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2022-08-26
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L O A D S T A R F O R U M
by LOADSTARites
Dear Rev. Dave.
Just received LS 209. In your
column about terrorism, I think you
hit the nail right on the head. We
have lost. Airlines have taken a turn
for the worst. Takes hours more to get
on a plane. Can't park near anything
anymore. Here in Bakersfield they have
put up barriers around the terminal.
It seems like the media has taken
the backbone out of the people. It is
telling us we have to run scared all
the time.
Another thing you said that is
very true. We have more people killed
in autos than any other thing. I have
had two cousins killed by drunks
driving on the wrong side of the road.
One was a missionary home on leave.
Harold D Johnston
Harold,
I can't say we have [lost]. At
least not completely. What I believe
we have lost is the ability to produce
factual information programming
without generating "edge of the seat"
worry all around.
Sometime between Cronkite and
Rather, the media news changed. They
shifted from being a real news
headline service (as Cronkite
considered his work) to an outgoing
advocate of "Management by Crisis."
"MBC" is a dysfunctional lifestyle
where individuals, families, or
organizations lurch from problem to
problem, incapable of correcting
anything until it becomes a crisis --
like ignoring the gas bill until the
heat is shut off. I have watched
families pay dearly for this lack of
discipline.
Our media news (radio/television
in particular) treats events the same
way. We heard [nothing] about how we
left Afghanistan and bin Laden high
and dry when the Soviets pulled out.
All we did was cheer as the Iron
Curtain came falling down. We did
absolutely nothing to assist the
Afghanis in rebuilding after their
war.
This is no excuse for flying jet
liners into buildings. But we have not
been informed that [some] of the
frustration that drives terrorists was
created by US international policy --
and citizen ignorance. We wonder why
anyone could hate the "Land of the
Free and the Home of the Brave." They
don't. They hate the face of the US
they have seen in their own countries.
I have seen this myself in travels
to less than First World countries.
Getting a travel visa to the US is
nigh on impossible for citizens of
Romania. The diplomatic corps
employees stationed in Bucharest would
understandably rather be somewhere
exciting, metropolitan, and/or clean.
They are not in a particularly good
mood. "Gift giving" (read: bribery) is
common and expected in the Romanian
culture. Offering a "gift" to a
consolate employee will get you
chucked out of the embassy for a
month.
But I must also say -- as bad as
electronic journalism is, we are
extremely lucky to have it. We are
unbelievably fortunate to have freedom
of speech and the press. I merely
demand greater quality.
-----------------------
Dave,
I was very much impressed with your
history of the <Chanukah> holiday.
But you realize that the holiday
celebrates only a temporary victory; a
fleeting glorious moment; that in time
Judah and the Maccabeans were
defeated.
Kenneth Barsky
Ken,
Thanks for the kudos. If the
article seemed a tad short on
specifics, it was because I was a tad
short on time to look stuff up. I
appreciate the information you sent to
me. The years involve were between 166
B.C.E (Before Common Era) and 160
B.C.E.
During my first three days at
seminary, we visited various places of
worship around Kansas City. One was a
Reform Temple. A woman showed us
around ("Call me a 'Jewess' and I'll
call your women 'Christianesses'!").
Just as she opened the ark (where
the Torah scrolls are kept behind the
pulpit(?), a light within the ark
blazed forth, lightning flashed
outside, and a long roll of thunder
rumbled overhead!
We almost had 50 converts to
Judaism -- on the spot! But the Rabbi
explained that his seminary education
took five years. Our work required
only three. So practicality won out.
However, I have long been
fascinated by the continuity between
our faiths -- and rich differences.
One difference is that Christians
pretty much limit our holidays to what
we consider really [big] events, such
as the birth and death of "God With
Us." As you say, Chanukah celebrates a
"fleeting glorious moment."
And, really -- isn't most of life
and history and the presence of the
Holy in our midst "a fleeting glorious
moment?" Thanks for sharing the
Chanukah season with us.
DMM