Speaking of Faith reaction

[begin letter]

Wow!! Listening to your conversation made me want to explode! Starting with your "Come to Ronnie" moment when you realized that America needed a "strong leader" to stand up to the Iranians. I can't stand these impulses for the following reason: use of force informed by ignorance.

I suggest you read All the Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer - and learn something about our involvement with other countries. But no, I'm sure you couldn't even find Iran on the map at the time you voted for Reagan. But that didn't matter. You needed to feel safe with your big strong, daddy - beating up the other guy. Was he macho enough? Did
you get a little hard? Ronald Reagan was a con artist. Jimmy Carter was and is principled, man of God (AND a pragmatist) who actually sets an EXAMPLE of God's work in this world.

What pisses me off about you FUCKING religious hypocrites is that you INSIST on the RIGHT to remain COMPLETELY FUCKING IGNORANT about EVERYTHING - including evolution - and YET you think you some how have the right to tell EVERYONE else how to live their lives!! By the way, it is NOT a PRINCIPLED decision when someone else has to face the consequences.

I don't give a shit about your burkenstocks! You are still a self- righteous tyrant.

SCUMBAGS!!!!

[end letter]

Clearly, the poor thing has a rich inner life.

Much more encouraging was this one, from Nancy in Massachusetts:

[begin letter]

Being a good Mass liberal and devout fan of WBUR, the public radio station that broadcasts the program, I heard parts of your interview last Sunday on 'Speaking of Faith'. I am also a card carrying Unitarian Universalist (UU) which probably puts me in the far left field. But given all of that I was deeply moved by your interview. I was struck by how similar the emotions are on both sides of the aisle.

Before my current career as an employee of a UU non-profit, I worked for a large corporation and spent many weeks in Texas and other red states. I never shared that I was a UU, kept my liberal views quiet and at many at business meeting listened as liberals were beaten up for their lack of family values. While I did not feel as intimated as your friend in the eastern media, it was clear that my views should not be shared and that being a UU would get me no points. As a mother of three daughters, I questioned where this divide even came from, I think I share the same dreams for my children. I want to them to be safe, happy and with wings strong enough to fly. In my six years of traveling to the red states I was awed by both our similarities and deep distrust of each other.

So as I listened to you I was again struck by our common interest. In your discussion of torture you would have been as comfortable in my living room as your own. I share your passion for the environment. This is clearly an area where we should be able to move beyond the divide and yet most action in Washington remains stalled. And on many issues we are probably much closer than you think. Like many 'liberals' I have voted for Republicans and probably will again in this election in our state elections. I don't believe government is the answer to all our problems and am deeply concerned with this bailout plan and the extent of government intervention. My husband is a hunter.

Of course on both sides we have extremes. And many of my liberal friends fall into that extreme. But that middle is large and it is time for us to take it back. We need to find our voice and begin the dialog that is do desperately needed in this country. Hopefully you will continue to use your voice to move that dialog forward. I will try to do my part from my side. Thanks for reminding me that our common values are as strong.