LETTERS.

Urgency and Compassion

SUSANNAH HUNTER eloquently expressed her thoughts in her piece on the death penalty ("No Longer a Bleeding-Heart Issue," March-April 2001). Hunter showed a true sense of urgency and compassion concerning the recent programs that are afoot to end a "flawed system." Writers like Hunter have the voice and enthusiasm to get these important messages across to the general public, and I applaud her on her efforts.

Matthew Mayse Greenville, South Carolina 

Beauty in Ugly Things 

IN THE ARTICLE "Beauty Out of Ugly Things" (March-April 2001), Kimberly Burge speaks eloquently of one of the greatest bands in rock history, U2. As U2 so beautifully states in words and music, Christ is not simply found in the pages of scripture or in the walls of churches but is indeed a part of every aspect of life on Earth. U2's music helps us recognize that to be loved and healed, we need to see the beauty in ugly things. We need to know there is hope beyond the scaring we inflict upon each other and the Earth. What better way is there for us to see this hope realized but through justice, hope, and love as found in the music of U2?

Brian Christoffersen Anaheim, California 

Evil White Males?

EVERY TIME I HEAR about the reparations issue ("How I Changed My Mind," by Bob McLalan, March-April 2001), I start to feel this creeping guilt. That is, until recently. Reparations for slavery are inherently racist and victimizing. Only a small part of our forefathers owned slaves. Some of the slaves happened to be white. Will their families be compensated? There were black masters who owned other blacks, so should they pay extra? I know my entire family didn't arrive on the boat until the very late 19th-century immigrations. Why should anyone in my family feel guilty or pay taxes to make these reparations? What about all the other immigrants from various parts of the world in the 20th century?

More important, this century has seen laws and rights enforced. Affirmative action has been here for decades. We even have a black billionaire now! Blacks aren't the only people to have been enslaved. It just so happens that they had a nation of Christians who said enough. This happened at no other time in history! All other slaves from time immemorial have had to move on without public and private assistances like these! I have gotten tired of being the evil white male and everyone else trying to fit into a victim group.

Kris Swanson Madison, Wisconsin

Bob McLalan replies:

I never felt guilty about the issue of slavery or segregation; guilt had nothing to do with my support for reparations. It came as a result of research and the recognition that reparations and punitive damages are awarded to people of all types in this country. Slavery never existed elsewhere in this forth at any time in history. There were slaves and indentured servants of different races in the 1600s, but it was the African-American population that was targeted to work the cash crops. The economics of slavery made many people wealthy (landowners, ship builders, laborers, financiers, insurers, etc.), at the cost of tens of millions of African-American lives. Ending slavery was not done to alleviate the injustice of exploitation, and segregation continued to exclude and divert resources from African Americans to others for many decades. Determining whether reparations are justified is one thing; the questions around actual payment--including how and to whom--are much more difficult.

Mean Spirited

BEING A "LIBERAL" lesbian, I find it odd that I seem to find myself always coming to the defense of the "evangelical." But I felt "Is God a Rams Fan?" (by Randall Balmer, January-February 2001) to be unnecessary and even mean spirited. Only God can know the hearts of "man." To see a photo of several grown men on their knees, holding hands, praying to a power larger than themselves--I find this to be a wonderful thing. Balmer writes, "The deity seems to be in a no-lose situation." This is God's problem or our problem with God in life, not just sports. Why are some people provided miracles and some children raped and killed? Her thoughts are not our thoughts and her ways are not our ways! I am sure I disagree with many evangelicals on many issues, but anyone who is actively and honestly seeking God should not be put down by people who claim to be doing the same thing.

Jennifer Magee Salem, Oregon

The Lord is My Umpire?

I'M NO BIBLICAL scholar, but I have read both Testaments and I honestly can't recall any passages that invoke the power of the Almighty in connection with games of any sort, or compare God's kingdom to a football field ("Is God a Rams Fan?") or gym or any other sports setting. I can't think of any passages of scripture that even imply that he pays attention to these things. I can invent some, but they all seem faintly blasphemous (Psalm 151: The Lord is my umpire, I shall not strike out? Lo, though I come up to bat with the bases loaded, I shall not foul, for Thou are with me? Jeremiah: For you do not know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you Super Bowl victories and lucrative celebrity endorsements?) It's hard to escape the impression that he had other things on his mind. Of course, the Romans were packing stadiums in New Testament times by feeding followers of the Way to wild animals. That might explain this odd silence on the part of our YHWH. Perhaps Jupiter was the sports fan then, or Mars?

Doris J. Bates Rockville, Maryland

Heroes and Villains

WHILE KURT WARNER thinks that many of us are missing the bigger picture with regard to the "larger theological drama at play on the athletic field," perhaps he is missing the still larger drama at play in a world of economic injustice ("Is God a Rams Fan?"). He and his co-workers who don't question the many problems inherent in a society that pays its athletes and entertainers far more than its teachers may be "heroes" in one drama, but they are as culpable as "villains" in the other.

Dana W. Sutton Huntington, West Virginia 

Missing Dimension

HOLLY J. LEBOWITZ' article "What's Right With This Picture?" in your January-February 2001 issue was welcome news of another group concerned about economic justice.

However, there is a missing element in this story--the historical dimension. Scott Klinger's statement in the article about the cultural myth of pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps begs for some historical analysis because this myth is in sharp contrast to the ideology of America's founding generation and, in addition, is contrary to the ideas of the father of modern capitalism, Adam Smith. Among other things, the American founders believed deeply in economic justice and a concern for the common good. Adam Smith's ideas of the invisible hand and self-interest were supposed to be within a context of social morality and economic justice, fairness. How then did we develop this ideology of anomic individualism? In short, people of faith should know that their calls for economic justice are not only theologically sound but also supported by the ideals of America's founders as well as Smith's ideals for an economically just capitalism.

John E. Hill Milton, Massachusetts

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