Quotes of the Day

I found your profile of archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams both sympathetic and well balanced [June 18]. His position of leadership must be one of the least enviable within the church or even the world. The difficulties he faces between American liberals and African conservatives over the issue of homosexual clergy seem almost insoluble. It is assumed by both sides of the controversy over homosexual priests that an agreement can be reached under which all parties are forced to follow one dogmatic position. Each outpost of Anglicanism, however, has become too much the creature of its own society and culture. If any doctrinal agreement can be made among all parts of the Anglican Communion, it must be based on fundamental tenets, not the issues of the day. Anglicanism is distinct from other Christian denominations by its flexibility in accommodating vast differences of opinion. Long may this continue.
Jeremy Goldsmith, LONDON

Williams' response to the scripture's stance on homosexuality is particularly instructive. He said, "It's impossible to get from Scripture anything straightforwardly positive about same-sex relationships." The Bible states that all such relationships are wrong. When one comes to the Christian faith, one is expected to work at becoming more like Christ, not to mold Christ to fit one's beliefs. The Archbishop would not have had to deal with this crisis if he had been sincere enough to follow Jesus Christ's teachings, as clearly stated in the Bible.
Bukola Apantaku, LEICESTER, ENGLAND

The Bible presents God's stance on same-sex relationships from the very beginning: God did not create two Adams or two Eves but one of each. Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria got it right, regardless of his being considered "archconservative" in your article. The following are not his words, but God's: "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable" (Leviticus 18: 22 and 20: 13). If the Anglican community seriously considers that same-sex relationships are a matter open for discussion, then the Bible should be modified. Since the Word of God is immutable, then the Bible will surely modify the Anglican community.
Elezer Puglia, ZUG, SWITZERLAND

All religions and churches are man-made constructions and organizations, so their internal bickerings are irrelevant. Don't waste space on such nonsense.
George Campbell, VIENNA

Reading the Signs
Amanda Ripley was correct that constant exaggerations concerning terrorist threats will make us less safe [June 18]. She points out the dangers of using terrorism for political gain. The color-coded terrorism warnings during the 2004 presidential campaign were a cynical example of that bombast. The drumbeat from pro-Iraq-war elements aims to reassure us that we're fighting terrorists over there so we don't have to fight them within our borders. The episode at Fort Dix in New Jersey, no matter how dumb the plotters were, is proof positive that terrorism can occur on our shores even if we're in Iraq. The war has accomplished nothing except to recruit more terrorists.
Steve Charing, CLARKSVILLE, MARYLAND, U.S.

Amanda Ripley suggested that the John F. Kennedy Airport terrorists were amateurs and therefore not a major problem. But most terrorists are amateurs. It doesn't take much training to be a suicide bomber. A car bomb is clearly the work of an amateur. A couple of amateurs in a small boat blew a hole in the U.S.S. Cole. The discovery of the J.F.K. plot is a good thing. Nobody knows the extent of the disaster that could have happened if the plot had been allowed to develop. Americans want to thwart all attacks, whether the terrorists are amateurs or professionals.
Neil Houston, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, U.S.

Easing Tensions
Re "How to avoid a new cold war" [June 18]: Whenever someone asks me to explain the murky goings-on in Eastern Europe, I say, Read Zbigniew Brzezinski. Zbig is nash, or "one of us," in Russian, Ukrainian and Polish. He has the personal background and intelligence to see everything clearly, as well as the courage and ability to expound on it coherently. The West cannot afford to allow his advice to go unheeded.
Ksenia Lena Maryniak, Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, EDMONTON, CANADA

Peace Signs
Re "Give peace a number" [June 18]: the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Peace Index ranks the peacefulness of countries based on violent crimes and soldiers killed overseas. It would be interesting to see a more positive index rating, such as the "most generous and compassionate countries in the world."
Charles Wolan, NIEDERWIL, SWITZERLAND

Bloviating Bloggers
I found Joe Klein's "beware the bloggers' Bile" interesting [June 18]. But he lost me when I read, "the left-liberals in the blogosphere are merely aping the odious, disdainful — and politically successful — tone that right-wing radio talk-show hosts like Rush Limbaugh pioneered." Has Klein ever really listened to Rush? He is far from rude and insulting to callers with a divergent view. He may be a blowhard, but that is not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination. If Klein had used Michael Savage or Mark Levin as his example, I would have seen a much better connection.
Mike Nelson, MOUTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.

Congratulations to Joe Klein for standing up to the left-wing bloggers. We want them to be better than just a mirror image of the right. We don't want anybody to say Daily Kos is as crazy as Rush Limbaugh.
Mitch Gart, BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.

Oily Trade-Off
Your article about an increase in investment in African oil fields set off tremors of anxiety [June 11]. I fail to understand why the West has not learned from past investment in Middle Eastern oil. The money earned from the West by Arabs and Iranians is the major reason for all the troubles in the West. Do Western governments believe that reducing their dependence on Middle Eastern oil and shifting the money into African hands will reduce their problems? That is a utopian dream. Africans with loads of money will be a far greater threat to Western civilization than anything we ever imagined.
Cherif El-Ayouty, COPENHAGEN

Gates 3.0
I used to think of Bill Gates as the perfect nerd, but I've changed my mind after reading your informative article [June 18]. It was the quote about his admiration for Steve Jobs' taste that finally broke the ice. Gates appears to be more sympathetic and quite different from my earlier impression. I won't dare criticize him for being wealthy, as I hope he succeeds in curing a lot of inequities with his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates 3.0 is entirely commendable and should be a model for many other celebrities.
Sebastian Kiesel, AUGSBURG, GERMANY

Gates has unfairly used his company's position as the platform vendor. Since Microsoft is the only software company that knows everything about the Windows operating system, its competitors have no chance of developing a better word processor. In any case, I hate the awkward interface and design of Windows XP compared with the elegance and user-friendliness of Apple's operating system.
Masatoshi Nishikawa, TOKYO

Gates has reached a point of self-actualization that is beyond money and fame. This extraordinary man started from scratch to get to where he is today. There is yet one more cause for which he might be useful: saving the environment.
Gautham Venkata-Chalam, PARIS

Hometown Pride
Your special report on Hong Kong dwelled on expatriates and returnees, perpetuating the misconception that the city's indigenous majority has no value to the city's development other than its money-driven labor [June 18]. A city can never be great if the majority of its population is taught that everything good is foreign. The cosmopolitan city glamorized in your report is a city of cultural orphans brainwashed into becoming submissive to myriad foreign cultures that have been filtered through a colonial sieve.
Pierce Lam, HONG KONG

• Reading the Signs; Easing Tensions; Peace Signs; Bloviating Bloggers