International Letters: Killing Taliban Pows

One has to be totally naive to believe that these war crimes were carried out by the United States' valued allies, the Northern Alliance, without the knowledge or possible involvement of the U.S. Special Forces working so closely with them. Certainly the Pentagon's stonewalling in the face of the appalling evidence of these mass killings of Taliban prisoners does not encourage belief in American protestations of innocence. And, surely, I am not the only one wondering about the most curious convergence of these revelations of war crimes and the Bush administration's determined efforts to undermine the creation of an International Court of Criminal Justice. I must say their timing and motives appear both cynical and arrogant, if not far worse.
Don Bay
Froson, Sweden

I'm shocked by these killings of defenseless young prisoners in Afghanistan. To roast them alive in sealed cargo containers and have them die of heat, thirst and asphyxiation is a really horrific manner of killing people--even by proxy, as the United States seems to have done. It is now easy to understand why the United States is so strongly opposed to the International Court of Criminal Justice.
Ademir Valezi
Sao Paulo, Brazil

Churches in Conflict

Thanks for your story "War of the Faiths" (Europe, Aug. 26), which was very informative but also heartbreaking. I visited Ukraine and Russia in 1993 as part of a religious-education delegation and witnessed the devastation to those countries' cathedrals, churches and synagogues wrought by decades of communist domination. The people were mostly ignorant of religious faith but spiritually hungry for words of comfort, hope and strength to sustain them through the difficult transition period that their countries were (and still are) going through. Now it is indeed tragic that Christian denominations as well as other world religions cannot work together to bring the people that faith in God. To waste their energies on turf wars is a betrayal of the Gospel of Jesus, who preached love. Let us hope that they will not squander this opportunity to build up the faiths of their people in bickering and battles of no consequence.
Jennifer L. Rike
Detroit, Michigan

As an Orthodox Christian, I'm saddened by the conflict between some members of my faith and those of other faiths over various church buildings and religious sites as well as control over who gets first dibs on the mission field in the former Soviet Union. Unfortunately, emotionally charged and rationalized pride seems to cause politics, culture and religion to get frequently bound up in conflicts over place. An alliance between church and state is not necessarily unholy, but the temptation to use the tools politicians use to manage temporal states should be avoided by religious leaders, whose interest must be in providing spiritual guidance. As you said, the Orthodox faithful have no reason to fear the pope or any other faith. The traditions our church has maintained for nearly 2,000 years require no supplementary support from political states or cross-wearing, patriotic, nationalist thugs. What attracts people is the truth revealed and lived in a faith, not ethnicity or the financial and political backing of a group of religious leaders. True religion transcends state affairs and politics of place.
Loren Bundt
Tokyo, Japan

I am a great fan of your magazine, and I read it cover to cover each week. But I was shocked to read in "War of the Faiths" that "Lutherans in Latvia complain of police harassment." Please! Where did you get that? I live in Latvia and I am Lutheran. I can tell you nothing like that happens here; there is no discrimination or abuse because of religion. We have Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Jews, Buddhists and the Orthodox here--and everyone is free to believe what they want. The Dalai Lama was here last year and was welcomed most warmly. It was a big event for us. Please remember, Latvia is not Russia; the situation here is totally different. To ask someone in Russia for information about Latvia is the same as asking an Iraqi for information about the United States.
Mairita Birgele
Valmiera, Latvia