Letters

Al-Qaeda in America

"If we keep our eyes and ears open, pay attention to and report suspicious activity, we can all play a part in fighting terrorism." LYNETTE CARRINGTON Gilbert, Ariz.

I was disappointed to see al-Qaeda's latest "threat" to the U.S. as TIME's cover story [Aug. 16]. It seems as though every time the government hiccups, the media jump in to play on America's paranoia about another terrorist strike. So the government is saying that al-Qaeda will attack, just like on the Fourth of July and this past New Year's and all last year and before that? I'm not holding my breath. ALLAN WEIR Nashville, Tenn.

President Bush is right on target. Terrorists are our biggest threat. Forget worrying about the economy. That won't matter if we allow terrorists to destroy our nation. ROSEMARY STOCK Strongsville, Ohio

Highly sensitive information about possible terrorist attacks, regardless of the public interest, should be revealed only on a need-to-know basis. And that need should be determined by the ability to do something about the threat. BEN THOMPSON Marietta, Pa.

Saddam Hussein was a very evil person, and I'm glad we forced him out of power. But shouldn't our focus be on the man who started it all? I can't figure out why we haven't captured Osama bin Laden long before now. We've been so involved with getting Iraq back on track that bin Laden and al-Qaeda are getting ready to attack us again. So once more we're all on pins and needles, because we don't know when or where or how. PATRICIA JONES Reston, Va.

Since the invasion of Iraq, there seem to be more terrorist cells. Anti-American sentiment has reached an all-time high around the world, and President Bush is largely responsible for that. I don't think creating hundreds of new terrorists every day is an effective policy for dealing with terrorism. DOUGLAS E. MCCULLEY Virginia Beach, Va.

How many times have we heard that al-Qaeda wants to pull off an attack in the U.S. before the elections in November? Terrorists carried out coordinated bombings in Madrid on March 11, and the Spanish candidate challenging the Prime Minister in the March 14 election--the candidate whom terrorists surely preferred--won. Ask yourself which candidate al-Qaeda wishes to become the next U.S. President--and why. PHYLLIS M. RAMOS Calumet, Mich.

I wish the media would just shut up! With your rants about even the remote possibility of bombings, you are doing exactly what the terrorists want you to do: instill uncertainty in American lives. Enough, already! The risk of attacks is a price we Americans must assume--and pay. We must respond to these risks with standard precautions and watchful waiting. Then, if the unthinkable occurs, we will deal with it. We should behave the way our law-enforcement and natural-disaster personnel do: quietly, efficiently--without alarming the public with color codes and "special reports." TONY DIBIASIO Surprise, Ariz.

The Center Cannot Hold?

In his column "America Divided? It's Only the Blabocrats" [Aug. 16], Joe Klein suggested that the great partisan divide in the U.S. is a "media-induced mirage" and that the populace in general is "far less vehement" than the "media yakkers" would have people believe. Klein was right on! The airwaves are full of venom from the far right and hatred from the far left--what Klein calls the media's Anger-Industrial Complex. Almost everyone I know is just trying to decide whether we are better off with an arrogant loner who says what he thinks and has created our antiterrorism protections, or with a more sophisticated, learned man who seems to be saying anything to get elected and is untested in the war on terrorism. Here in the center, we believe that both are good men who share similar views on many of the issues that concern us. Here in the center, we don't expect a President to agree with us on every issue. Here in the center, we see the differences between the two political parties and wish we could find a hybrid of them. JIM FERRIS Mesa, Ariz.

Good article, Joe, but I think you have forgotten one salient point: both filmmaker Michael Moore and talk-show host Rush Limbaugh are in the entertainment business. And business is good. TIMOTHY J. HAYES Indianapolis, Ind.

Joe, you may not want to hear this, but I have always considered you to be part of the Anger-Industrial Complex. I just never had a name for it before. RANDY DAUGHENBAUGH Rapid City, S.D.

I don't know why there was a question mark in Klein's title phrase "America Divided?" I have been around since the Franklin Roosevelt Administration and have never seen anything like the divisions today. The public reaction to the McCarthy witch hunts in the 1950s, the 1954 court decision on separate-but-equal schooling, the 1964 civil rights legislation and the 1974 Watergate affair did not exhibit the deep schisms apparent in the U.S. today. The divisions are the worst since the Civil War. RALPH CRAIG Amherst, Mass.

After reading Klein's column, I'm left to wonder in what ethereal realm he is living! My Republican-backing brother and I haven't spoken in 11 years, and take special care to avoid being at the same family functions. Things got worse between us after Clinton's impeachment. Most other adults I know have experienced a similar politically engendered family separation. Klein's portrayal of a passive neutrality by the majority of Americans is a fiction in his own mind. It certainly doesn't jibe with the real, day-to-day America most of us experience. PHIL STAHL Colorado Springs, Colo.

A More Transcendent Church

You reported that the percentage of adult Americans who call themselves Protestant is now 52%, a drop of 11% between 1993 and 2002 [Aug. 16]. You also noted that in the past decade, the number of people who don't identify with any religious affiliation rose 6%, to 14%. One way to look at those figures is as a verification of the trend that more of us are not leaving our faith but finding a different belief, one broad enough to transcend the petty demands and differences of specific religious groups. We see ourselves and everyone else as spiritual beings, loved and valued by a God with many names. Surely this is evolution at its best, as well as a necessary step toward peace on earth. JOANNE TYSON TATHAM Irvine, Calif.

The shrinking proportion of protestants isn't new. The Book of Matthew says that in the end times, many believers will fall away and false prophets will arise and lead people astray. I am not surprised and will be even less so when the masses come rushing back to the faith. I just pray they don't decide too late. It is, after all, a limited-time offer. VIK BANGIA Yorba Linda, Calif.

If protestant churches would get out of their literalism and renounce their power trip, those of us who love Jesus and believe in a nontheistic God, pantheism, the Ultimate Mystery and a humanly created culture would welcome a place to experience these "new" ideas in a Christian community. CAROL BALLANTINE Mandeville, La.

Cinema's Dubious Sanctity

Thanks for the article about Christians who are using mainstream movies as a teaching tool [Aug. 16]. This trend is right at the core of the problems with modern-day Christianity: entertainment has replaced worship. To keep people coming back, churches have replaced the Gospel with film clips and wishy-washy messages based on popular culture. Some of the "spiritual lessons" gleaned from movies are often a real stretch. The mantra among pastors today is, "Think outside the box," which really means watering down the Gospel to earn society's approval. Why don't we get back to thinking inside the Book--the Bible? (THE REV.) FRANK NOLTON Ortonville, Mich.

As an agnostic, I feel I must point out that the cinematic themes mentioned as topics for Sunday sermons--redemption, acceptance, the search for identity--predate the cinema and Christianity. Although a Christian may see a religious message in such films as Shrek 2, I Robot and Dodgeball, an objective person might suggest that religion--like art, literature and film--is a means of expressing universal themes that have concerned humans throughout history. SAM BREUNIG Chicago

As a 16-year-old girl, I feel as though the websites offering religious explanations for recent movies are merely creating something that is not there. I go to the movies because I want to see Spider-Man beat the bad guy, or the ogre Shrek get his ogress. To suggest that these movies are something other than what they were meant to be is ridiculous. LINDSEY MITCHELL Copley, Ohio

Rocking the Vote

Re your people item on the musicians who are part of the Vote for Change tour aiming to unseat President Bush in the November elections [Aug. 16]: All I see coming out of this tour is a bunch of musicians forcing their opinions on people my age. My young and vulnerable generation has not yet developed a political mind-set, owing to our lack of experience. We need to make up our own minds. These musicians are not teaching us anything by telling us to vote for John Kerry and giving us a concert. It's fine to encourage us to vote, but my generation will be effective members of society only if we form our political opinions based on the facts and not on the views of pop-culture icons. TIFFANY ANN FLETCHER Newton, Mass.

Sin Spins Out of Control?

Las Vegas is a metaphor for the future of the U.S. [July 26]. Excess freedom when mixed with excess wealth has its disadvantages. Perhaps Sin City might eventually spin into a larger whirlpool and create a Sin Country. History has its lessons: Rome had its Colosseum; America has its Las Vegas. KADIRI FATAH Otta, Nigeria

Cartier-Bresson's Legacy

Thanks to James Nachtwey for his Appreciation of fellow photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson [Aug. 16]. Nachtwey's descriptions of Cartier-Bresson's artful shots made me aware of all the details that a single photo, like the one of Spanish children playing on a street, can encompass. About a year ago, I started looking at photographs late at night before going to sleep because I wanted to learn about photography and absorb the information that can be uniquely documented in a picture. This way of learning by contemplating photographs, just as Nachtwey did with Cartier-Bresson's pictures, continues. PETRA VON SCHENCK Wiesbaden, Germany

Games of Glory

The ancient Greek games symbolized the Olympian heights man was able to attain in a golden age [Aug. 9]. It is unfortunate that greed and corruption have found their way into the modern Olympic Games. The quest for glory has made some athletes use banned drugs or other performance-enhancing products. The Games offer us a rare opportunity for unity and a chance to prove that we are worthy inheritors of the Greek ancestors who left a noble history. G.A. AMADI Aba, Nigeria

Quick Fix Needed

As a retired pharmacist, I found your article about malaria quite interesting [July 26]. You noted that a compound derived from an ancient Chinese herbal remedy, artemisia, "cures 90% of patients within three days, but it is in short supply." However, in your May 31, 1993, issue you reported that an artemisia remedy was "a couple of years away from widespread use." Perhaps there has been a delay in production because the cost has been overestimated and the rewards underestimated. But the firm that produces an affordable artemisia tablet would enjoy tremendous brand-name recognition worldwide. JACQUES M. DEWULF Wemmel, Belgium

Moore Concerns

If the assertions Michael Moore makes in his film Fahrenheit 9/11 are factual [July 12], then why didn't Moore testify before the properly constituted bipartisan 9/11 commission, where his claims would have been thoroughly investigated and tested, along with the testimony of 1,200 other witnesses? JOHN A. ARKCOLL Lilydale, Australia

About that Wall

Matt Rees' "Letter From Jerusalem" [Aug. 2] referred to the separation wall being built by the Israelis, saying it might prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from crossing to Israel. However, it has not prevented Israeli army incursions into the West Bank and Gaza. Moreover, if the wall is completed as planned, long sections of it will run through the heartlands of the West Bank, isolating Palestinian villages, separating residents from their farms and fertile lands and even dividing Palestinian families. Praising this wall is like praising the Berlin Wall. AZZAM EL-HAIT Cairo

The international court of justice in the Hague ruled that Israel's West Bank barrier violates international law. There is another side to the story, however. More than 1,000 Israelis have been killed by Palestinian terrorists in the past four years. The security fence has proved to be a deterrent. What would any enlightened society have done if time and again it had been attacked by terrorists who infiltrated its stores, pizza parlors, buses and holiday celebrations to deliberately kill women and children? Wouldn't any society want a security fence? Isn't saving innocent lives worth the inconveniences it causes? The security fence is a nonviolent way to reduce terrorism. RANDY TISCHLER Raanana, Israel

Rees caught the tempo and spirit of today's more upbeat Jerusalem, but I was disturbed by his comments on the Ethiopian Jews who work as restaurant security guards and search customers' bags and swipe patrons with metal detectors. Rees noted that most of the guards are "drawn from the underprivileged Ethiopian community [because] few others are willing to take a low-paying job that could lead to a terrible death." This is an injustice to the Ethiopian-Jewish community.

Ethiopian Jews are a very proud and modest group of people who underwent unspeakable hardships before emigrating to Israel; their families and friends suffered humiliation, rape and murder. Assimilation into Israeli society has been nearly impossible for the first generation, but those who arrived in Israel as children and, of course, those who have been born here are becoming increasingly involved in mainstream Israeli life. Still, the situation in Israel remains intolerable and unsolvable. Rees' article captured the essence of life as we live it. It isn't easy. LARRY LESTER Motza Ilit, Israel