To the Editors:

Brian Mulroney, Canada's new Prime Minister, incorporates the best of both Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale with none of their shortcomings [WORLD, Sept. 17]. Canadians knew a good thing when they saw him.

Steve Lubeck

San Carlos, Calif.

After the Trudeau Liberals, the election of Mulroney is a breath of fresh air. Finally Canadians have a government that represents all regions, coast to coast.

Stephen L. Shapiro

Calgary, Alta.

Brian Mulroney will become what Pierre Trudeau so desperately wanted to be, a world-class statesman. Whereas Trudeau will be remembered for his aloofness, his coarse behavior and his plundering of the public purse, Mulroney will most likely make his mark by restoring social and economic balance to Canada.

Robin West

Star City, Sask.

Mulroney's victory can be credited largely to timing; had he run for office in the early 1970s in the midst of Trudeaumania, he would not have fared well.

Richard Morawetz

Toronto

In spite of what you consider the "linguistic absurdities" of Quebec, you will find that an English-speaking Canadian is more at home in that province than a French-speaking citizen is anywhere else in Canada.

Andre Richard

Rouyn, Que.

Blood on the Campaign Trail

The maiming and bloodletting on the current political scene [NATION, Sept. 17] can only weaken the vital processes by which we govern ourselves. How can the candidates ever recover from the personal and public injury they heap upon each other? If we are to survive as a great republic, we must have the best, not the beastliest, from everyone.

Edgar E. Dickey

Appleton, Wis.

The polls keep reminding us that the President is maintaining the confidence of most Americans. A friend of mine, quite taken by the statistics, told me, "I am not going to vote against those figures." That is his right, but I am bothered by what persuaded him.

Steve N. Ramsey

Lexington, Ky.

I was surprised by your idiotic assertion that Walter Mondale comes across to his audience as a stiff and uninspiring speaker. Give the man a little credit. He knows the issues inside out and is willing to discuss them headon. The same cannot be said of Ronald Reagan.

Jon P. Larson Yakima, Wash.

Pulpit in Politics

When President Reagan asserts that it is perfectly legitimate to intertwine politics and religion [NATION, Sept. 17], he really means politics and Christianity. If he were a Jew or a Buddhist or a Muslim, he might feel different. But then he would not be President.

Garth Ware

Encinitas, Calif.

Contrary to the glib remarks of some contemporary politicians and preachers, religious freedom for all was not a cornerstone of American democracy. The Puritans in England, for example, went to the New World because they believed it was a place where they might have religious freedom, but only for themselves. Wherever Early American clergymen controlled the lives of their people, they permitted absolutely no dissent from their own religious and political beliefs.

Paul Carano

Professor Emeritus of History

University of Guam

Agana, Guam

A government best serves its people by protecting them from the decay and the ultimate disintegration that earlier civilizations experienced when their leaders cared nothing about preserving moral and religious values.

Michele Fristad

Fremont, Calif.

This disagreement over abortion between New York Archbishop John O'Connor and Geraldine Ferraro has become ludicrous. The Archbishop should leave politicians alone. They are simply carrying out their oath to uphold the laws of the land. Instead, he should take on the Supreme Court. We Catholics know the church's teaching on abortion.

Elizabeth Mahoney

Copiague, N. Y.

I had begun to despair that the church had gone soft and was in danger of going out of existence. But now I know the institution is alive and well because it is being mocked daily for taking a stand against abortion, defending biblical morality and pronouncing clearly the way of Christ's cross.

(The Rev.) J. Grant Swank Jr.

Walpole, Mass.

No longer is the fight in this country a struggle between North and South, black and white, rich and poor or even Republican and Democrat. It is a battle between right and wrong. President Reagan is trying to restore decency and morality. Shame on those who think he is wrong.

Ernesto N. Rivas

Tustin, Calif.

The ominous move by Evangelicals and Roman Catholics to intimidate the Government into enacting denominational dogma into public law is a crushing admission of failure by their clergy. It spotlights the inability of these ministers to persuade their own congregations to conform to church doctrine.

William C. Meazel

Santa Fe, N. Mex.

Believing in God has nothing to do with a person's moral values. Morality flows from an understanding of life's potential grace and beauty. When a person's conduct is influenced by a bribe of heaven or a threat of hell, his actions are merely an involuntary result of force and fear.

Mary E. Littlejohn

Gaffney, S.C.

Let us not forget that the historical Jesus was murdered on the orders of a politician at the behest of money-grubbing theologians who were upset because the religious ideas he practiced and advocated did not conform with tradition.

Tobey H. Llop

Amherst, N. Y.

Apology Due

In your story on Trivial Pursuit [LIVING, Sept. 3], one of the game's creators boasts that the easiest Trivial Pursuit questions are designed for "mongies" (mongoloids), "for people who are brain-dead at 1 in the morning." As the mother of a 13-year-old son with Down's syndrome, more popularly known as mongolism, I was outraged by this comment, which only perpetuates the myth that those with Down's syndrome are mentally incapable.

Many people with the condition are gainfully employed. I know a young man who prepared for his bar mitzvah in Hebrew and another who passed the New York State Regents Competency Tests. Publishing such a quote does a great disservice to those people.

Elizabeth Villani

Yonkers, N. Y.

Divided Germany

Instead of blocking talks between East and West Germany [WORLD, Sept. 17], the Soviets should realize that Germany is the flash point between NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries. Were Germany reunified as a neutral country and barred, like Japan, from building offensive forces, it would join Sweden, Austria and Yugoslavia as a buffer between the two groups. Both superpowers could then reduce their missiles and occupying armies.

Lee Wakefield

San Francisco

Freedom from PACs

Thank you for the informative article on political action committees [NATION, Aug. 20]. Early in my political career, I accepted some contributions from PACs, but I have been returning all such donations since June 1982.1 became concerned about the perception that votes can be influenced by PAC funds and felt strongly that everyone should be heard, whether or not he or she gives a penny to a political candidate. I am more comfortable and have a sense of freedom without the PAC money.

Buddy Roemer, Representative

Fourth District, La.

Washington, D.C.

Manner of Speaking

Your lighthearted treatment of the differences between male and female conversational styles [SEXES, Sept. 17] obscures the problem for all of us. Imagine a man's temperament if a woman made 96% of the interruptions in his conversation with her.

A woman's thoughts, however, are fragmented from childhood by thousands of interruptions. The result is that speaking to a man about anything of substance is a burden and thus, a woman will converse with a man only in a "trivial" way. Her real thoughts are reserved for herself or her women friends.

Geraldine Monosoff

Carmel, Calif.

In your latest episode about Ralph and Wanda, Ralph accuses Wanda of too much long-distance jabbering with her friends. Thanks for a perfectly timed piece. It arrived shortly after my husband received the phone bill.

Caralee Mueller

Tucson