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Letter

`Truth' is relative

Joel Linton's letter (letters, July 18, page 8) offered an irresistible opportunity for me to remind Taiwan's people that the US is also politically divided.? Unlike the Michael Moores and other "socialists and extreme leftists" (to quote Linton), the supporters of US President George W. Bush supporters have God on their side, telling them who lies and who tells the truth. Maybe God could tell Linton who shot President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). This is the quandary the US has found itself in: the Christian right claims a manifest destiny to rule and attempts to force everyone to accept their narrow world view.

I'm happy to count myself among the second group.

I have yet to see Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, and I suspect neither has Linton, but many Americans I respect have and found the movie to be thought provoking and informative which are the objectives of a documentary.

I realize that truth and reality are in the eye of the beholder.

What particularly alarms me about the religious right in the US is the firm conviction they share that God is on their side. It appears for Linton that God is not only on his side, but that he enjoys a unique relationship, which allows whispers to reach his ears informing him of the truth.

Good for him, is all I can say. But I would like to speak for those of us not so privileged as Linton claims to be.

Many Americans sincerely care and are concerned about what our country has been up to in the world recently, particularly under Bush's stewardship. His actions in Iraq have proven to be a huge mistake and a quagmire exists that will haunt the people in that country -- as well as the rest of the world -- for some time to come. America's entrance to this war was predicated on lies lipped by, among others, Bush.

The rest of the world sees this and is understandably outraged and angered. America stands for big business and this is the true agenda of Bush's Republican Party.

Oil interests have long had a disproportionate access to the Bush dynasty, no secret there (and no Linton, God didn't tell me so). In America the rich continue to get richer and the poor continue to struggle. This is and forever will be the legacy of the coalition of the religious right and the economic elite of the US (Bush's America).

It is not only people in "Europe and elsewhere" that disdain and object to Bush's war and many aspects of America's current foreign policy.

The US has truly become a house divided as shown by its last election and most likely this again will be reflected in the election to come.

I count myself among the millions who might object to Linton's closing statement that this is "God's world." Might you find the compassion to share the world with your brothers and sisters who believe there might be a place in the world for the followers of Mohammed, Buddha and other great spiritual leaders?

Denis Hayes

Huwei
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