Letters to the editor

How is war on terrorism different from idolatry?
When God stopped Abraham from killing his son, Isaac, the Hebrews learned that they were called to be obedient to the one God and not to perform human or any other kind of sacrifice to Moloch or Baal.
When God rehabilitated Ishmael and Joseph, the Hebrews began to learn that scapegoating was a bad thing and that God was generally on the side of the scapegoat.
Will one of the graduates of Methodism’s finest divinity schools please explain:
> How sacrificing our children in this so-called war on terrorism is something other than idolatry?
> How rounding up dark-skinned people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time is different from scapegoating?
As one Internet pundit wryly observed:  Maybe the question is “Who would torture Jesus?”
Ellen Berky
San Antonio

Death of Ann Richards makes our world smaller
Our world is smaller now that former Gov. Ann Richards has died.
When Ann was state treasurer and I was pastor of First UMC, Austin, her chief of staff’s husband died. I had met him when I attended the rehearsal dinner for their daughter’s wedding. Ann’s chief of staff asked if I would “do” his funeral. Of course I would.
The challenge was he hadn’t darkened the doors of a church for some 25 to 30 years, except for weddings and funerals. But he had spent his life with the AFL-CIO giving voice to the voiceless worker.
The texts I based my meditation on included Jesus’ final judgment story from Matthew 25 about the “presumed religious zealots” being sent to the outer darkness and the unassuming people who fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the prisoner and tended to the sick being welcomed to the “bosom of Abraham.”
I closed with the comment that “John, today is probably embarrassed and put off to discover that he finds himself among the Redeemed of the Lord.”
Ann called that afternoon and said, “Preacher, I want to join your church.” So I gathered about 15 of the staff and surrounded her in my office as we read the vows of church membership and gave her a pledge card for financial commitment—which she filled out and signed.
She became an active member of First UMC, and after I left I learned that she was occasionally invited to serve Holy Communion.
Jack D. Heacock
Bristol, Va.