To the editor:
Pastor Michael Duda neglects to mention in his column (Midweek Musings, the Times, Wednesday, May 30), the reason there were so many different cultures gathered on Pentecost and Shavout.
It was because all Jewish men were required by Jewish law to go to the Temple for prayer on three separate Festivals; one of which was Passover, another Pentecost.
Rather than travel several weeks back to their homes, they just stayed in Jerusalem for the 50 days from Passover to Pentecost, so there were thousands of men from many different nations, being obedient to their faith when Simon Peter preached a message about Jesus of Nazareth the Christ, taken directly from the Prophet Joel, as recorded in the Torah. It was a Jewish message for a Jewish populace.
Michael Cook, meanwhile, neglects to mention in his letter (the Times, Wednesday, May 30) the one real victory of a battle in the "War on Drugs."
That was the U.S. invasion of Panama, resulting in the arrest and conviction of one Manuel Noriega, who is still in prison and and that corridor of the drug movement is still shut down, even though our military are no longer there.
Michael's fears of military action by our present administration has merit. However, he's concerned about the wrong part of the world.
What about thousands dead at the hands of one Middle Eastern dictator, billions being given to another, while the drugs continue to pour out of his country. And then there was Saddam, who used weapons of mass destruction on his own people and is now gone due to U.S. military action
The U.S. military is responsible for the freedoms we enjoy here at home. Unfortunately, its work is not yet finished, but the white flag of "I quit" has been announced to the world.
So, I think Latin America is safe from the U.S. military. Yet we should not neglect the drug movement from South to North America, and Mexican drug cartels should be brought to an abrupt end.
GERALD MAHIEU
Langsford Street, Gloucester
