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What Our Readers
Say
Getti ng High
Congratulations to Michael Sny–
der on his fine and very balanced arti–
cle about drug abuse "Getting
High." His insight was able to carry
him (and us) bcyond the usual one–
dimensional statistical replay, or
encapsulated horror stories, that are
typical journalistic fare on this grave
subjcct.
Pam Mosher
Glendale, California
Silent Holocaus t
The article "The Silent Holocaust"
in
The Plain Truth
made me think
just how low mankind can stoop for
'convenience' sake. The killing of
human life born or unborn is break–
ing God's commandment in Exodus
20:13. 1 was shocked to read about
the 'grisly' methods used, it seems
hardly human.
M.P.
Oxford, England
All signs seem to indicate that we
are facing a bleak future, and one
might well ask whether it is morally
right to bring offspring into the
wor ld . (name withheld on reques t)
Whe re is West Germany
Head e d?
Gene Hogberg's article ent itled:
"Where is West Germany Headed?"
displays insight; it represents a solid
contribution to responsible political
analysis. A number of points might be
kept in mind about the German Feder–
al Republi c: First of all, it is the size of
the s tate ofOregon and seriously over–
crowded with about 64.5 million
people. Blessed only with an abun- ·
dance of eoal il was its great human
resources that made ita first-rate com–
mercial power in the face of post war
mass starvation.
lt
is simply too small
and too weak militarily and geopoliti-
June
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July 1981
cally to be able to, or desire to, replace
the power of the United States, the
Soviet Un_ion or even China. Leverage
could be exerted, of course, in tenuous
union with France, ltaly or sorne other
European nations.
Left-wing extremism, small nu–
merically, constitutes a serious and
growing threat both wi thin Schmidt's
ruling SPD and, at large, to the qual–
ity and the strength of the people. A
country that lives on the edge of the
abyss geographically as well as eco–
nomically cannot atford civil disrup–
tion in a world that is becoming more
and more chaotic.
Andreas R. Wesserle
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Born Aga in ?
Your article " Have You Experi–
enced Being Born Again?" was very
well written. Jt was informative, logi–
cal and substantiated by well-known
biblical scripture. 1 particularly liked
your reference to Nicodemus' reac–
tion to Christ's words when C hrist
told him of being " born again," the
parallel between N icodemus' puzzle–
ment and our modern day erroneous
( 1 believe) interpretation of "born
again" and what it really means.
1 also like your intelligent, concise
approach to the "emotional " aspect
of being born again that is so preva–
lent in today's society. Finally, your
explanation of "born again" makes
MUCH
more sense than anyt hing 1
have ever read (believe me, 1
wouldn ' t say this if
T
didn't mean it!) .
A very intelligent explanation--one
that l relate to on a strictly intellec–
tual basis (for I have very little else to
rely on, i.e., faith, belief, etc). But
when I can relate to something intel–
lectually, it gives me a feeling of sat–
isfaction, and 1 certainly responded to
your excellent article with a definite
feeling that something had been
explained satisfactorily. This does not
happen very often.
Patricia Kelley
Monrovia, California
Thro ugh ls lamic Eyes
Your article, "Seeing the World
Through lslamic Eyes," was excep–
tional and very enjoyable. However,
Mr. Stump failed to refer to Turkey
as an exception to his generalizations
regarding a secular government. Tur–
key is well over 90 percent Moslem
yet has a secular government.
Although the rel igion is quite preva–
lent in day to day actions of the pop–
ulace, the educational system (in
which
I
was once a teacher) as part of
the government is in fact not reli–
gious or run by Moslem clerics at
all.
John B. Thomas, Dean
Learning Resources
Davidson County Community
Collegt>
Lexington, North Carolina
Let me first introduce myself. l.
have been the 1mam of the London
Mosque for 2 1 years ( 1959 to 1980)
and have recently returned to Paki–
stan. 1 founded and edited the
Mus–
lim
Herald.
an English magazine
from London, which is sti ll being reg–
ularly published. 1 am also the author
of six books on Islam.
Unfortunately, si nce my arrival
here in Paki stan, 1 could not get hold
of
The
Plain
Truth,
as 1 think there
is no ageney of the magazine in this
country. Recently a friend sent me
the January issue of the magazine.
The a rti cle entitled "Seeing the
World Through lslamic Eyes" is
most informative for the Western
readers. Keith W. Stump has done
full justice to the subject.
B.A. Rafiq
Rabwah, Pakistan
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