Letters

SCIENCE AND THE SHROUD

"Jesus appreciated the need of modern man for solid evidence of the Resurrection. The shroud is that evidence and a basis for our faith." BENJAMIN A. WIECH North Tonawanda, N.Y.

As a scientist and a Catholic, I believe the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Christ [RELIGION, April 20]. Perhaps the only conclusion that will satisfy everyone is that for those who have true faith, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not, no explanation is possible. WILLIAM J. KEPPLER South Miami, Fla.

The shroud is a centuries-old object of superstition long ago declared not to be authentic. It is hardly worth the ink you wasted on it. Stick with the facts and your credibility won't suffer. RICHARD L. CRAWFORD Columbia, S.C.

As a man of pragmatic faith, I am confused by the fact that there is any debate at all. If we are to believe God is the Creator of all that exists in the universe, wouldn't that include science? Didn't he give man the intellectual resources to discover life's secrets? Why must science and faith be at odds? The physical evidence presented by the believers helps convince me that the shroud was used to cover a crucified man, but it does not come near to contradicting the carbon aging tests. The questions that need to be answered are, Who was this man, and who determined the sacrifice that his faith dictated? WAYNE B. ANDERSON Longmont, Colo.

If Jesus were as tall as the Shroud of Turin seems to indicate, about 6 ft., don't you think Matthew, Mark, Luke or John would have mentioned his majestic height--far above average for the time--as evidence of his divinity? The shroud belonged to somebody else or is a hoax, but just try to reason with believers. IRA LEVIN New York City

The shroud would be more of an enigma if it were proved to be a 14th century artifact. However, even if it is the handiwork of a person, it seems to represent some force or intelligence beyond our understanding. Perhaps it should be regarded as a revelation from an unknown prophet to a future generation, an expression so tangible that even an age so obsessed with material things as our own might understand it, just as the disciple Thomas was allowed to touch the wounds of our Lord with his own hands in order to believe and have faith. DANIEL MERCER Pennsauken, N.J.

Surely the results of one scientific dating test cannot be ignored when trying to answer all the questions that are raised. It's the nature of good science to continue to ask good questions. There are speculations that the shroud's image may have been created by a "burst" of energy at the time of the Resurrection. Could such a burst have altered the fabric in a way that would affect the outcome of this modern dating method? JONATHAN SMITH Calico Rock, Ark.

The issue of whether the shroud is genuine will never be resolved. The scientific arguments are very strong, and the faith of the believers is equally so. But it is too bad you did not consider the evidence presented by Walter C. McCrone, Ph.D., a member of the 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project. In numerous articles and a recent book, McCrone has shown that there is no blood on the shroud. The image on the linen was created with artist's pigments. CRAIG DELLER Geneva, Ill.

In spite of evidence supplied by three highly regarded scientific laboratories that the shroud is a fake, it is estimated that almost 3 million devoted followers will line up to see it. People believe only what they want to believe. ANTONIO COLACINO Naples, Italy

As a physical anthropologist working in Israel for the past 25 years, I have devoted much of my research to clearing ancient Jewish graves in Jerusalem. In this century alone, we have uncovered more than 1,000 ancient burial sites from the time of Jesus. As a result, there is a tremendous amount of information about these funerary practices. Jesus lived, died and was buried according to the Jewish practices of the time. The Shroud of Turin is in total nonconformity with all that is known about Jewish burial practices, making it a clear case of medieval forgery. It is simply an icon, nothing more, created for the pious and faithful in the Middle Ages. JOE ZIAS Jerusalem

Even if science declares the shroud not genuine, that will not change the faith of the millions who venerated it before the ruling and the millions who will continue to do so afterward. In spite of the advances made by science, it cannot alter the inner belief that each human being possesses. ALEX S. MAALIW Noisiel, France

ACHIEVING THE IRISH PEACE

Now that he's helped out with the Irish pact [WORLD, April 20], why not ask former Senator George Mitchell to take on the Middle East? DAVID SADTLER London

The Irish settlement raises the possibility that convicted terrorists, some of whom have carried out acts of unspeakable brutality and wickedness, will be released. One cannot help wondering what message will be sent to other terrorists. They will believe that the end can justify the means. PETER GORDON Bournemouth, England

HERE SHE COMES AGAIN

If it wasn't crystal clear before that there is an ultra-conservative crusade out to get Bill Clinton, now there is proof in the fact that Paula Jones is appealing the judge's decision to dismiss her case [ESSAY, April 27]. Jones has always been a pawn of the right wing, which will spend any amount to bring Clinton down. These Clinton haters have promised to bankroll her legal expenses; they don't care about her vindication. Jones is a complete phony. TOBY MACK Roxas City, the Philippines

If anybody has caused sustained damage to Jones in recent years, it is probably not the President but all those who have wrongfully persuaded her to continue a legally losing case simply to serve their own political goals. NICOLAS ISSID Cernavoda, Romania

LEADERS OF THE CENTURY

Too bad you didn't see fit to include Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as one of your key "Leaders & Revolutionaries" of the 20th century [TIME 100, April 13]. Rabin not only orchestrated the historic peace treaty between Israel and Jordan and the Oslo accords with the Palestinians but also brought about a general recognition in Israel of the price that has to be paid for peace. The result today is a general moderation among right-wing movements. ASSAF KEDEM Zichron Ya'acov, Israel

The lives of two pairs of individuals named as 20th century leaders coincided with remarkable results: Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. The latter pair have not yet received the recognition they deserve. Incumbents Bill Clinton and Tony Blair are mere shadows of their respective towering predecessors. Fortunately, today we are not caught up in events that are as desperately dangerous as the ones that involved the earlier two remarkable pairs. GRAHAM LANGMEAD Bognor Regis, England

TIME attempted to label the 20th century in a handful of ways. I have the sinking feeling that posterity will refer to it as the Century of Destruction. The victim? Our planet. GUSTAV RADLOFF Pretoria, South Africa

I was particularly impressed that you gave a lot of coverage to Asian leaders in your selection of the TIME 100. Everyone in Asia feels that Western magazines do not give enough credit to our leaders. TIME did Asians justice. ARBAB QUADRI Dhaka, Bangladesh

The prominence you gave Ronald Reagan is most undeserved. He was an eloquent President but an egocentric, myopic and vindictive person. He had leadership thrust on him by the circumstances of the times. JAMES AKWUNWA Onicha-Ugbo, Nigeria

ABOUT THE ARCHDUKE

I was astonished that in your chronology of major events of the century [TIME 100, April 13] you described Archduke Ferdinand as "Yugoslav." The Archduke, who was assassinated in 1914, was the Austrian or Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, and he was not and could never have been Yugoslav, since Yugoslavia as a state did not come into being until 1918. ANDRE ERDOS Ambassador of Hungary to the U.N. New York City

THE MINORITY GAP ON CAMPUS

You reported on the drop in minority admissions at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Texas, Austin [NATION, April 20]. The acceptance gap at top colleges and universities is not the result of urban African Americans being less intelligent. They are not, but they are hindered by their cultural ethos. Most urban public schools suffer from hypersegregation and overcrowding with little or no consistent preparation for the academic excellence that top schools require. Languishing in "holding pens," very few urban African-American students ever get the proper skill development to successfully take the SATs. Remediation and acculturation to the academic process are a big part of creating success for urban freshmen and should include social services to deal with their angst and help overcome a lack of academic skills. Left to the vagaries of "normal" acceptance procedures, universities and colleges will miss the diversity our democratic culture is supposed to support. PETER CLARK, Teacher Choir Academy of Harlem New York City

As an Asian American in this year's tough applicant pool, I am perplexed as to why I am not considered a minority when it comes to college admissions. Affirmative action sounds wonderful in theory, but the practice of colleges admitting less academically qualified applicants to serve as tools for diversity while rejecting people with more academic merit does not seem right at all.

Though it is true that there will be less diversity without affirmative action in admissions, it is false that there will be no diversity whatsoever. A little less racial diversity for the sake of much greater fairness is a trade-off that balances the scales of justice. ALICE LAM New York City

Of course, minority enrollment is going to drop when affirmative action is curtailed. But as Charles Krauthammer noted [VIEWPOINT, April 20], many minority students were enrolling in schools whose academic requirements far exceeded their abilities and preparation. At heart, this is a socioeconomic problem. Many minority students come from low-income families, in which education is often not held in high regard. As a result of their parents' indifference, a number of these children do not perform well in school and are generally ill prepared for any college, much less schools with high academic standards, like the University of California, Berkeley. It's time for the media and minority leaders to quit screaming about racial injustice and begin preaching the message that preparation for college begins early, and it begins in the home. BOB PARKER Trussville, Ala.

Krauthammer has oversimplified the issues concerning minority admissions to the University of California system. He says that despite a startling decrease in black and Hispanic admissions at Berkeley and UCLA, the overall drop in minority admissions at all nine University of California campuses is not dramatic. But in a state as diverse as California, any decrease in the admission of underrepresented students is both significant and dramatic. The drop in minority admissions across the entire system is disturbing, not to be shrugged off as liberal alarmist rhetoric. The University of California must rethink and retool its eligibility and admission policies to reflect the needs of an increasingly diverse state. We need to level the playing field and engage in a reassessment of our present definition of academic merit. EUGENE GARCIA, Professor and Dean Graduate School of Education University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, Calif.

SAVE THE WHALES!

Your piece on the release of J.J., the orphaned gray whale raised by SeaWorld, questioned the motivation of Anheuser-Busch, which owns the four SeaWorld theme parks [AMERICAN SCENE, April 13]. You suggested that the effort to help J.J. was inspired by commercial considerations. However, it should be noted that J.J. was brought to SeaWorld at the request of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Our animal-care staff in San Diego has quietly treated and returned to the wild hundreds of other beached marine mammals. No organization in the world today rescues, rehabilitates and releases more marine mammals than our SeaWorld parks. JOHN B. ROBERTS, Chairman of the Board and President Busch Entertainment Corp. Clayton, Mo.

WHAT'S OBSCENE?

I believe that publisher Larry Flynt should be able to open his hard-core-pornography store in Cincinnati, Ohio [LAW, April 20]. I mean, we have nudity everywhere possible. It is practically a requirement for making a successful movie. Billboards everywhere show partial nudity. Nowadays nothing is considered obscene. People should worry less about pornography stores and start concentrating on how to prevent things like the shootings in Jonesboro, Ark. DHVANI DESAI North Brunswick, N.J.

I was amazed by the connections that A.C.L.U. president Nadine Strossen made between obscenity evangelist Flynt and Bill Clinton. She said, "Look at what's going on in the White House and how tolerant people are." But that is the exact reason why President Clinton's personal actions do matter. His life-style sets an example and to some degree defines the "community standards" of the U.S. that play a role in Supreme Court rulings. The right to watch videos like the ones Flynt sells, which depict implied urination and a woman crawling around in pig feces, may be a liberty, but it is certainly not civil. CHRIS LOW Farmington, Utah