" Declaration " at Burger King

The main editorial in the Boston Globe this July 4th was a

    fitting reprint of the 1776  " Declaration of Independence ". At first

    it seemed mere patriotic ritual to me. I must have first " read " the

    historic document when I was about 12 years old. The fiery passion of

    justified REBELLION was clear to me. But the wording a little too

    ponderous- like hearing your father argue with a hard hearted bill

    collector over the phone. Of course you were on Pop's side! On the side

    of HUMAN RIGHTS as opposed to mere OFFICIAL RIGHTS.

        But this morning I was disposed to read  the American " Declaration

    of Independence " - more carefully than ever before. Now I understood

    every paragraph. Indeed a very RINGING document! This was not revolution

    for the hell of it. Authority in the colonies had become too tyrannical

    and outrageous.  True the document expressed the indignation of a hardly

    impoverished merchant class. But they were MEN- honorable MEN - first.

    And they had HAD IT with the Crown. The " Declaration " still sizzles

    on the 4th of July ! And still inspires the world.

Wise Column today ! (Froma Harrop)

        I just read your column this morning. Loved it ! But why are these

    people so out of touch ? In my opinion even quite privileged people can

    be deprived of a life saving sense of REALITY -if they move in very

    narrow social circles, never really communicating with people -good and

    bad, smart and dumb, likable and obnoxious- outside their  narrow social

    circle. They forget that in a DEMOCRACY just about everybody can vote!

       Their is nothing absolute about PUBLIC OPINION . You can affect it or

    modify it. But people must be disposed to listen to you. They generally

    listen to people who listen to them.

          Have a nice day !      ron

- - - - - - - - -
  From: froma_harrop@ProJo.COM ("FHARROP.PJB.PROJO.COM")
    To: ar803@osfn.rhilinet.gov
    Subject: Re: Wise Column today !
    Date: Fri, 03 Jul



    --Boundary-1312147-0-0

    Thanks for your note. I suspect not every reader will agree. 

    Froma

Citizens Bank " profit " !

        I do my modest, I admit, banking at Citizens Bank. I keep a pauper's

    sum of money in my account ( 0047967279 ) for the sole purpose of being

    able to cash my paycheck there on Fridays. My pathetic account never

    earned a penny profit for me. But it must be quite profitable for the

    owners of Citizens Bank. They must make a not so small fortune from

    humble people's petty bank accounts.

        I have two receipts from the bank. One of them is dated  26BUN98 . It

    is a deposit for the grand sum of $10.00  CASH  ( THANK YOU ). Today

    I needed that money . Today is 02JUL98 . The bank teller gave me one of

    those looks reserved for dead rats. I could only withdraw $8.00. I was

    charged $2.00 for their SERVICE. They deducted the $2.00 from only $10.00

    that I had in the bank FOR LESS THAN A WEEK !

          No doubt they explain this with the usual banking business gibberish.

    But I have a gut feeling it is a RACKET . THANK YOU !

Anti-Semitic Church ?

 Reading David LaFleche 's crudely anti-Catholic letter ( " Anti-

    Semitic Church "   , July 1 ) , I must ask : Just where is he coming

    from ? Has been living under the  Rock of Ages for too long ? The

    name does not sound Jewish; indeed most Jews today do not, nor have

    they any reason to, perceive  the Catholic Church as an implacable

    foe of Jews and of the Jewish State of Israel.

        He refers us to some obscure book in which the Church's abominable

    Anti-Semitism is " fully documented ". I must point  out that Hitler

    himself " fully documented " his case against the Jews in " Mein Kampf ".

    So much for " fully documented " books !

        I am not a practicing Catholic feeling a moral obligation to defend

    the Church against its numerous religious enemies. But malicious nonsense

    is just that !

         I attended parochial school for two critical years - 7th and 8th

    grade- in the early 60s. I recall no systematic indoctrination in Anti-

    Semitism.


             The bigoted individual Catholic is a stock character of

    realistic fiction. The the best parody of this type can be found in

    the novels and short stories of James T. Farrell.

          I believe that the Catholic Church is honestly trying to undo

    the damage done by the anti-Semitism generally characteristic of

    Dark Age  ignorance.

          What was does not have to be forever. This is true of all

    institutions, human or " divine ".


           Does Israel need friends like Mr. David LaFleche ?