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I was delighted to read your article about the Lebanese Christians and their ties with the Western world [WORLD, March 5]. As a Jordanian, I am proud to be called an Arab. My Lebanese friends deny they are Arabs. They insist they are still Phoenicians.
Zane Gazal Las Vegas
The Lebanese Christians associate themselves with the West because the French, who once occupied the country, made them feel they were more European than Arab. The Lebanese are Arabs whether they like it or not.
Ali Ghezuwi San Antonio
Phony Terrorists
The raid on Camp Lejeune by a group of reporters who wanted to show the inadequate security there [NATION, March 12] was an irresponsible attempt by the press to create its own news. Had the editors of the Wilmington (N.C.) Morning Star been sincerely concerned about the welfare of the Marines, they would have informed the camp's authorities about security shortcomings more discreetly.
Lynn Barton Shavertown, Pa.
Pornography's Rights
Your story on pornography is critical of the Minneapolis city council's attempt to ban pornography on the ground that it violates women's civil rights [ESSAY, March 12]. From the day she is born, a woman must deal with the offensive message that comes from pornography and with the real violence that results from demeaning displays. Through advertising, films, music and magazines, a woman is bombarded with offensive messages as to her purpose and worth. This does indeed violate her civil rights.
Barbara Daly Oak Forest,Ill.
Those who want to censor pornography forget that if it were not for women, there would be precious little of it around. Feminists should picket the women who pose for the photographs and films, not the shops that sell the material.
Marlou Crisp West Kingston, R.I.
Some day pornography will be considered a past social injustice in the same way slavery is viewed today. No longer will pornography be able to hide behind the First Amendment; it will be seen as the violation of civil rights that it is.
Karen McKeener San Diego
Pornography degrades those men and women who produce it as well as those who look at it. It contradicts the important relationship between love and sexual intercourse. Pornography must be restricted, and every appropriate effort toward that end should be supported.
Ralph Bergande Dormagen, West Germany
Unmuzzling Galileo
It has taken 350 years for the Roman Catholic Church to acknowledge that Galileo was correct in asserting that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the universe
[SCIENCE, March 12]. Will it take the
church equally long to accept the fact that
Charles Darwin was right in saying that
man is not the focal point of all creation?
Chuck Weaver
Waco, Texas
Good for Pope John Paul II, who has the wisdom and the courage to admit that the Bible does not contain specific scientific truths.
Paul L. Rosasco Pensacola, Fla.
Robert Cardinal Bellarmine and Galileo Galilei were both right. But they made unjustified claims and gave indefensible reasons for their views. Each thought that he alone referred to what was real. In addition, Cardinal Bellarmine thought that only the Bible should be used as an authority on questions regarding reality.