinking. We have blinders on. American needs to stop oppressing the poor both here and abroad. Otherwise, even greater judgments are going to befall our nation. The judgment of God is not just against homosexuality and decadence but against the lack of concern for the poor and the oppressed. You have grown fat and lazy. Repent and return to your first love. Rev. Charlie Ray Is it too much to ask for an apology? October 9, 2001 In reading the responses of the GAC to the terrorist attack upon this country, I couldn't believe what I was reading. Did Marj Carpenter, a long-time member of the peacemaking initiatives within the denomination actually admit that they "may have been wrong" about all their push for reductions in military spending and spending related to the FBI and CIA? I suppose it is too much to ask for the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program to issue a formal apology for the role these policies have played in blinding our intelligence agencies and crippling our military. This strikes me as TL2 – Too Little, Too Late. In the same vein, is our moderator really finally realizing that the severe losses in membership over the past 40 years translate into a loss of social influence? Political leaders will not take seriously the self-righteous pronouncements of a 2.5-million-member denomination that continues to dwindle. I guess it is too much to hope that the folks who have celebrated the loss of membership as validation that we are "faithful but not successful" will likewise apologize for their mistaken policies that have led to such losses. This is TL3 – Too Little, Too Late, Too Long. Donald D. Denton Jr. Witherspoon Society needs no help October 1, 2001 Douglas Stearns accuses The Layman of "using this tragedy to embarrass the Witherspoon Society." Mr. Stearns doesn't seem to notice that the Witherspoon Society needs no help in embarrassing itself. JP Thornton Restrain in response to attack October 1, 2001 I agree with those who call for restraint in our response to this attack. Justice and mercy were both part of the call for us in Micah. The thing I pray for most is that the current turning to God in our nation does not turn out to be in name only. Walk humbly with your God is the final part of that call. God says he will heal our land if we humble ourselves, confess our sins, and call on him. Heaven knows we, as a nation, have plenty to confess. I pray that all of us who know God as our Father will boldly speak out to others. We have prayed for revival for years. Maybe God just had to work hard to get our attention. I sometimes feel like maybe we are Noahs and should be desperately trying to pull others into our ark. This is so much bigger than we can deal with outside of God and his help. Let us speak out for him, with courage, knowing that this is the beginning of true help for our land. Nancy Nath Consult our Book of Confessions October 1, 2001 The General Assembly Council would do well to consider our Book of Confessions when attempting to write a letter regarding the attacks in New York and Washington. It's time Presbyterians remember that we have never been pacifists, till some left-over 60s radicals started forcing their non-Reformed agendas. The Second Helvetic and Westminster Confessions harken back to Augustine's Just War Theory in their wise statements. "And if it is necessary to preserve the safety of the people by war, let (the magistrate) wage war in the name of God, provided he has first sought peace by all means possible, and cannot save his people in any other way except by war. And when the magistrate does these things in faith, he serves God by those very works which are truly good, and receives a blessing from the Lord." (5.256) "It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate when called thereunto; in the managing whereof, as they ought especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth, so, for that end, they may now lawfully, under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary occasions." (6.128) Powell Sykes Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church Burlington, N.C. Witherspoon Society should register as PAC October 1, 2001 Mr. Stearns accuses The Layman of using the September 11 terror to embarrass the Witherspoon Society. Hardly. The Witherspoon Society embarrassed itself by posting its president's cold-blooded commentary (which seems to have mysteriously disappeared from their web site). He accuses The Layman of using this tragedy to further its political ends. In fact, it was Jane Hanna who saw in the slaughter of 6500 innocents nothing more than fodder for her hateful political diatribe. When I read this heartless polemic, I wrote to the society suggesting that they drop their spurious claims to Christian identity and just register as a Political Action Committee instead. Had I harbored any doubt that the Society is little more than a PAC, Jane Dempsey Douglass' vision of the church's mission in the 21st century settled the matter. In her remarks, she makes no mention of salvation or evangelism; there is not even a nod to what Jesus said was the mission of the church. Her focus throughout is on radical personal freedom while obedience to God is a factor only in economic life. Jesus is portrayed as a cross between a freedom-fighter and a political activist who exhibited "solidarity ... with humanity in order to redeem humanity" -- no atonement, no resurrection, just politics. Sounds like a PAC to me. Steve T. Jones Kokomo, Ind. 'Can't anybody here play this game?' October 1, 2001 The General Assembly Council reminds me of the 1962 Mets, of which Casey Stengel said in desperation, "Can't anybody here play this game?" With 7,000 innocent American dead, the GAC looks for a "non-lethal" response and Vernon Broyles, director of the Congregational Ministries Division compares the terrorist acts to the use of the atomic bomb by the United States against Japan. Do I understand him correctly? The Japanese and the terrorists are the innocents and our nation is the bad guy? To Mr. Broyles, I say with all the charity I can muster, nonsense. The major difference is, of course, that the Japanese started the war with a sneak attack. (Can you see the similarity so far, Mr. Broyles?) Thereafter, after a violent march across the Pacific, the Japanese government ignored the demands for surrender -- even after it was obvious that Japan would be defeated. Instead, Japan prepared for a last ditch stand that would have cost 500,000 American casualties and 2,000,000 more Japanese dead. Yes, we used the atomic bomb, resulting in a net savings of about 2,000,000 lives. Was the necessity of use tragic? Yes. Was it avoidable? Yes, by the Japanese. Was it morally, strategically, and politically right? You bet. The fact that the Japanese government refused to surrender after the first bomb was used is significant. Even in the face of such a weapon, the leadership intended to fight to the last man, woman and child. Mr. Broyles, my dad made five opposed landings in the Pacific, including Tarawa and Pelelieu. He would undoubtedly have been in at least one of the landings in the home islands. I am alive today because our leaders recognized that when you are in a war, if people have to die, it is the ones who started the fight that should bear the most risk. Christ taught that we are to turn the other cheek, but he never said that we had to suffer repeated sucker punches. As my old preacher back home once taught, "That third smite, that all important third smite, belongs to thee!" I trust that when we retaliate, it will be in the form, nature and extent that God wills it to be. And Mr. Rogers wonders why he is met with anger. Michael R. McCarty Lt. Col. USMC (ret) Elder, Forks of the Brandywine Presbyterian Church (A Confessing Church) PCUSA response to attacks inappropriate October 1, 2001 As a citizen and registered voter, I have the opportunity to vote for those people who I think can best run the government organizations at various levels, including U.S. Representatives, Senators, and the President. However, I have no opportunity to vote for the leadership of the PCUSA, and even if I did, I would hope that my vote would be influenced by their theological and character background and not on how they would respond to acts of terror (war) on our country. Thus, I strongly feel that a PCUSA official response is most inappropriate. Do you have any suggestions as to how those that feel like I do can most effectively let our national government leaders know that the forthcoming PCUSA official response is in no way endorsed by the individual members of the PCUSA, and is in fact only the response of those formulating it, and that they gained their position without any evaluation of their competency to formulate our country's response to terrorism? Thank you for any suggestion you may have. Jon Gealow Statement by PCUSA official seemed naïve September 24, 2001 I want to thank the editors who put these statements together. One of the joys of the Web is the ability to go directly to the article and read it in total. I was disappointed with Mr. Broyles' statement, however. It seemed naïve and rather silly to compare an act such as Sept. 11 and those at the end of World War II. There is a major difference between conducting a "declared" war (such as WWII) and the use of terror (i.e. WTC, Oklahoma city etc.) If Mr. Broyles knew the history of WWII, he would know that the primary reason we dropped the bomb was because we believed that Japan still had a huge, significant and well armed force on the main island. If he will recall the U.S. did an over flight prior to the second bomb and dropped leaflets letting them know they'd be next. It wasn't until the emperor (who was considered a god by the Japanese people) relented that war was able to come to an end. My second and perhaps biggest concern is the use of the phrase "bring to justice." I would like everyone who uses that term to define it because the definition will set the stage for all kinds of actions. I am reminded of something retired Gen. Claudia Kennedy said last week. "We have to decide if this is a legal issue or a military threat." If we think of justice in terms of O.J. Simpson, courtrooms, Law and Order, NYPD Blue and the like, we are fooling ourselves and have no understanding of the scope of what faces our nation. I would point Mr. Broyles and others to God's Word and remind us all that justice is sometimes bloody and the innocent sometimes gets killed in the process and it's certainly not clean, nice and neat. Alan Wilkerson Pastor Kenton United Presbyterian Church Portland, Ore. Comparison is not valid September 24, 2001 Vernon Broyles' statement on behalf of the PCUSA compares the terrorism at the World Trade Center to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He is ignorant of history. The appropriate comparison is between the terrorist murders at the World Trade Center and Pearl Harbor. Is it possible that he does not know that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki came at the end of a long, bloody war in which the Japanese Army's barbarism surpassed anything in modern history? Does he not know that thousands of American soldiers and civilians had been brutally slaughtered in prisons by Japanese soldiers? Does he not know that objective historians have estimated that the number of Americans who would have been killed in the invasion of the Japanese home islands would have exceeded 200,000 and that as many as one million Japanese civilians would likely have died in such an invasion? I would say to the Rev. Broyles, "make your suggestions as to who are the barbarians to the survivors of the 6,000 plus dead in the World Trade Center." Ask them whether we should seek victory in another attack against America in an undeclared war by terrorists. Broyles speaks of "justice." Justice is a legal term. America does not need years of wrangling in courts over "guilt." America needs victory over these modern barbarians in this undeclared war. This kind of simple-minded response is what I have come to expect from the national officers of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Jack Kime Collinsville, Ill. Don't forget: WWJD and turn the other cheek September 24, 2001 The American people have made it clear in numerous polls that they believe in God. We define ourselves as a Christian nation. This moment may be the most defining moment any Christian nation will ever encounter. Millions of dollars have been spent purchasing all sorts of merchandise with the initials WWJD [What would Jesus do?] emblazoned on them. Now, at this time, so many are ready to do exactly the opposite of what Jesus would do. We have been struck in our national face; even humiliated because our money or military strength didn't protected us from this national tragedy. But even now, in this time of mourning this Christian nation stands on the brink of delivering destruction upon its enemy. If we do this we can never again call ourselves a Christian nation. The issue is not whether we are patriotic Americans willing to attack the enemy, but whether we are really Christians and whether we believe and will do what our Lord and Savior has instructed us to do. If we would do what Jesus would do, we must turn the other cheek, anything else is un-Christlike, un-Christian. John H. Steiler Deer, Ariz. Falwell's apologized for what he believes September 24, 2001 Jerry Falwell apologized, hardly. He believes exactly what he said he believed (based on what he has often been recorded as having said) and he did not say he was wrong. He only said he shouldn't have said what we all know he believes. Pat Robertson, himself, has often said on the 700 Club that God has removed his protection from America. The Witherspoon Society also said what it believes. It has no need to apologize because it understands that, however poorly timed, it also believes what it has long said what it truly believes. I accuse you of using this tragedy to embarrass the Witherspoon Society when it is you and Falwell who should be embarrassed. You are shameful people who will obviously use any means to further your own political ends and demean the purposes of others with whom you happen to disagree. Douglas Stearns Causes of terrorism September 24, 2001 What are the causes of terrorist acts? Certainly they arise out of a sense of helplessness, powerlessness and feelings of oppression. If our foreign policy does not recognize that, then we are doomed for more of the same. They also arise from extremism and people on the fringes of religious movements. The terrible destruction in New York and in Washington was nothing less than malevolent. But if we do not understand that powerless people will resort to such acts to promote their causes and to have their voices heard, then we are in for a war that cannot be won. Mike Douglas San Anselmo, Calif. PCUSA seeks to 'spin' away sin September 20, 2001 Every time I read something from Jack Rogers, I appreciate how much the concept of "spin" has infiltrated the denomination. In stating that homosexual ordination is something over which we need not divide, he creates a new category of sin: "any act mentioned in Scripture as an abomination before God into which we can read such a narrow definition that it doesn't apply now." Rogers' problem is one that seems to permeate the intelligensia of all the mainline denominations. He believes Scripture is so arcane that only scholars can really understand it. Hence, they (e.g., the Jesus Seminar) take it upon themselves to evaluate Scripture and enlighten those of us in the great unwashed as to what we should believe. In turn, we are to accept their guidance with gratitude and beg them to lead us out of the wilderness. Paul praised the Bereans for checking up on his teaching in the Scripture. I don't remember reading that he was addressing the Berean theologians; all indications are that he was addressing all the Berean Christians. Some of the most learned Bible scholars I have known didn't attend college; they read the Scripture and found truth. They used the Truth they found to set their children's lives on the right course. They taught others by doing the right thing because it was the right thing to do. Jack and the gang can redefine sin all day, and they will if we allow it. Adultery and sodomy now are OK if you are otherwise a good candidate for ordination and you have the right motives. Next will it be theft? How about apostasy? Oh, yes, I forgot. That's already PCUSA church doctrine! Gary Loftis Markham Woods Presbyterian Church Lake Mary, Fla . |
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