Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: David.Anderson@cs.cmu.edu Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Modern Idolotry and Oil (Re: Archbishop's letter to Sec. State Baker) Message-ID: Date: 12 Dec 90 05:53:41 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 25 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Lynn, here. At a recent interfaith meeting the Persian Gulf crisis was discussed with an eye toward coming up with an "appropriate" statement or interfaith response (essentially anti-war). The representatives from all of the denominations present said that their congregations were very much divided about this situation, so they did not feel that our particular group could really come up with a truly representative position. The rabbi present was especially concerned about the pacifist movement. He said that among the Jewish community here (Pittsburgh, 2nd only to NYC), sentiment is very strongly supportive of the administration's policy (and one should note that Pgh. is a *democratic* town by an 8:1 ratio). It wasn't just a pro-Israel thing, he insisted (and he's on the committee for Palestinian justice here, BTW), but there are simply *many* Jews who see unnerving parallels between this situation and the situation which existed in Czechoslovakia in 1938. The Jewish community is totally opposed to *any* kind of appeasement, even if it means war. I am skeptical of our "US interests" as anyone, but I would suggest that there may indeed be larger issues at stake even if some of the more obvious ones smack of hypocrisy and economic expediency. 100,000 body bags (currently in a warehouse in Saudi Arabia) is very sobering. I hope and fervently pray that war can be avoided.