Letters

Apartheid's Agony

To the Editors: A great deal has been said on the subject of apartheid, but your articles on the situation in South Africa were especially touching and coherent [WORLD, Aug. 5]. How can the whites in South Africa live with themselves? Their actions make me want to apologize for my race. Kirsten Groseclose Ridgewood, N.J.

I am sure I speak for a large percentage of white South Africans when I say that apartheid is abhorrent to us. We dream about a South Africa where everyone will have equal political rights. I see the changes now afoot as the start of an era of reform. However, I am convinced that majority rule will eventually force white South Africans to sacrifice their future in this country. Laura Gardiner Cape Town

In our eagerness to communicate to the white Afrikaners that we disapprove of the stupid and intractable way they handle their black brothers, we probably fail to recognize what we are doing. Our American do-gooders were largely responsible for the fall of friendly governments in Iran, Nicaragua and Cuba. Each is now in the hands of unfriendly and much more repressive leaders. If South Africa falls, as it well may, the next government will in all probability be antiwhite and anti-American, and then "they" will turn over to the Russians their strategic naval bases. The control of the southern sea-lanes will be lost to the U.S., making the world more difficult to live in. We seem once again to be committed to destroying our friends in the name of "goodness." Ernest Henderson Avon, Mass. Hudson's Health

Rock Hudson has displayed courage in revealing that he has AIDS [MEDICINE, Aug. 5]. Some people may now question his masculinity, but I say his bravery in the face of suffering has shown him to be a "real man." Ronda Tucker-Gerns Riverside, Calif.

I am sorry that Hudson has AIDS. I also feel sorry for heavy smokers who develop lung cancer. But my sorrow is somewhat tempered by the thought that people who knowingly put their hands in a flame should not be surprised if their fingers get badly burned. Leonard N. Carlson Murray, Ky.

As Errol Flynn's goddaughter, I had no knowledge of his sexuality. But as the producer and contributing writer of the television adaptation of his auto biography, I found all the evidence to the contrary of your conclusion that he was a homosexual. Flynn added gaiety to Hollywood, but in the old-fashioned sense of the word. He was unquestionably a ladies' man right down the line. Doris Keating Beverly Hills Atomic Afterthoughts

The man who was ultimately responsible for ordering the use of the Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was President Harry Truman. In his Memoirs he wrote, "The final decision of where and when to use the atomic bomb was up to me. Let there be no mistake about it." The last part of your story [SPECIAL SECTION, July 29] states that "taking responsibility for one's actions and decisions seems out of fashion in the atomic age." Would that our present leadership were as willing to take responsibility as Truman. Harry Cullins Princeton, III.

Yoshitaka Kawamoto's recollections of that fateful morning in Hiroshima are the reality of the atomic age, which we all fear. It is time for everyone everywhere to demand the cessation of nuclear armaments. Next time there may not be a Kawamoto to tell us how it was. Leslie Neumann Dallas

It is difficult not to be moved by Kawamoto's account of the hell he lived through. That a sane people like the Americans could subject others to such horror cannot be fairly judged with morally indignant hindsight. The judgment should be made in light of the information available at the time of the decision. The Japan of World War II was brutal, fanatic and imperialistic. It perpetrated a thou sand lesser hells upon others, from China to Pearl Harbor to Bataan. Only a pro found shock could turn about such a national mind. The A-bomb provided that shock and saved many Japanese and American lives in the process, and ultimately gave Japan the opportunity to develop into a responsible nation. George B. Pogue Scottsdale, Ariz.

Our concern with the dangers of atomic weapons has not been equaled by our attempts to prevent their use again. Consequently these armaments may once more wipe out a city or even civilization. Permanent world peace will come with the control of force rather than the pursuit of force. To prevent wars, we need to create dependable structures such as a limit ed world government with the power to enforce universal disarmament, and a re formed and restructured U.N. with the capability to prevent war. Eric Cox, Field Director World Federalist Association Washington

We now have a generation that believes there may not be a tomorrow. This attitude has created a cynical generation. We do not see the fear of a nuclear war so much in children raised in poverty. They are only worried about day-to-day survival and having enough to eat. We do see it though, in an unprecedented fashion, in the middle class. Today's young people are more anxious about the future than any previous generation. In fact, a large number of youngsters are reporting this fright in their dreams and feel helpless in its midst. Joyce Brothers Fort Lee, N.J. Disposal at Sea

Your article on waste in the Navy [NATION, Aug. 5] stirred memories about the U.S. Navy's established tradition of throwing almost anything overboard. Having observed firsthand the Navy's wasteful practices, I have become a cynic about the mind-set of military managers. Petty Officer Robert Jackson, who documented the waste on the Kitty Hawk, de serves a medal and promotion to Admiral. Ian A. Morrison Millbrook, N.Y. Gannett's Gamble

As a confirmed reader of most of what the press has to offer, I cast an affirmative vote for USA Today [PRESS, Aug. 5]. The comprehensive capsules of national and international news and the colorful sections make the paper most appealing. Edward G. Lara Chicago

USA Today is shoveling sand against a slow tide. I read it for a couple of months along with my local paper. USA did not offer enough in addition to make it worth the time. Don Dondero Reno

Your article used the term factoid to mean "a short fact or statistic that appears halfway into a story to buttress a point or offer an example." The term was coined by the author Norman Mailer more than 20 years ago in his book about Marilyn Monroe to mean an alleged fact presented by an author or speaker who knows it is false. Theodore J. Greene New York City

Mailer did coin the word by combining "fact" with the suffix "oid" (resembling) to describe a made-up fact accepted as true because it has appeared in print. USA Today staffers use the term as TIME reported it. Anti-Semitism's Roots

Harvey Falk in his book Jesus the Pharisee: A New Look at the Jewishness of Jesus [RELIGION, July 22] rightly recognizes that some of the teaching in the first three Gospels, which are presented as the words of Jesus, agree with the position of the School of Hillel. But Falk goes beyond the evidence in thinking that the denunciations were only of the followers of Shammai. The authors of the synoptic Gospels, not Jesus, denounced the Pharisees in general. The denunciations arose from the bitter controversies between Jews and early Christians and were ascribed to Jesus by Gospel authors. Falk picked the wrong controversy as the source of the denunciations: it was the one between the Pharisees and the early Christians, not the one between the School of Hillel and the School of Shammai. Howard M. Teeple, Executive Director Religion and Ethics Institute Inc. Evanston, III.

It is important to remember that the New Testament was written during a time when Rome dominated the ancient world. Anti-Jewish themes run through out the New Testament for a good reason. If the Romans had rightfully been blamed for perpetrating most of the problems of that time, they would probably have sup pressed the book, and we would be deprived of reading it today. The authors of the New Testament played up to the Romans and denigrated the Jews, thus sowing the seeds of anti-Semitism. Tom Whitney Gainesville, Fla.