Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor Defending the ACLU I very much enjoyed Ruth Conniff's column highlighting the work of civil liberties champion David Cole ("Staying Engaged," February issue). But a reference...
...But a reference to the ACLU in this otherwise excellent piece is incorrect...
...Why didn't Ehrenreich rise above the obvious...
...Our nation was founded by men who feared the influence of religion on government and who fought long and hard for the wall of separation between government and church...
...That is the way it should be...
...Robert Laughlin Littleton, Colorado Florida Tempest Thank you for the opportunity to clarify and correct statements about Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) and me that were attributed to author Terry Tempest Williams in your February issue (Interview by David Kupfer...
...I was concerned the author's negative partisan statements presented only one point of view-and would not provide a balanced presentation for the required Freshman Convocation, and also because the convocation is funded from state dollars, which cannot be used for partisan purposes...
...Our students who were interested in hearing Williams speak invited her to campus for an event in which state funds were not used, and attendance was voluntary...
...We will never check any of our employees against a government list...
...Ehrenreichs use of the tsunami as a means to question God's existence is just as puerile as the reasons fundamentalists give for the existence of the tsunami...
...Joe Ciarrocca Brunswick, Maine Rescue Jesus It is very tempting for those of us on the left to pay too much attention to the Biblical references that come out of the mouths of Bush and his ilk ("Hidden Passages," by Matthew Rothschild, March issue...
...Many of them also withdrew from the program after learning of the government's expectations (Amnesty joined in our lawsuit, as well...
...His group came to us with a request to rent space for an event at FGCU, something hundreds of organizations do each year...
...We will not compromise...
...We must show the majority of Americans that one's spirituality and religious beliefs are going to be respected by progressives...
...I'm sure that none of the groups that withdrew from the program because of the objectionable policy would want to be characterized as having "nearly caved" on screening employees...
...His views on compassion and sharing and forgiveness are sublime and can be shared by anyone of any belief...
...Thank you, Molly, and thank you, Progressive, for saving her for the end...
...Please cancel any remaining issues I might have of The Progressive...
...Commenting on recent repressive government initiatives, Conniff wrote that the ACLU "nearly caved on screening employees against a government list...
...Terry Tempest Williams is incorrect when she says I invited Vice President Dick Cheney to our campus...
...All letters may be edited for clarity and conciseness, and may appear either in the magazine or on its web page...
...True religious observance has nothing in common with deceit, warmongering, or fascism...
...We need to rescue Jesus...
...I welcomed her to FGCU that day and was among audience members who chose to hear her speak...
...We immediately withdrew from the Combined Federal Campaign, a workplace charity program administered by the government, after we learned for the first time on July 31 that the government expected recipients to check their employees' names against a watch list...
...Tammy Day Richmond, Virginia The editors welcome correspondence from readers on all topics, but prefer to publish letters that comment directly on material previously published in The Progressive...
...We must rescue Jesus, and for that matter Mohammed, Moses, Buddha, and Krishna, from those who would twist their words of hope and love into the rhetoric of hate and war...
...Then I read Molly ("Get Off Your Duff," February issue), had a laugh, and felt much better...
...And we absolutely will not accept any funding that undermines or threatens our principles or our mission...
...Emily Whitfield Media Relations Director ACLU National Office New York, New York Cheer and Jeer for Ehrenreich That's it: I'm out of here...
...But if all we do is rant about their use of God in politics, we will continue to marginalize many people of goodwill who feel strongly about their own faith...
...Terry Tempest Williams's The Open Space of Democracy was selected for fall 2004, and the mandatory Freshman Convocation...
...I did not...
...She would have seen the supernatural yet oh-so-human grandeur of one person deciding to help another...
...If there was no partisan agenda for this speech, there should have been no problem with moving it to a different date after the national election...
...William C. Merwin President Florida Gulf Coast University Thanks, Molly After a day of listening to Republicans, I felt there was no hope left for liberals...
...FGCU offers a unique learning opportunity to its freshmen through the "First Year Reading Experience," designed to introduce students to our institutional values and best practices in learning and critical thinking at the university level...
...FGCU did everything possible to introduce appropriate balance into the convocation, but since these efforts were met with resistance by the author, I postponed the event...
...Please commend Ehrenreich for writing this article and for helping to point out the hypocrisy of the oldest form of terrorism: "the fear of God...
...The one thing that everyone should be able to say is that Jesus was a good man...
...We must get him out of the dungeon of hate, fear, nationalism, greed, and materialism that the religious right has put him in...
...As ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said unequivocally in a statement issued that same day "The ACLU will not be intimidated...
...Letters may be e-mailed to: editorial@progressive.org Please include your city and state...
...I like people who poke fun at myths...
...Further, in August we formed a coalition in opposition to the watch list policy, and in November we joined forces with twelve national nonprofits in a lawsuit challenging the watch list policy...
...Jenny and Bill White Mattawamkeag, Maine This is a great article, a laugh a second...
...Our faculty organizers of the convocation say the Orion Society contacted them and wanted the last stop on her national book tour to be at FGCU, given our location in Florida as a key state in the national Presidential election...
...I should note that more than 2,000 charities participated in this program in addition to the ACLU, including other civil rights and civil liberties defenders such as Amnesty International and the Center for Constitutional Rights...
...It seems a better way to approach the use of Jesus in politics is to once again claim Jesus as our own, as Martin Luther King did so well...
...Barbara Ehrenreichs March essay ("God Owes Us an Apology") just about sums up all that is wrong with the left today...
...That is not true...
Vol. 69 • April 2005 • No. 4
