Prolonged Agony?
SIR:
REPUBLICAN CHRISTIAN HERTER AND DEMOCRAT "PAT" BROWN HAVE COLLABORATED IN THE CHESSMAN CASE [Feb. 29] IN THE WORST NATIONAL DISGRACE SINCE TRUMAN FIRED MACARTHUR, THIS BEING THE OPINION OF A LIFELONG FOE OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
AS FOR THE "HUMANITARIAN" CLAIMS THAT THE LONG DELAYS AND EXCRUCIATING NATIONAL PUBLICITY HAVE CAUSED SUCH SUFFERING AS TO EXPIATE ANY CRIMES, NO MATTER HOW HEINOUS, ISN'T THIS EXACTLY COMPARABLE TO THE YOUNG MAN WHO KILLED HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND ASKED THE JUDGE FOR MERCY ON THE GROUNDS THAT HE WAS AN ORPHAN?
J. G. SCRIPPS
DEL MAR, CALIF.
Sir: The ominous thing about the Chessman case is that a state government is influenced by Washington and (probably) Rome.
B. P. LANE
Wilson Creek, Wash.
Sir: As an atheist, I have long been convinced that the overwhelming majority of people who claim to be Christians, including the organized churches, are really self-satisfied hypocrites who embrace the faith for the peace and tranquillity that a belief in infinite mercy, perfect justice and immortal life offers, but who actually hold in contempt the essential message of love (and its inescapable obligations) for which Christ lived and died.
The Chessman case, distilled, presents a simple issue to the Christian: Is the deliberate killing of a human being--a fellow child of God--moral? Can it be squared with the letter or the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount? Is it possible that Christ himself would approve? If anyone can honestly say yes, then he either misconceives the Christian ethic or I can refer him to a better and more sublime one.
JULIAN W. HAYDON
Chicago
SIR:
YOU DESCRIBE CARYL CHESSMAN AS A "SELF-ADMITTED HARDENED CRIMINAL" BUT DO NOT CITE THE SOLID EVIDENCE OF HIS CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS TOWARD REHABILITATION AND HIS CONTRITION FOR WHATEVER CRIMES HE HAS COMMITTED.
HIS ADMISSION OF HIS CRIMINAL LIFE WAS PART OF AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT CAUSED HIS CRIMINAL ACTS. THIS IS ONE REASON WHY SO MANY PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE.
PHIL KERBY
EDITOR, FRONTIER MAGAZINE
EASON MONROE
DIRECTOR, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
WILLIAM GRAVES MD
FORMER SAN QUENTIN PRISON PHYSICIAN
SANTA MONICA, CALIF.
Conspicuously Inconspicuous
Sir:
I would hardly call my friend, Roald Dahl, "inconspicuous," as TIME did in its review of his book, Kiss Kiss [Feb. 22]. Can a man 6 ft. 6 in. tall ever really be inconspicuous?
C. DAVIS HAINES
West Point, Ga.
P:--I Not, at least, to his children. See cut.--ED.
Reaffirming a Tenet
Sir:
I was truly impressed by the ability of your reporter to so clearly summarize my highly technical treatment of a difficult subject before an audience of experts [Feb. 22]. However, the statement that "the lecture was a good example of how halacha changes with the times" was a serious misinterpretation of my point.
The basic theme of my paper was to reaffirm what we accept as a tenet of our faith, that halacha as presented in our Written and Oral (the Talmud) Law never changes because it needs no change. What does change is our understanding of the rationale underlying the halachic principle.
RABBI MOSES D. TENDLER
Yeshiva University New York
Candidate's Wife
Sir:
Thank you for giving us a cover picture of Pat Nixon [Feb. 29]--a lovely American lady and a gracious person.
FLORENCE HEALY
Arlington, Va.
Sir:
It is disturbing the way TIME tries to jam the Nixons down the readers' throats. Even if I would be inclined to vote for "Tricky Dicky" plus wife, TIME'S biased reporting would be enough to sway my decision.
SONJA VAN DER HORST
Olean, N.Y.
Sir:
Pat Nixon for President!
BENNO LEVETZOW
Brooklyn
Inside Kishi
Sir:
Once in a blue moon, something like your Kishi cover [Jan. 25] happens. In these days of "Inside This" and "Inside That," it gets inside Kishi (and the Japanese), and once there, practically becomes Kishi himself as he looks out on the world. It hardly ever happens, but this time it did. I had a brief teaching job in Japan, so, in a way, I have some background for my thinking. I do not hesitate to nominate the Kishi story as the best cover story TIME will print in 1960.
C. E. PERSONS
Los Altos Hills, Calif.
A Bloody Sacrifice
Sir:
Your article concerning the Rev. Randy Pike and his so-called "Blood of the Lamb" service [Feb. 22] is the prime example of Christian retrogression. Pike and his predators obviously wish to return to the sanguine days of pre-Christianity, when blood sacrifice was at its zenith. It would be helpful if someone informed Pike that the strength of Christianity rests not so much on how Christ died as on how Christ lived.
LINDA THOMAS WEST
Tulsa, Okla.
Sir:
Thank you for bringing this blood sacrifice in a "Christian" church to the attention of the public. I think only a primitive or perverted mind is capable of such a cult. Let us hope they will find a more humane, more spiritual way of service.
ROLF EISELIN
Mill Valley, Calif.
Sir:
Let's hope the Rev. Randy Pike never hears the hymn that begins, "There is a fountain filled with blood . . ."
JOHN CRONQUIST
Durham, N.C.
Amplification Dept.
Sir:
Good grief! Right Honorable Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas, first Earl Mountbatten of Burma, K.G., P.C., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., G.C.V.O., K.C.B., D.S.O.! [Feb. 22]. What in heaven's name are all of the initials ?
JAMES BUSH
Iowa City, Iowa
P: Knight of the Order of the Garter, Privy Councillor, Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, Knight Grand Commander of the Star of India, Knight Grand Commander of the Indian Empire, Knight Grand Cross of Royal Victorian Order, Knight Commander of the Bath, Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.--ED.
Life on Okinawa
SIR:
ARTICLE ON OKINAWA [Feb. 22 ] FILLED WITH FILTHY INNUENDO. TWO-HUNDRED OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN OF MY STAFF IN OKINAWA FEB. 1960 FOR TWELVE DAYS HAD NO LIBERTY FOR FIRST SIX DAYS. WE HAD WORK TO DO. THOUSANDS OF ARMY, NAVY, MARINE AND AIR FORCE PERSONNEL AND THEIR WIVES WORK ON COMMUNITY PROJECTS. AIR FORCE AND MARINE PERSONNEL ARE ON INSTANT ALERT.
REAR ADMIRAL C. O. TRIEBEL, U.S.N.
COMMANDER AMPHIBIOUS GROUP SAN FRANCISCO
SIR:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR OKINAWA STORY. MY WIFE WOULD NEVER BELIEVE ME.
M/SGT. E. L. NIEBRUEGGE
FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANS.
Sir:
I lived on Okinawa for two and a half years as a serviceman and a civilian. In all my dealings with the military clubs I saw no corruption, evil, or extravagance.
Most surprising is TIME'S statement about an Okinawan law forbidding gambling. Besides the dozens of pachinko (Japanese pinball) parlors centered around Naha's International Street, nearly all the large cabarets have one-armed bandits.
As for the tax-free liquor available at military clubs on Okinawa, TIME should point out that the Okinawan government levies a ridiculous 200% tax on all beer and 180% tax on liquor brought to the island, making prices in local nonmilitary bars astronomical. A bottle of Japanese beer in an Okinawan cabaret costs $1, while American brands are generally unavailable.
DON HOFMANN
Honolulu
At the 5 & 10-- Store
Sir:
Only in the Southern states and the Union of South Africa would a Negro from a university be denied the right (or is it a privilege?) to sit down and eat a sandwich in a public place [Feb. 22].
Whom does North Carolina's Governor Luther Hodges think he is fooling when he wines and dines Guinea's President Toure while students are not good enough to eat a hot dog in a local five and ten?
WILLIAM R. EDMONDSON, M.D.
East Orange, N.J.
Hopeless Case
Sir:
You mention that Senator Stuart Symington, a presidential hopeful, even threatened to publish top-secret U.S. intelligence estimates if the Administration denies that Soviet might has "increased considerably [Feb. 22]." After a statement like that, I consider Senator Symington presidentially hopeless.
MARCUS Q. ARNESON
La Crosse, Wis.
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