LETTERS
Don't ignore vigil's issue: an immoral occupation
It is unfortunate that the clergy in their Other Voices piece, representing 28 places of worship, ignore completely the issue motivating the weekly vigilers at Beth Israel.
That issue is the continuing destruction of human lives and property and the occupation of land that violates all standards and treaties. Another clergyman, the Rev. Peter Dougherty, from Lansing but known in Ann Arbor for training peacemakers, recently visited Gaza and takes a different view.
"It hangs over me like a heavy fog that doesn't break," he has written. "Gaza is an unbelievably decimated area. It has an eerie feeling of desolation. Since the U.S. gives over $3 billion a year to Israel for the occupation, we have a great responsibility to do everything in our power to end it."
It would make more sense to me if the clergy of the 28 aggrieved churches and temples would speak out loudly about what they are doing to promote a just peace, to end an illegal occupation, to stop the United States' "pre-emptive" war in Iraq, to work for a nation (our own) that insists on clean elections and cultivates trust and respect among all the world's people.
One would think that Christian clergy would remember the words of Matthew: "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you ... first go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."
Carolyn K. Diem, Ann Arbor