Letter: Putting blame in wrong place

Friday, Sept. 21, 2001 | 5:18 a.m.

After reading Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson's statements in which they blamed the following -- "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way" -- for the tragedy in New York and further commented that because of our sins that God has lifted his protection of America, I wonder if Falwell and Robertson would blame these culprits for other things.

They could be blamed for all the tragedies in America history, such as the Kennedy assassination, Pearl Harbor, and Oklahoma City bombing.

What about historical tragedies such as the Holocaust? Would they blame the Jews? What is so amazing about Falwell and Robertson's rationale is that even though we are living in the 21st century, their rationale between tragedy and "social sins" can be found in history by looking back in 12th century Europe during the "Dark Ages" where the "Black Plague," which killed one-third of the people in Europe, was caused, as rationalized by church officials, by "social sins."

Furthermore, in certain cities, Jews were either killed or forced to flee because they were blamed for the "Black Plague." So today, 800 years after the "Black Plague," we are still reminded that national tragedies can be blamed upon the "social sins" of the victims.

I believe that the American public is intelligent enough to understand that the cause of this tragedy is not that God-forsaken America, because of our so-called "social sins," but rather this tragedy was caused by a group of religious fanatics whose sole purpose is the destruction of the United States.

RICHARD BRATTAIN