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right. The Jews have been persecuted
for more than 5,000 years and it con-
tinues to this day; so gun control
should not go hand in hand with
Judaism like Mr. Diaz would have you
believe.
Where would Israel be without
guns? It would have been wiped out
years ago if not for the Jewish people
taking up arms. Mr. Diaz works with
the Violence Policy Center. His
group's goal, alone with handgun con-
trol, is an outright ban on the manu-
facture, sale and ownership of all
firearms. But when Hitler did that in
the mid-1930s, by the 1940s, six-mil-
lion of our people had been destroyed.
We live in the USA, the greatest
country in the world. The Constitu-
tion and Bill of Rights make this the
land of the free. Still, there are those
who believe you do not have the right
to own a gun.
If Diaz, U.S. Rep. Charles
Schumer, U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein,
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, and others,
choose to be lambs, that's their right.
But don't try to take away my right to
defend my home, my religion and
myself.
Shawn A. Gilbert

Southfield

Use Of Guns
And Survival

As a Holocaust survivor, I respectful-
ly disagree with Mr. Andrew D.
Kennedy
; ("Guns Do Have Purpose-
ful Role," June 4). Mr. Kennedy
suggests that if Jews had guns, the
Holocaust could have been curtailed.
As one who lived through that horri-
ble period, I think I can set the
record straight.
Before the concentration camps
and ghettos were established, the SS
soldiers entered our homes in the fol-
lowing manner: A group of them
would come to our door and knock
very hard, usually with a rifle butt,
and break in. If I had a gun and was
.:,ou Id have possibly
willing to use
been able to liquidate the first soldier
entering. What about the rest of those
goons? Without a doubt, they would
have killed our whole family right on
the spot.
Also, how does one fight the
mighty German army, their machine
guns, tanks, etc., with just a gun? It
can't be done.
Sam Offen
West Bloomfield

Absolute Truth
And Respect

The Torah portion "Love And Unity
Are Pillars Of Peace" (May 28) by Rabbi
Eliezer Cohen was right to the point.
Eleven evangelical Christian minis-
ters were guests of the American Jew-
ish Committee and the Ecumenical
Institute for Jewish-Christian Studies
for a bagel breakfast last week. Rabbi
James Rudin explained that they have
every right to solicit new members —
to share their gift of Jesus as the messi-
ah — but if we as Jews choose not to
accept their gift, they then should
"leave us alone.
He spoke of the various religious
absolute truths" of Judaism, Chris-
tianity and Islam. When there are
many "absolute truths," we all should
take a step back from confrontation
and, with respect for each other, find
humanitarian goals that we can all
agree on and promote together.
It was an eloquent approach. I
believe that the rabbi reached his
audience. He asked that their efforts
not target Jews only, citing examples
of the Southern Baptists' recent
renewed announcement to do just
that. He speculated on each of our
"absolute 'truths." He said Islam makes
the point that Islam is God's final
word and, as such, supercedes Chris-
tianity and Judaism. It was pointed
out that the Koran teaches that Ish-
mael, Abraham's first-born son, not
Isaac, was the one to be sacrificed.
The purpose of the friendly session
was to discourage targeting of Jews
and to achieve respect among all reli-
gious groups so that we can act as one
in achieving our common goal of
peace in the world.
Arnold Michlin
Farmington Hills

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The Council
Is Still Needed

Is there still a need for the Jewish Com-
munity Council and is it still effective
("Voices For A Community," June 4)?
For the past seven years, I have had
the privilege of being a part of the
Jewish Community Council. In that
time, I have seen a reawakening of
friendship and cooperation between
the Jewish community and its African-
American, Chaldean and Latino
neighbors. There has been an ongoing
presence in Lansing as well as a num-
ber of outstanding programs, debates

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Detroit Jewish News

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