The following letters to the editor appear in the edition of Nov. 13, 2003. Letters appearing in this space do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arlington Catholic Herald or the Catholic Diocese of Arlington. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as necessary. There is no guarantee of publication. Send letters to: letters@catholicherald.com.

Applying History

Great article by Russell Shaw on "A War Based on What If" (ACH 10/30/03) especially his contention that a war against Iraq was not justified. The war mongers (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeldt and Wolkowitz) rejected the just war concept because they were bent on toppling Saddam Hussein. Declaring war on Iraq was a major blunder by President Bush.

Unlike Shaw, however, I feel we should get out. I do not feel we have a moral responsibility to set things straight. Further, I do not feel it is in our best interest to impose democracy on people who have never had it. Today, we have another Vietnam in our hands in Iraq. The country was divided during the Vietnam war causing President Johnson not to seek another term because we had a no-win situation there. Richard Nixon succeeded Johnson and arranged a cease fire and withdrawal of American troops. Unfortunately, George Bush doesn’t know American history that well or he would follow suit in Iraq.

I am reminded of our first two presidents, George Washington and John Adams, who cautioned against foreign entanglements. Their words have never been heeded and look at the mess we are in today and, believe me, we are in a mess, because we haven’t learned to mind our own business.

Charles McGuire
Arlington

Dance Distracts at Mass

In a letter entitled "Flowers and Dancing Okay at Mass" (ACH 10/23/03) the writer speaks of a Mass celebrated by the pope at the canonization of three missionaries. Participants from various non-Western cultures danced during the celebration and the writer uses this event as a basis to argue that dancing should be allowed at Mass. A recent talk by Cardinal Arinze differs.

The cardinal states first of all that the pope’s attendance at a Mass does not signify his approval of what takes place because he plays no role in arranging it. "Poor Holy Father — he comes, the people arrange. He does not know what they arrange." In regard to dancing, he says, "Now, some priests and lay people think that Mass is never complete without dance. The difficulty is this: we come to Mass primarily to adore God — what we call the vertical dimension. We do not come to Mass to entertain one another. That’s not the purpose of Mass. The parish hall is for that."

The cardinal allows there may be a dance so exquisite that it raises people’s minds to God, "but is that the type of dance you have seen?" He points out that dancing at Mass has been foreign to our culture, never having been known in the Latin Church. "Why make the people of God suffer so much? Haven’t we enough problems already? Only Sunday, one hour, they come to adore God. And you bring a dance!"

In other words, in our culture dancing at Mass is a distraction for the overwhelming majority of people. With Mass attendance having fallen so precipitously and many seeing the Mass as merely a celebration of community, do we really need another distraction at the re-creation of the most momentous event in history?

D.F. McNeill
Front Royal

Difficult Forgiveness

Several years ago I wrote a letter to the editor of the HERALD in which I expressed my belief that one cannot consider oneself as "pro life" if he or she is against abortion but favors the death penalty. I still support that view, in line with the guidelines the Church and the Holy Father have provided. For the most part, one cannot have it both ways.

In her article, "We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us" (ACH 10/30/03), writer Maureen Kramlich cites several examples of those persons who have forgiven convicts on death row who have been responsible for the deaths of their loved ones, including those killed in the bombing of the Alfred E. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 and the murder of a young man who was a freshman at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. In the latter case, the victim’s mother said: "To forgive someone does not mean to excuse them ... It means giving up anger, hatred, revenge, and bitterness toward someone who has hurt you."

I am having trouble with the concept of forgiveness of those persons who perhaps have not caused the death of a loved one but who none-the-less have wrecked havoc on the lives of innocent persons. How does one forgive the criminal acts of an arrogant CEO who steals from his or her company, forcing it into bankruptcy, thereby stranding loyal employees in the abyss of unemployment? How does one forgive the corrupt practices of the managers of HMOs who similarly force patients to accept lesser treatment, often with fatal results? How does one forgive the illegal actions of mutual fund managers who favor large investors at the expense of the smaller ones, especially the elderly, forcing them to lose life savings? How does one forgive the greedy "financial adviser" who puts his or her own interests ahead those of their clients?

How, indeed, do we forgive an administration who returns funds from the largest federal surplus in history to the rich without first accommodating the needs of the poor?

The answer is, of course, we must forgive all those unethical elements in our lives if we, ourselves, are to be forgiven by God. What makes this form of forgiveness so painful is that all of the so called "white collar crimes" cited above were committed with malice aforethought by the perpetrators. Shame on them.

Thomas E. Simonton
Lansdale, Pa.

Don’t Hinder the Holy Spirit

I am writing regarding the readers’ negative opinion on applause in church (ACH 10/23/03). I am not charismatic, but this sounds like someone is trying to put a gag order on the Holy Spirit. To suggest that an applause response by the faithful is a popularity contest or disrespect for the Eucharist is an insult to the congregation. A visiting priest at our parish ended an inspirational talk with, "One of the first duties of every Christian is to be joyful." We applauded — it rarely happens. If we did not, the pews would have cried out, "Amen."

As St. Paul, said we should not put up unnecessary obstacles to evangelization, especially when it comes to the future Church — children and teenagers. We seem to be constantly frustrated with those who would "dumb us down" with must do’s, can’t do’s, local edicts, etc., that relate to form rather than substance. Even Jesus failed to dodge a minefield of human precepts collected by the Jewish establishment of his time. As I recall he had a lot of trouble with that. Let us not bring them back please.

Tony Stein
Annandale

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