Dialogue on Amnesty
Sir / I very much appreciate the support that you have given to my amnesty proposal in your TIME Essay [Jan. 10].
If passions are to be replaced by more reasoned dialogue on this critically important subject, it will be because of additional understanding through essays such as yours.
ROBERT TAFT JR.
U.S. Senator from Ohio
Washington, D.C.
Sir / There are at least two young men from this town who, because of the Viet Nam War, are exiled from their homes and families.
One of these unwilling exiles is my husband, who has been a prisoner of war for more than four years. The other young man chose to desert the Army rather than serve in Viet Nam. It is apparent that this war, whatever its effect on Indochina, has hurt our country terribly. I am still enough of a patriot, even a chauvinist, to feel that when we begin the restructuring of our society, America will need all her sons.
Therefore, as the wife of a P.O.W., I will actively support amnesty for the American refugees.
(MRS.) VALERIE M. KUSHNER
Danville, Va.
Sir / As far as the question of giving amnesty to draft evaders is concerned, I do not wish to share the privileges of American citizenship with men who do not fulfill their duties as citizens. In my opinion, these selfish men, who interpret morals for their own benefit, are nothing less than traitors.
JIM MORONEY
New York City
Sir / Having gone through the dilemma of whether to obey or resist, I found myself, against my moral and spiritual conscience, serving as ordered in Viet Nam. As a surgical technician, mine was not a direct encounter with the fighting but a position in which I witnessed the brutality and absurdity of war. I could not help offering my understanding to those deserters and resisters who, according to their higher conscience, refused any association with the military murder machine. I cast my vote for total absolution for these men.
BILL WAGNER
Glenwood Springs, Colo.
Sir /1 cannot speak for all Canadians, but most of my friends are fervently hoping and indeed praying that the U.S. will take back the draft dodgers, deserters, etc. In Canada, we have acquired a motley crew of Maoists, Trotskyites, Communists, socialists, anarchists, college-building burners and what have you. (Correction--what had you.) Please bring them home. Please.
S.A. MELROSE
Toronto
Cutthroats or Heroes?
Sir / In your story on the "troubles" in Northern Ireland [Jan. 10], you constantly wander from the real issue: the right of Ireland to exist as an undivided nation. Problems there may be in uniting the two Irelands, but they are problems created by the British. If the I.R.A. fails, its members will be branded cutthroats and criminals, but if they succeed they will be national heroes. Isn't that always the way? Even the British must know that sooner or later they are going to have to get out.
K.V. ARANDA
Mexico City
Sir / It seems the facts in Northern Ireland's struggle for justice are overshadowed by arguments about the I.R.A.'s guerrilla tactics.
This deprived Catholic minority does not want war and violence; who does? All they want is equality and justice, which they are not getting.
DAVID J. BLAIR
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Sir / Given the deep-rooted hatreds in Northern Ireland, a solution to its problems within the present demographic framework seems impossible. Why not try a population transfer of either Catholics or Protestants? The transfer of Catholics to the Irish Republic would leave a small but more homogeneous and justifiable British substate in Ulster. Alternatively, the transfer of staunch Protestant Unionists to Britain would make possible a united Ireland. The difficulties would be small compared with those that have plagued Northern Ireland for the past 50 years.
JOSEPH M. CURRAN
Syracuse
Sir / TIME'S recent story on the I.R.A. is the best all-round account of the history of the current resistance in Northern Ireland. I want to commend you for not slandering the bravest men in Northern Ireland as "terrorists" or "murderers."
The Unionist Party and the Orange Order have too long exacerbated the differences between Irishmen, Catholic or Protestant. Thank you for telling the truth about the intolerable repression in Northern Ireland and the men who would end it.
RAYMOND O'KANE
New York City
Sir / British troops are in Northern Ireland solely to protect the lives of all inhabitants there, whatever their religion. This part of Ireland is British, and I feel it is time for you to realize what British means.
ARTHUR P. LYON
Coral Gables, Fla.
Sir /1 am wondering whether the Irish are going to accept a country handed to them by murderers and robbers, assuming that the I.R.A. were successful. Ireland is controlled by the church, and morality and righteousness are said to be characteristic of the Irish. To blow up people is immoral; yet the "moralistic" Irish government permits the activities of the I.R.A. by permitting its existence.
The Irish government had better redefine morality.
A.M. SMITH
Dublin
Disturbing View
Sir / Retiring Music Critic Winthrop Sargeant [Jan. 10] deserves an award of sorts for his incredible string of questionable judgments and false assumptions. His commendable lauding of Beverly Sills cannot begin to offset the remarkable prediction of future obscurity for Stravinsky and the naming of Richard Strauss as "greatest composer of the 20th century."
Needless to say, to be hated is the mark of both good and bad critics. Sargeant's black-white view of criticism is disturbing, and is as erroneous as his feeling that music criticism has not much of a future. As long as music exists, so will accompanying thought regarding its worth.
CHRISTOPHER R. PIGNOLI
Music Critic
The Pittsburgh Forum
Pittsburgh
Sir / In reading your article on Winthrop Sargeant, I was once again reminded of critics' serious misunderstanding of twelve-tone and serial music. The twelve-tone system does not merely express violence but rather expresses the value of abstraction. If we feel violent when listening to a work by Schoenberg, we are assigning meanings to that work that are not really there.
For me and a few others, the twelve-tone system offers a rational solution to the problem of creating a new and significant musical language.
THOMAS E. COOK
San Diego
The Spirits Wait
Sir / I enjoyed your article on the beautiful beach rites on New Year's Eve in Rio [Jan. 10] and the spiritists who take part.
Sometimes the present age intrudes on the primitive. As a Methodist missionary in the Rio area in recent years, I often attended rituals with my friends. One Saturday evening of chants, dances and descending spirits started a half-hour late. The leader of the group had to watch the end of a soccer game on TV before he would begin.
(THE REV.) WARREN L. DANSKIN
New York City
Sir / You have gone too far in trying to describe spiritism as a pagan cult in Brazil. You have confused African religious rites, such as Quimbanda and Umbanda, which were brought by the slaves, with the Christian religion of spiritism.
Chico Xavier, the leading Brazilian spiritist writer, has taken part in many TV programs and his appearances were sedate and dignified. Umbanda Spokesman Seu Sete's only appearance on television' was on a curiosity show.
A.R. DE FREITAS
Sao Paulo
A New Kind of Love
Sir / With reference to your well-deserved tribute to Maurice Chevalier [Jan. 10], you mention that one of the American favorites he sang was If a Nightingale Could Sing Like You.
Not to indulge in nitpicking, but just to set the record straight, while that was the opening line of the chorus, the correct title was You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me.
MONROE H. LOEB
Oak Park, Ill.
Now, Something for the Women
Sir / If Morton Golden's theory is that men use football games "as a fantasy to relive the youthful sexual aggressiveness" [Jan. 10], what does he have to offer to women who are the "football nuts"?
JANETL. PATHAK
Westlake, Ohio
Sir / To Morton Golden and his sex theory on football watching, I say "Horse feathers!" Is Monday night football on TV an X-rated program?
MRS. ROBERT TROUGHTON
Newport Beach, Calif.
Sir / Really, Doc, that's all I'm allowed on Sunday afternoon in the living room, what with the kids and the possibility that one of the friendly neighborhood priests might drop in.
BERNARD CROGAN
La Crosse, Wis.
This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.