Dear Republic:

Shame on The Republic for its tacit approval of warmongers! By seeking a "participatory dialogue," Segolene Royal is providing Hezbollah with an amount of credibility it does not deserve. In supporting her actions your paper does also. The Republic should ask itself: who started the recent conflict and who later admitted that it was a mistake to do so? Perhaps the answers will motivate The Republic to discard the facade of its left-lib attitude long enough to realize that there are things that are right and wrong in this world. As an example: wrong: the United States conducting a pre-emptive war of aggression against Iraq. Also wrong: the provocative Hezbollah raid into Israel. Right: those of us who regard anyone who commits these wrongs as warmongers and criminals.

In conclusion, people with integrity who aspire to a position of authority never associate with criminals.

—Terry Bostock

Dear Republic:

I enjoyed reading Michael Nenonen's reflections about humanity's miniscule relationship with eternity in his recent Near Death Experience article.

However, the piece ended with a serious misquote of Leonard Cohen's beautiful Boogie Street lyric. Instead of "It's not in love . . ." it should have read: “So come, my friends, be not afraid. We are so lightly here. It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear. If anyone lives forever, I suspect that it will be Mr Cohen.

—Michael Anstead, Vancouver

Dear Republic:

I enjoyed the piece, Celebrate Egypt, not Rome this year! in the last issue of The Republic. For me, the story of the loss of innocence pertains to humankind's unique position: we alone possess a mind. Other species have central nervous systems—a brain, but no other species has a mind. It is our mind that enables us to analyze a situation and develop several responses, then choose the response that we desire to follow. We may choose to follow a course that is in our self interest but detrimental to others, or we may choose a path that is in our self interest which does not adversely affect other beings. We may also choose a path that is not in our self interest but is chosen only for the benefit of another, such as placing ourselves in harms way to save someone. Humans alone have this capacity. All other species are innocent of the consequences of their actions because they are unable to calculate the many implications of a given action and therefore are innocent, innocent of malice of forethought.

Guy Hawkins, Laos

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