Letters for January 31, 2002

People like Kendall Stagg may be well-intentioned, but he goes way overboard about secondhand smoke. He’d make a really good anti-gun lobbyist, if he isn’t one already. One-sided studies done by those with an agenda are simple propaganda. For some unbiased information on the subject, check the following stories at www.portal.telegraph.co.uk: “Passive Smoking Doesn’t Cause Cancer” and “Passive Smokers Inhale Six Cigarettes a Year.”

H. Sande
via e-mail

RN&R letter writer member of al-Qaida?
Re “Blatant anti-semitism? Read on” [RN&R Letters, Jan. 17]:

With one exception, “S. Wright” trots out the standard litany of mendacious anti-semitic slurs. The one exception is the reference to the Koran’s superiority to the Bible. This statement should lead readers to suspect that “S. Wright” is really the pseudonym of a person of Middle Eastern origin, likely a member of an al-Qaida sleeper cell; someone with too much time on his hands, no doubt waiting to receive a phone call from a cave in Afghanistan telling him what to do next.

Leonard Weinberg
Reno

Ignorance breeds prejudices
Re “Blatant anti-semitism? Read on” [RN&R Letters, Jan. 17]:

The e-mail letter to the editor from S. Wright, in your January 17 edition, was titled with the question “Blatant anti-semitism?” That title must surely be rhetorical, since S. Wright’s letter is inarguably anti-semitic, filled with standard anti-semitic canards.

That Jews are somehow disproportionately in control of finances, retailing and the like is factually inaccurate; but then S. Wright hardly sounds like one who lets facts hinder his/her prejudices.

While many Jews are among those in our country who are economically blessed, there are also Jews in the United States who live in poverty. One could wish that S. Wright might be among those who work to eradicate poverty among all persons, rather than waste energies on defaming some.

As one with some level of expertise in the Hebrew Bible, I must wonder just what text S. Wright has been reading when he refers to its god. There is no “Jehovah” anywhere in the text of the Hebrew Bible; that name is simply a mistake. It would seem that S. Wright only “skimmed” this text, as he admittedly did the Koran. A careful, honest reading of the Hebrew Bible would have revealed a God both of justice and of compassion.

Understanding sacred text, God and individual religious histories is a complicated task with which many of us struggle. Even faithful believers can question some of what our traditions preach. S. Wright, however, seems unequipped to do so, either by knowledge or by honesty of character. So instead, he spews unfounded and hateful ignorance.

Faith is complex. International politics are complex. Living together in a diverse world is complex. Only prejudice is simple.

It is hardly surprising, then, that someone of S. Wright’s apparently limited capacities would choose the latter. Surely the rest of us can do much better than that.

Rabbi Myra Soifer
Temple Sinai

Cheadle rocks; Grimm stinks
Re: “2001: The Year in Film” [RN&R, Jan. 17]:

Well, Bob Grimm has done it again. How could he not like Don Cheadle’s performance in Oceans 11? He did an excellent job. It’s bad enough Grimm liked Traffic, the worst movie ever made. Now he gave a bad review to an actor that did a great job?

If you are paying Bob Grimm for every stupid thing he says, he must be rich. Here is some advice for Bob Grimm: When you watch a movie, make sure your head is looking at the screen, not up your ass!

Tom Schreck
via e-mail