Correspondence
BOYD, MARGARET & MacGILLIVRAY, RON & Evans, Ernest
Correspondence A vote for motherhood Halifax, Nova Scotia To the Editors: Hurrah for Janet Scott Barlow! She has expressed [Sept. 23] eloquently, elegantly, and humorously, the thoughts and...
...ERNEST EVANS...
...So thanks, Janet, and thanks Commonweal...
...My experiences with my students and with all of the other people that I have dealt with concerning the human rights issue convinces me that the only way to give people any long-term commitment to the cause of human rights is to not identify this cause exclusively with any one ideology, cause, or country...
...client regimes than under the Communist-bloc nations, you inevitably fall into a "body count mentality'' which destroys the concept as a serious moral issue...
...RON MacGILLIVRAY The author replies: In reply to the various questions raised by Mr...
...Otherwise it is an exercise in political rhetoric, which is the worst kind of debasement of all...
...2) On the specific issue of U.S...
...If he believes that the suffering of people in Poland can be in any way lessened by arousing public opinion in the United States, then well and good...
...policy in Central America, I have also written a number of articles and given many talks and interviews...
...Another important issue is raised...
...We would dismiss him as a mere propagandist...
...foreign policy in Latin America, and books and articles on the Soviet repression of its political and religious dissidents...
...should use quiet diplomacy on human rights violations by its own allies while issuing sharp public condemnations of human rights violations by the Soviet bloc...
...involvement in Central America...
...It still is...
...Surprise...
...For instance, we would not think very much of the integrity or the courage of a Soviet intellectual who criticizes U.S...
...The proper starting place for a person with a genuine and honest concern about human rights is at home where their efforts will likely have the most effect, bringing public pressure to bear on the policies of their own government which are the cause of people suffering elsewhere...
...He insists that if you start arguing human rights abuses are worse in U.S...
...3) In my courses at Catholic University I have my students read a variety of materials on human rights...
...Should he, in his capacity as assistant-professor at The Catholic University of America, be making as many people aware about what the United States government is doing in the third world so that in the event any of his students become future leaders, they will be in the position to bring about changes...
...Such quiet diplomacy will not weaken the political stability of America's allies...
...For example, I assign papal encyclicals and statements of Bishops' Conferences on social justice issues, analyses and critiques of U.S...
...His quote then from Simone Weil infers that we should raise our voices wherever violations are taking place...
...They argue that the U.S...
...while their own government is a sponsor of systematic violence in the third world, a fact which even he admits...
...For example, the argument about the contrast in American leverage over its client states compared to its leverage over the Soviet Union and its client states is accepted by many of the neo-Cold Warriors...
...Nonsense...
...The transparency of the "effectiveness" argument is thus revealed: Quite conveniently, both ends of the ideological spectrum can happily continue to attack their favorite targets...
...I have maintained that such a policy was contrary to the moral principles on which American society is based and that in the long run it would serve to promote rather than control terrorism...
...No one could possibly be expected to do this...
...Similarly, how can Americans become outraged over martial law in Poland Commonweal welcomes letters on subjects treated in its pages...
...4) Also quite destructive of the human rights cause are arguments about "effectiveness" when such arguments fit much too conveniently into rigid ideological views of world politics...
...For Professor Evans himself, assuming if he does indeed have a serious concern about human rights, the choice is a simple one...
...23] eloquently, elegantly, and humorously, the thoughts and feelings of many of us "Mums" who cheerfully (mostly) stayed in the kitchen at home because we were sure that bringing up children was worthwhile...
...In these articles, talks, and interviews I have criticized current U.S...
...But they draw a different conclusion from this fact...
...Letters of not more than 250 or 300 words naturally have a better chance of being published...
...policy in that region not only for political and strategic reasons but also because I feel that the U. S. is quite wrong to be ignoring or downplaying the major human rights violations of several of the countries of the region...
...MacGillivray, both those stated directly and those stated indirectly, I would like to make the following points: 1) On the general issue of U. S. foreign policy and human rights, I have written a number of articles and given many interviews and talks in which I attacked the argument of the neo-Cold Warriors that in American foreign policy human rights concerns had to be abandoned because of the need to combat international terrorism...
...MARGARET BOYD Beginning at home Edmonton, Alberta, Canada To the Editors: In his review of Edward S. Herman's The Real Terror Network [May 6], Professor Evans comes up short in one key area...
...while denunciations of the Soviet bloc's human rights violations will weaken the Soviet Union campaign of subversion that is supposedly causing the human rights violations of America's allies...
Vol. 110 • November 1983 • No. 19
