First Strike

I always enjoy reading what you write. Your editorial "First Strike" (AT Sept/Oct 2002) has to be taken seriously. At the end of your piece you state, "But I don't see how there can be any serious debate among followers of Jesus over whether we should strike first." Although I think you make very strong arguments for avoiding pre-emptive action by the U.S. against Iraq, I do not think serious debate among the followers of Jesus on this issue has quite yet been resolved.

According to some scholars pre-emptive action can be "defensive" if it is prompted by a reasonable belief that a known aggressor is equipping himself with the means to carry out further acts of aggression. Saddam seems to fit here.

I do not think the Bush administration is cynically trying to fan the flames of war by attempting to convince the American people that we face a dire threat from Iraq. In a democracy these issues should be debatable and I do not think it is wrong for the President to let his position be known. The President does have a "bully pulpit," but you and many others have freedom of the press to voice your opposition.

In the Wall Street Journal of Friday December 6, 2002 an editorial article appeared by Robert P. George ..."A Just War In Iraq." In this article he defended these three issues: 1. Can military action be morally legitimate if it is pre-emptive? 2. Is it morally permissible to use force to oust a tyrannical and aggressive regime, as opposed to merely disarming it? 3. May the U.S. legitimately lead a coalition against Saddam Hussein if the U.N. refuses to authorize the use of force to remove or disarm his regime?

What you wrote caused me to continue to think deeply about these issues but, alas, I don't think it ended "serious debate among the followers of Jesus."

Lynn R. Heath Loma Linda, California

New Beginning

Congratulations on the "New Beginning for Adventist Creationism" issue (AT Sept/Oct 2002) starting with the beautiful chambered nautilus cover picture. The three articles on the Ogden meetings were well done and encouraging. Thank you for a good report. The work of Dick Ritland and my husband, Ed Hare, has not been in vain. I am glad to see the door opening a crack and meaningful dialog taking place.

Patti Hare Daytona Beach Shores, Florida

Intellectual Honesty

You are absolutely correct Brother McLarty (AT Sept/Oct 2002). It is "intellectually dishonest" for some of the participants at International Science and Faith Conference to ignore what they have learned "through observation and broad-ranging study." Moreover, they shouldn't have to fear loss of employment "if their questions and opinions about origins were fully known." But, it is equally disingenuous for these denominational employees to continue to work for an SDA college or university and not hold to a literal, contiguous six day creation. When you go to work for an employer, you should agree with what the employer is propagating or find another job. . . . Anyhow, these scientists that fear for their job safety could always go to work for a public or private university that doesn't advocate a literal, contiguous six day creation. They can have all the academic freedom that they want and not the cognitive dissonance that they suffer while working for an Adventist institute of higher learning.

John A. Lockley, CPA Internal Revenue Agent Huntsville, Alabama

Teachers on Welfare

The September/October 2002 issue had so many pertinent articles. I thank you for covering so many areas. I wish to comment on two in particular: "Does Adventist Education Pay?" by Gill Bahnsen and "SDA Faculty On Welfare?" by Don Riley. . . . One question I have . . . is the astounding fact that since our church education tuition is so high and obviously teachers are not getting the benefit - where is the money going? This subject is of interest to me since my granddaughter (attending a local community college and now in her second year) has grown more towards entering education training to eventually become a teacher. Her abilities, talents and gifts lie in that area. I've encouraged her to read these articles. She has already told me that she knows she'll have to marry someone with an excellent income for her to be able to do this. I've known some elementary school teachers (single parents) who have had to work holiday and summer times in local department stores to make ends meet. One can't always count on falling in love with a rich husband!

Peggy Harris Burtonsville, Maryland

W.A.S.H. Board Chair

Teaching in Church Schools

[Re: Riley in AT Sept/Oct 2002] I taught in our denomination from 1957 to 1968, 11 years. I taught in public high school and was rewarded with a fairly decent salary and a monthly retirement. I became an RN, and after 10 years retired and receive a monthly retirement. . . . I am quite disturbed that I worked for the denomination, [but] have received no help in retirement. . . . Once I made the step out of denominational employment, my life started picking up. I could now buy a house, afford to provide for my family of four and take the burden from my wife. I'm still an SDA, but I will decide where my money goes, what I do, and how I live. . . Fortunately, I'm now answerable to God and not the denominational bean counters.

Ray Couden Via the Internet

Adventism and War

An interesting article (AT Sept/Oct 2002), but does Mark Carr not know anything about the Medical Cadet Corps (MCC) on our college campuses during WW II, or is he choosing to ignore it? As I recall, the church had a very definite position and it was to be conscientious cooperators rather than conscientious objectors, to save lives rather than to take them. I was a child living at AUC during WW II, and I have vivid memories of a large flag full of blue stars hanging in the chapel, one star for each AUC student serving in the military. The church instituted the MCC program in conjunction with the U. S. Army to train our boys to become medics when they were drafted. Has he never heard of Cpl. Desmond Doss, who served as a medic in WW II and earned the Congressional Medal of Honor?. . . . . Our boys also served in the Korean War as medics or in Whitecoat. Let's render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. We can serve both God and Country.

Patti Hare Daytona Beach Shores, Florida

Liberal ideologically driven purists?

It appears that Adventist Today is attempting to bend over backward to be fair to the fundamentalists in our faith community. This is understandable since regretfully we have a lot of them.

But please-please-don't fall over on your back to do it. Unfortunately, in my view, your editor-usually a sensible and reasonable man-recently did this in his recent editorial on "Grown-up Adventism" (AT Nov/Dec 2002). He says that the " . . . maturation of the church annoys the ideologically driven purists among us-whether right-wing historicists or evangelicals, or liberals." Where are the "ideologically driven liberals" he is talking about in our church? I know plenty of ideologically driven reactionaries and conservatives. Just attend a meeting of a local cell of the Adventist Theological Society. I suppose that a classical Marxist Adventist might be certified as ideologically driven but I have not met one yet.

My suspicion is that your editor had to include liberals in his sentence so as to appear balanced and fair. If he can point to an example of such views, this long-time reader of your magazine would like to know what they might be. I might be an ideologically driven liberal and not know it.

James Hilton Glendale, California