The endless debate

Hey, I've got a suggestion for the letters section of the Mirror. How about a separate section called The Endless Debate, where armchair politicians can argue the problems of the Middle East for months on end, call each other ignorant and claim to know everything that goes on there from their snow-capped Montreal apartments, filling the letters section with 8–10 paragraphs of holier-than-thou tedium.

No wait, you've been doing that for months already.

» M H

Fingers were lifted!

While much of Jordan Frankel's letter on the Middle East is difficult to understand, I would like to address one of his statements. He writes, "it was out of fear that the Europeans were leaving their problems of Jewish genocide - that they had let happen without lifting a finger - fall on them." Now I'm not sure who let the genocide happen without lifting a finger. If Frankel means the Jews, of course this is untrue. There was resistance to the Nazi regime, and Jews fought among the partisans, and staged their own uprisings.

But if Frankel means the Europeans, again he is wrong. There was widespread resistance to the forces of genocide. One particular instance is of note. A man by the name of Rene Carmille was given the responsibility to coordinate the census in France, one which would help the Nazis identify Jews and others who would later be targeted. Carmille sabotaged the census, and many of the French Jews were saved. A similar census in the Netherlands was far more efficient, and many Dutch Jews were killed.

In fact, many people lifted many fingers. And many of these people were killed or dispatched to work at death camps. So Frankel is guilty of falsehood in his letter. I don't care about the point he was making, just that he uses history to prove his point, and it is clear that he really doesn't know his history.

In contrast to the actions of Rene Carmille, the Mufti of Jerusalem at the time did lift his finger, and helped Hitler to kill Jews. This is a fact conveniently ignored by those who claim knowledge of the Palestinian cause. Both Jews and Arabs alike have suffered at the hands of greedy and power-hungry forces. A more careful reading of history can help to shed light on today's events, but this work takes far more time and effort than the average person is willing to spend. The uninformed are thus turned into propaganda's victims, and victimizers.

» Jeremy Wallace

Gods not crazy

I think the Mirror went a little off base in letting associate editor Matthew Hays review Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ ["The gods must be crazy," Feb. 26].

I'm a Christian who reads the Mirror regularly, and I like to know about what people around me are thinking and doing. I read the July 31 issue, where you published Hays' respectful two-page article on the Temple Priapus, a group of 30 Montreal penis worshipers ["Hail the cock worshippers!"]. In that article, Hays restricted his text mostly to quotations of the group's high priest. Okay, but then you assigned him to critique a film about Jesus Christ, who's got thousands of followers in Montreal and millions more around the world, and balanced writing went out the window.

Hays doesn't just critique Gibson's project, he opens up topics like whether the Bible is a reliable source of historical information, but then he doesn't address them. Instead, he says he's more confirmed than ever in his own "diehard" atheism, referring to an article by Christopher Hitchens as support. Hays seems to think that because there's one famous writer out there who thinks that Gibson, and perhaps Christians, are nutty, then that's all readers need to know.

I can spell out what readers really need: r-e-s-p-e-c-t. At the Montreal church I attend, there are a few hundred intelligent people who can tell you the logical and historical basis of Christian faith. Let's hear it for freedom of the press! Amen, my sistahs! So can we give it up for a whole bunch of viewpoints, too? Whether Gibson's film is a good thing or a bad thing depends on your point of view. The Mirror should have assigned one of its other writers to take a more balanced approach to The Passion of the Christ, considering the film's deep importance to thousands of Montrealers.

» Constance Semler

Incredulously incredible

Somebody tell Rick Trembles (and everyone else who is unaware), that "incredulously" is not a word [Motion Picture Purgatory," Feb 26]. The adjective "incredulous" does not mean "incredible," it means "unwilling to admit or accept what is offered as true." As in, "I am incredulous that writers don't know what incredulous means." "Incredibly" is often used as a stand-alone modifier, indicating "amazingly" or "unbelievably," which is what Trembles is trying to express.

Incredulous equals not credulous, which means not ready to believe on slight evidence, or sceptical. Incredible equals not credible, meaning not believable.

» R. Jay

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