Papal Legacy
As Joseph Bottum notes ("John Paul the Great," April 18), the New York Times and the so-called mainstream media "saw the pope only through the lens of current social politics." The light had entered the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.
Already the attacks on the legacy of Pope John Paul II have begun, with critics saying he was a "conservative" who held back the winds of change that had begun to blow in the late 1970s when his papacy began. But for John Paul II there were no conservatives or liberals. There was only truth.
Like Jesus, John Paul II was born to give witness to the truth. And like Pontius Pilate, an incredulous and increasingly secular populace and media responded by asking, "What is truth?" The vicar of Christ, the lineal descendant of Peter, told them, and in the process revitalized the world's oldest Christian Church and made it relevant in a world where the lure of moral relativism is strong.
Few outside the Catholic Church--and not enough within--could understand his marching orders, the same orders first given by Christ to Peter, that whatever he loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven, and whatever he held bound would be held bound. John Paul II believed in moral absolutes--not popular opinion, trends, or polls--and attracted the youth looking for answers in a world that had none.
He resisted the calls of many to "modernize" the Catholic Church, to make it more "popular" and appealing. He never wavered from his belief in a "culture of life." He was roundly attacked for his opposition to birth control and the ordination of women and his belief that homosexuality was a sin. He believed some truths were eternal, and that faith in those truths could transform individual lives and human society.
During his lifetime, John Paul II experienced the ravages of both Nazi and Communist tyranny. The media have concentrated on his role in the downfall of communism, but his focus was more on liberating the human spirit. Indeed, John Paul II showed us how to live and die with true dignity.
He was a rock, the rock upon which Christ built his church, and neither hell, the media, nor popular secular opinion will prevail against it.
Daniel John Sobieski
Chicago, IL
Joseph Bottum has written a most wonderful eulogy of our recently deceased Pope John Paul II.
Bottum gathers together many of John Paul II's greatest lessons, achievements, and writings, noting the impact of these and minimizing his few not-quite-achieved goals, so as to present to us the works and deeds of a great man.
Despite their nitpicking attempts, the pope's naysayers cannot denigrate the impact of John Paul II on modern history. The world is very much the better for his having instructed us in faith and Christian action.
Glenn Waterman
Bainbridge Island, WA
Sense of Entitlement
Stephen Moore's "Losing the Social Security Battle" (April 18) reminded me of the television ad campaign that the American Association of Retired Persons has lately been running (at least here in Colorado) against Social Security reform.
Part of the political problem with Social Security and other entitlement reform is that the "entitled" fraction of the population, which is receiving transfer payments from the working segment of the population, has, if not a voting majority, an immensely strong contingent that currently firms up the Democrats' eroding base.
These people are in a position to vote themselves bread and circuses, then blame the Republicans when the money for bread and circuses, national defense, public health, and road construction is all spent.
Bleak prospect, eh?
Vance P. Frickey
Denver, CO
The Virginia 116th
Vance Serchuk and Tom Donnelly have written a great article about the "forgotten" war in Afghanistan ("Nation Building, After All," April 11).
I have just one quibble. The 116th Infantry is a regiment of the Virginia National Guard, not a "division." It is one of the most storied and famous regiments of the U.S. Army, being descended from the "Stonewall Brigade" and still called by that nickname.
The 116th also had the distinct and tragic duty to land first on Omaha Beach on D-Day as part of the 29th Infantry Division, suffering horrible casualties, including over 20 young men from Bedford, Virginia, killed.
It's gratifying to see them continuing their legacy of service in Afghanistan.
Bill Brockman
Atlanta, GA
Glitzkrieg
Regarding Noemie Emery's "Vanity of Vanities" (April 4): I ended my 20-year subscription to Vanity Fair just in time for the November election. I simply could not bear to read any more of their constant Bush-bashing.
Since then, I have received numerous requests from Vanity Fair to resubscribe. Some of their offers practically amounted to giving me the magazine. I ignored them all, but was tempted at times to write an explanation of why I was ending what used to be quite an enjoyable reading experience.
Now I know exactly what to do the next time I get a request to restart my subscription: I'll just send Vanity Fair a copy of Emery's article. It conveys my feelings so much more eloquently than I could.
Donna Ardizzone
Staten Island, NY
Why No Divorce?
Thank you so much for Eric Cohen's "How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo" (April 4), which differentiated "procedural" liberalism from "ideological" liberalism.
The distinction is enormously enlightening to me, distressed as I have been these last weeks by a certain rigidity among my progressive friends regarding the Schiavo case. I knew that the content of their "protect Terri's right to die" stance seemed at odds with something, but it never struck me before reading Cohen's article that the "something" was procedural liberalism--the means for getting to one's end (one's judgment) on matters such as this.
I have just one critical comment. Cohen writes, "And while one would think that divorce was the obvious solution, this was more than Michael Schiavo apparently could bear, since it would require a definitive act of betrayal instead of a supposed demonstration of loyalty to Terri's wishes."
I agree that Michael Schiavo's refusal to simply divorce Terri and allow her parents to pick up the tab for her medical care stemmed in part from fear of appearing to act more in his own interest than in hers.
But on the other hand, divorce would have raised eyebrows and perhaps requirements for reimbursement vis-a-vis his acceptance of a million-dollar settlement for her care, which he agreed to provide throughout his "natural life." Medicaid had already paid for Terri's care 18 months longer than planned, and soon someone would have had to pay for her hospice (approximately $5,000 per month).
I'm not sure how divorce would have affected Michael Schiavo's responsibility in this area, but this too raises the question of money's role in what had been advertised as a selfless choice to act as his wife's proxy.
Teresa Whitehurst
Watertown, MA
Distinguished Alumni
I thoroughly enjoyed the piece by Joseph Epstein on Sol M. Linowitz ("Remembering the Ambassador," April 4). However, I take exception to Epstein's statement that Ezra Pound, Alexander Woolcott, and Elihu Root were Hamilton College's "other, odd-trio, notable graduates."
Actually, for its very small size, Hamilton has produced an incredible number of "notable" men who became very influential in their fields.
Some notable Hamiltonians who immediately come to mind include former United States vice president James Schoolcraft Sherman, behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner, abolitionist Theodore Dwight Weld, portraitist Daniel Huntington, and the founders of pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers, William Bristol and John Myers.
Eric Hannis
Hamilton '90
Woodbridge, VA
Red Dawning
In "Professors of Denial" (March 21) Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes claim that Alexander Vassiliev's libel suit loss had little to do with "the merits of his work" (with Allen Weinstein in The Haunted Wood).
On the contrary, the trial made manifest The Haunted Wood's flaws and errors. Vassiliev did not even try to refute defense charges of the book's falsehoods. Having fallen out with his coauthor, he contended instead that he was not to blame.
Vassiliev's newly introduced Anatoly Gorsky memo, clearly at odds with much in The Haunted Wood, hurt rather than helped his case, partly because he could not accept the Klehr and Haynes view that it was nothing but a "damning list of spies."
David Lowenthal
Berkeley, CA
I continue to applaud the efforts of Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes in setting the historical record straight regarding Communist activities in the United States.
From my own experience working as a historian at Sarah Lawrence College--where one of my first colleagues was Gerda Lerner and another was a close friend of Alger Hiss--I know all too well how deeply entrenched these old loyalties remain, regardless of what new evidence emerges.
Jefferson Adams
Bronxville, NY