Letters

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I

liked Clinton's statement that "WE should be trying to build alliances and acting with others whenever we can and acting alone only when we have to." Because the U.S. is a superpower, with almost no competition, it may feel it is always right. But that doesn't mean the U.S. has to prove that everyone else is wrong. Only respect for others' views can bring the world nearer to peace.
GIRISH MEHTA
Baroda, India

Women Answer the Calling

"Rising Above The Stained-Glass Ceiling" pointed out some real struggles that women clergy face [June 28]. I've been a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for 18 years. In my previous congregation, where I served for 10 years, I was told after eight years of service, "One of the reasons we called a woman pastor was that we could pay her less." Women clergy are just as well educated and just as dedicated as male clergy. Our spouses and children sacrifice just as much as men's families. I pray for the day when we will be more interested in the quality of a pastor's leadership than in his or her gender.
(THE REV.) LESLIE SOYSTER
Camarillo, Calif.

I was the chair of the search committee that called the Rev. Joanna Adams to her first position as a Presbyterian senior pastor almost 20 years ago. Although she was the first woman in our pulpit, we did not call her because of her gender. She was simply one of the best we had ever heard at preaching the Gospel. She inspired all of us, male and female, young and old alike, with her sound theology, charisma, thoughtfulness, compassion and humor.
J. TOM MORGAN
Atlanta

How His Faith Is Received

Your story on religion and the oval Office [June 21] included a quotation by me. Contrary to the implication and context of your reference, my remark had nothing to do with President Bush personally. Instead, I was referring to the way he invokes God and Jesus, and good and evil, in policymaking speeches, apparently intending their impact to "bypass the mind and go straight to the bloodstream" of his listeners.
ELAINE PAGELS
PROFESSOR OF RELIGION
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Princeton, N.J.

What About Phylicia Rashad?

I was very disappointed by "10 Questions for Phylicia Rashad" [June 28]. The interview was apparently not about her but about what she thinks of Bill Cosby and Sean (P. Diddy) Combs. A woman should not be assumed to play a secondary role when, like Rashad, she is a talented actress who deserves to be the center of attention for her own outstanding accomplishments.
FU-LIN Y. LEE
McLean, Va.

Unanswered Questions

After months of work, the 9/11 commission has found no evidence that Iraq was involved in the 2001 attacks on the U.S. [June 28]. Shortly after that news, President Bush said, "The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam [Hussein] and al-Qaeda [is] because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda." I am so tired of mindless, circular and arrogant reasoning from this President. It doesn't convince me of anything and leaves me with an empty feeling about the leadership of this country.
TOM BENSKY
San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Now that all the hoopla is over regarding how the 9/11 hijackers did their dirty deed, one might hope the discussion would turn to why they did it. Americans deserve a public debate on that issue. Besides going to war, spending billions and making more enemies, is there anything we can do to prevent its happening again?
ROBERT S. MOORE
Huntsville, Ala.