Stars for the Soul

To the Editors:

I read your cover story on "Stars" [Dec. 27] twice--once for science and once for my soul.

Evelyn Gelerter Cornwall, Conn.

For stars created life, they say, While busily their theories proving. But who invented stars, I pray, And got the whole megillah moving?

Stephen Wilson Gardena, Calif.

The article on stars referred to celestial events around the time of Jesus' birth. However, there is a great deal of scholarship which indicates that Jesus was not an historical character. One might as well refer to stars at the birth of Jack Frost or Santa Claus!

James Erickson Minneapolis

As a pastor and theologian, I found your cover story on stars profound, sensitive and lucid. Once the theologian and scientist face the incomprehensible honestly, they both become more believable.

(The Rev.)Samuel A. Jackson Amery, Wis.

It was enough to make the soul ache to read that scientists agree that "the biblical account of creation ... may be uncannily close to the truth." The Bible contains all the secrets of man and the universe if only man would search there for the truth.

Judy Story Huntsville, Ala.

The big-bang theory goes back much farther than 1929. Over 1,300 years ago, God revealed to his apostle Mohammed: "Are the disbelievers unaware that the heavens and the earth were one solid mass which we tore asunder, and that we made every living thing of water?" (Quoted from the Koran, Chapter 21, "The Prophets.")

Ervin D. Paulsen Rochester

You say that Jesus was probably born in the autumn of the year 7 B.C. It is more likely that he was born in the previous spring, perhaps during the May conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. The argument supporting this comes from the Bible, Luke 2: 8: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." The Judean shepherds were out all night only in the spring. During winter there was no grazing, and the animals were penned.

Early Christians were persecuted for meeting to worship, so by shifting the observance of Christ's birthday to the end of December to coincide with the Roman Saturnalia festivals they could mask their reason for celebrating.

Clinton C. Brooks Owings Mills, Md.

What happened to all the other "advanced" civilizations in the universe9 Did they discover the nuclear genie at the same time they began to announce their presence? As his last act, did the genie melt the loudspeaker?

Frank Scott Bedford, Mass.

Crossfire over Defense

I have read your article "Crossfire over Defense" [Dec. 27]. I want you to know that at no time have I--privately or otherwise--advised anyone, let alone the President-elect, against the nomination of James Schlesinger, to any post.

Donald H. Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense Washington, D.C

Scandal at West Point

The kind of honor that many graduates of West Point [Dec. 27] often display is one of the most reprehensible aspects of that institution's mores. In Viet Nam, I have seen an otherwise extremely competent squadron commander (West Point graduate) allow an extremely incompetent troop commander (West Point graduate) to continue his command so that he could accumulate his six months of combat command duty. This while his incompetence was killing young American soldiers.

Any officer on active duty could tell you of the subtle discriminations that the West Pointers impose to favor members of "the Club."

Bill Schwent Santa Fe, N. Mex.

How pathetic that there are still generals who are unable or unwilling to recognize and accept the function of the lawyer in the Army, as evidenced by General Ulmer's remark, "The goddam lawyers are ruining the Army."

Winfred A. Stevens Bangor, Me.

All means and measures should be employed to affect the readmission of the West Point cadets who cheated. We are going to need all of them; for, as we have watched and fiddled, the Russians have wrenched military supremacy from our faltering grasp. Now, maybe our only chance for victory in armed conflict with the Soviets boils down to one strategy: CHEAT!

Wallace W. Mercer Billings, Mont.

Although Brigadier General Walter Ulmer Jr. has been in disagreement with the cadet lawyers concerning many matters, it has been from a professional standpoint, and he has been a man of true honor throughout this difficult time for the academy and the Army. My father is not a man of ambition but one of duty, honor and country. I do not understand how West Point, the Army or the U.S. could ask for anything more.

Jefferson Ulmer West Point, N. Y.

More Peace but...

Henry Kissinger's Bicentennial Essay [Dec. 27] is an appropriate valedictory to a man of conceptual brilliance and subtlety who has never really understood or participated in the American sense of moral purpose. Kissinger has consistently tended to separate that which is moral from that which is practical. He has worked hard for the best possible deal for our "practical values" --security, prosperity, status and power --to the point where these values threaten to become our national goals.

Kissinger has never understood that to dichotomize values in a tough world inevitably means making the moral subject to the practical, not the other way around. The Kissinger course will provide more peace and wealth--but leave us wondering, somewhere along the line, just what the hell it's all for.

John A. Graham Falls Church, Va.

Henry Kissinger's "America & the World" is truly great. How can a man write so humbly and act so arrogant?

Alfred Rosenthaler Tel Aviv

Mexicans will be interested to learn, in Henry Kissinger's Bicentennial Essay, that the U.S. Secretary of State regards the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo as a "triumph of diplomacy." Force of arms, not diplomacy, was the means by which the U.S. stripped Mexico of half of its national territory. Today the U.S.'s regional hegemony depends on ownership of advanced technology, "credit diplomacy," preferential tariffs, import quotas, trade embargoes, and the politics of profit repatriation.

Bainbridge Cowell Jr. Atlanta

Pregnancy Is Voluntary

I agree with the Supreme Court ruling [Dec. 20] refusing to force companies to pay female employees during their pregnancies. Pregnancy is basically voluntary. Paying for a voluntary disability increases the chances of such disabilities. If we needed more people to fill more jobs I might reconsider.

Larry Trillo Mattapan, Mass.

Disability compensation for pregnancy is just as ludicrous as food stamps and welfare for employees on strike (which, unfortunately, is legal). Isn't it unjust to deduct amounts from all employees' paychecks to cover pregnancy benefits for a few? But. of course, they will want the company to pay the insurance premiums. With unemployment so high, why do some groups continue to try to cripple business? Right on, Supreme Court!

Kay G. Heath Winona, Miss.

Campaign Qualifications

I regret that TIME chose to print in its election issue [Nov. 15] misstatements that were circulated during my campaign for the U.S. Congress, casting doubt on my qualifications.

I did graduate from the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration as president of my class, and I am, therefore, an alumnus of that institution.

I have never received a financial gift or an inheritance, and have earned everything I have. This was accomplished primarily through the founding of Morgan Optics, one of the largest contact lens manufacturers in America.

Morgan Maxfield Kansas City North, Mo.

A Quiet Sleep

As parents of a victim of the Snoring Sickness [Dec. 27] whose social ills continued from children's camp through dormitory life at college, and whose sufferings included three unnecessary operations, we can appreciate the miracle of proper diagnosis at the Stanford University Sleepclinic and its L.A. branch. A tracheotomy has enabled our son to live a normal life, both physically and socially.

Kurt & Hella Hochheimer Teaneck, N.J.

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