This is your place to publicly comment on the topics and issues addressed in Speaking of Faith programs. React in a personal way, and put into words what this program meant to you.
Submit Your Reflection about "The Tragedy of the Believer."
Tough Questions (May 9, 2005)
I listened to the Elie Wiesel interview on the radio and again over the Internet. Several questions I would have liked to hear him address:
- In a prayer he referred to God several times as the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Those are all Jewish figures. Why does he not refer to him as the God of Abraham, Jesus, and Muhammad?
- He spoke about his feelings for Jerusalem. As I understand it, Jerusalem is also a holy city for Muslims. I think it would be interesting to have a discussion regarding the Buddha's idea that attachment/desire/craving leads to suffering and whether an injection (i.e., self-injection) of some Buddhist thinking/meditation might enable them to observe their longings for Jerusalem without acting on them.
- He spoke of terrorism. I think it would have also been appropriate for him to speak of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. I think Palestinians might give up terror for six months if all the Jews living in Gaza and the West Bank would leave them homes and camp out in Israel for six months at the same time.
- He speaks of his inability to forgive certain acts. It was my impression that we forgive others, not for their sakes but for our own — so that our bodies/minds/spirits are not harboring bitterness. Of course, I realize that is somewhat easier said than done!
- I would like to hear some leading Jewish thinker expound on the idea that all people are God's children; that we are all equally loved. I think that a lot of resentment toward Jews is because we unconsciously resent others considering themselves or being the father's favorite.
- He also spoke of apology. I think if Jewish leaders would apologize for a history of considering themselves to be the favorites of the "Master of the Universe" and for acting as if they were, it might go a long way toward keeping out of situations in which they find themselves unwelcome.
- A high proportion of the best American Buddhist writers are Jewish — it would be interesting to hear them address the subject of Israel's problems from a Buddhist perspective — though it would be such a sensitive topic I don't know how it could be broadcast.
I really appreciate your program and try to listen to it every Sunday: twice (WETA broadcasts it at 7 AM and PM)!
Patricia Hickin
Westchester, VA (WETA, 90.9 FM)
Tough Questions (May 9, 2005)
I listened to the Elie Wiesel interview on the radio and again over the Internet. Several questions I would have liked to hear him address:
- In a prayer he referred to God several times as the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Those are all Jewish figures. Why does he not refer to him as the God of Abraham, Jesus, and Muhammad?
- He spoke about his feelings for Jerusalem. As I understand it, Jerusalem is also a holy city for Muslims. I think it would be interesting to have a discussion regarding the Buddha's idea that attachment/desire/craving leads to suffering and whether an injection (i.e., self-injection) of some Buddhist thinking/meditation might enable them to observe their longings for Jerusalem without acting on them.
- He spoke of terrorism. I think it would have also been appropriate for him to speak of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. I think Palestinians might give up terror for six months if all the Jews living in Gaza and the West Bank would leave them homes and camp out in Israel for six months at the same time.
- He speaks of his inability to forgive certain acts. It was my impression that we forgive others, not for their sakes but for our own — so that our bodies/minds/spirits are not harboring bitterness. Of course, I realize that is somewhat easier said than done!
- I would like to hear some leading Jewish thinker expound on the idea that all people are God's children; that we are all equally loved. I think that a lot of resentment toward Jews is because we unconsciously resent others considering themselves or being the father's favorite.
- He also spoke of apology. I think if Jewish leaders would apologize for a history of considering themselves to be the favorites of the "Master of the Universe" and for acting as if they were, it might go a long way toward keeping out of situations in which they find themselves unwelcome.
- A high proportion of the best American Buddhist writers are Jewish — it would be interesting to hear them address the subject of Israel's problems from a Buddhist perspective — though it would be such a sensitive topic I don't know how it could be broadcast.
I really appreciate your program and try to listen to it every Sunday: twice (WETA broadcasts it at 7 AM and PM)!
Patricia Hickin
Westchester, VA (WETA, 90.9 FM)
The Right Moral Tone (May 9, 2005)
I enjoyed very much the show with Elie Wiesel. As an Israeli Jew, grandson of Holocaust survivors, I relate very much with the moral tone of his ideas. His religious views and moral values prove that these are best used when speaking of views on life and history in general and not as political cards on judicial appointments or other issues of such, used so often in the U.S.
Omri Sheinfeld
Jerusalem, Israel (Listens via Web Audio)
Making It Mine (May 9, 2005)
I can't quite express what this discussion with Elie Wiesel did for me. He says at one point in response to one question that a person can retain a close belief in God but have lost their faith completely. That struck me so deeply and was refreshing to hear because that has been where I have been for so long, and I have felt guilty about it. It is difficult to explain to people how you can be in the place to believe in God, yet "not" believe in God. Elie talks about how deeply struck one can be to believing so intimately in God and his existence but be so angry at him, how in Hasidic faith one doesn't argue with God one "sues" God. It was all just so amazing to listen to.
I have read a little of Elie Wiesel's work, but his books have remained mostly sitting on my shelf although my mother has always encouraged me to read his works. I don't know if I have shied away from his works because something in me knew he would strike that bell inside my spiritual well and I feared this? Ultimately, the prayer he reads that originated in his journal says everything I
have ever prayed, when I can, but so much more accurately and perfectly — capturing it all. I was riveted to this. If I can make that prayer mine, I will.
Thank you for your show and for the way you bring us such eloquent speakers with their passions, their spiritual yet intellectual depths with which they explore their faiths and religions in past and present. My church is perfectly and substantially fulfilling when made up of A Prairie Home Companion and Speaking of Faith on a Sunday afternoon. Thank you for this!
Stacie Williams
West Allis, WI (WUWM, 89.7 FM)
Very Thought-Provoking (May 8, 2005)
I just had the privilege of listening to this show; I am so glad I did. What a challenge to some of my current beliefs of my relationship with God. I found so many things he shared in the interview or in his books interesting and very new to me. My first reaction was to be a little concerned, especially when I heard "suing God" (using his own words).
But then I stepped into his shoes to try gaining a better understanding. I really cannot imagine being in the situation he was and watching his father "pray in vain." There were a few points that really were thought-provoking for me, they were: when people kill in God's name he is guilty if he does not correct it; also, there is a believe that God goes absent from us for a period or turns away. What I will take away and keep with me is, "Peace is not God's gift to his creatures, but our gift to each other." Great show!
Angie Counce
Brooklyn Park, MN (KNOW, 91.1 FM)
Comfort in His Words (May 8, 2005)
A brilliant program! The circumstances of my personal issues with God are insignificant compared with that of Elie Wiesel. Nevertheless, his words gave me comfort. I wish I could say something meaningful to that great man! I wish I could say something useful in return.
Greg Larson
Clearwater, MN (KNOW, 91.1 FM)
A Worthy Program (May 8, 2005)
As a child of Holocaust survivors, your program with Elie Wiesel moved me profoundly. This is radio at its best.
David Enzel
Chevy Chase, MD (WETA, 90.9 FM)
On the Title of the Program (May 8, 2005)
The title "The Tragedy of the Believer" is intriguing. Is it the price a believer has to offer to a loving God? Suffering at the injustices of the world (man's inhumanity to man) like Christ on the cross. "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani" (Matthew). "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do"
(Luke). It is easier said than done, for all of us.
Chinh Pham
Springfield, PA (WHYY, 91.0 FM)
Getting Me Out of Bed (May 8, 2005)
I have been listening to your program for the last couple
of months. Although I have always found your programs
a valuable part of my week, as a Jew I found today's
program particularly moving. Elie Wiesel's thoughts and
Krista's commentary and questions resulted in a program
of lasting value and meaning for me. I will do my best
to get the content of the program out to as many of my
friends as possible. My only complaint is that the program
airs at 8:00 a.m. but it does get me up to enjoy the
day when I might otherwise sleep in. Thank you.
Stuart Wechsler
Annapolis, MD (WYPR, 88.1 FM)
A Mother's Day Gift! (May 8, 2005)
Being in the presence of Elie Wiesel is to be in the presence of the Holy. Over 25 years ago I was privileged to be in his presence as a student at the University of Notre Dame when Wiesel visited for a special lecture. Years later I was able to "pass on that gift" by encouraging my theology students at Boston College to venture to Boston University to hear him speak; the students
who attended his lecture were grateful and moved by the experience.
Wiesel is a believer of compassion, who demonstrates to those in his presence, the courage to encounter suffering generated by human evil. Too many people of faith gloss over human suffering, some even explaining it as "God's plan." Wiesel challenges us not to turn away from evil, but to stand with the suffering. Thank you for a blessed beginning to Mother's Day!
Anne Blanford
Boynton Beach, FL (WLRN, 91.3 FM)
A One-Nation Solution? (May 8, 2005)
I was deeply moved by your conversation with Elie Wiesel. His words are profound and eternally contemporary. Everyone in the world, no matter which country they live in, can relate to what Mr. Wiesel has to say. Even though I was born a Hindu, a few years after the Holocaust, I feel a close tie to those events. Sometimes I feel that I may have lived through it myself, in the previous life; and words like those of Mr Wiesel make me feel so certain that I actually lived through it.
As regards the situation in Israel, I have always been intrigued that no one has had the courage to propose a "one nation" solution. It makes me think of Brown v. Board of Education — separate is inherently unequal. I grew up in India, and have seen that the two-nation (now three-nation) solution of creating India and Pakistan has not worked. Had we been one nation it would have given us accommodation and respect for each other's faiths and deep beliefs.
Anil Nigam
Stamford, CT (WEDW, 88.5 FM)
Loved the Prayer (May 8, 2005)
Thank you for a wonderful discussion with Elie Wiesel. It was one of the best of your usually excellent programs. I'm grateful for them all but was especially grateful to hear the prayer which he read at the end of the program. What a pleasant extra to find how good your Web site is, too. Please keep up your great work and I'll keep listening even though it is on at such an early hour in Chicago.
Ann Garvey Klest
Oak Park, IL (WBEZ, 91.5 FM)
Looking Inward for the Justice in Judaism (May 8, 2005)
I look forward each Sunday to your imaginative and intelligent programming. This week, however, I was disappointed in your interview with Mr. Wiesel. As an Israeli citizen who is acutely aware of Israel's human rights abuses of Palestinians and of Mr. Wiesel's insensitivity to their plight, I was disappointed that you did not challenge his response to your question.
He claimed that Israel would restart the peace process if there were a three-month moratorium on terror by the Palestinian Authority. If one seriously followed the conflict she would see that 1)the IDF in all its might is incapable of stopping the militancy. How can anyone of sound judgment expect the puny Palestinian Authority to succeed? 2)The chronology of the Intifada reveals that whenever the Palestinians adhered to a cease fire the Israelis created a provocation to defeat it. Or they added more conditions.
Wiesel also railed against the use of terror in obtaining a goal. He should have been challenged by reminding him of the terror employed by the Stern Gang, Irgun and Hagannah against the British. He should also have been reminded of the career of Ariel Sharon which is the epitome of terror in the service of the state.
In the many interviews I have heard with Mr. Wiesel I have not found that he has an understanding of or sympathy for the oppression experienced by the Palestinians, nor has he recognized Jewish responsibility in the Palestinian Naqba. Jewish victimhood supersedes all. I suggest that you interview Marc Ellis of Baylor University. Read his Constantinian Judaism" — a perfect antidote to the nationalism that blinds Jews like Wiesel to the values of justice in Judaism.
Susan Miller
Philadelphia, PA (WHYY, 91.0 FM)
The Multiple Definitions of God (May 8, 2005)
I reflect today that the definition(s)of the word God are multiple, not only for official Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but also for "millions" of the three Bible religions' individual believers. And that, of course, leaves out the millions and millions of the rest of humanity, a number which also includes all who lived BCE. Religion itself is an age-old human invention, an invention always inseparable from the multiple cultures where they exist.
Greg Foote
Indianapolis, IN (WFYI, 91.5 FM)
Sometimes We Become What We Hate Most (May 8, 2005)
I think you missed something. You had a quote of Mr. Wiesel, it was from a written piece about I think a fighter who was helping to create Israel. He said something like he was being forced to be a murderer so that later he could be a human being. In my mind I thought isn't that what all terrorists think.
Mr. Wiesel spoke of how Israelis are forced to kill Palestinians. I heard this quote before by Golda Meir where she said that she was most angry that she was being forced to kill Palestinian children. Do you not know of the Stern Gang and the other Zionist terrorist groups that helped remove Palestinians from their land. Terrorism is often an action that people take when they are powerless and have no other way to achieve a specific objective. I do not approve of terrorism. But it also is not owned by one group.
When I was in Hebrew school some 40 years ago I asked my teacher, "Why do the Arabs hate us so much?" and she said that she didn't know that we had paid them for all the land and now they want it back from us. Maybe that was sometimes true, but not always; they were also frightened or terrorized off their land. An image that sticks in my mind is that of a religious Jewish man being humiliated on the streets of Germany by a Nazi. And then I see Palestinian men being humiliated on the streets in the occupied territories by an Israeli soldier.
We all must own all our actions. There are Israelis who right now believe that the occupied territories are their land and are fighting to keep it. They are carving it up and building walls and trailers, creating ghettos of Palestinians. They take Jerusalem for their own. So we become what we hate the most in others?
Barbara Banquer
New Haven, CT (WPKT, 90.5 FM)
Enhancing the River of Knowledge (May 8, 2005)
I can not thank you enough for your broad subject matter. As I make this journey through life, each turn in the road offering a new horizon, I am reminded how, as a youth, I could not have imagined the opportunities that would unfold before me. As a youth I was convinced mid-life would be marking the beginning of the end. However, I have discovered, by default, that mid-life is not the end, but a time of heightened awareness and an awaking to the wisdom of my ancients. Their spirit moves through me lighting a path I am thoroughly enjoying. I delight in the walk.
Your programming, in part, enhances those rivers of knowledge that must flow from the past through me to my children. As a bard to the the next generation it is my responsibility to not only pass on ancient wisdom, but contemporary sagacity — lengthening the thread that binds us all.
Speaking of Faith is as a fine symphony with instrumental passages and interludes offering another point of view to ponder. I very simply appreciate your programming and admire your insightfulness. I also realize that you could not possibly accomplish this program alone. Therefore, compliments to those who surround you, as well. You have empowered your staff to reach to the beyond.
Laurajeanne Safford Kehn
Frankenmuth, MI (WUOM, 91.7 FM)
Eighty-Six the Music (May 8, 2005)
I cannot understand why the producers feel it is necessary to accompany such a man, such a serious, reflective hour's discussion, with maudlin, shallow music more appropriate to elevators and toilets. Do you not have confidence that the spoken word, considered human thought, can express meaning without attempting to heighten the emotions of the moment with cheap intermixed music? I find it insulting to me and to the interviewee, in this case Wiesel. Why not stop the music, please?
Jack Somer
Stamford, CT (WEDW, 88.5 FM)
From a Defiant German's Perspective (May 6, 2005)
I so appreciate the fact that you focused on Elie Wiesel in your programming; he is a brilliant writer and a great moral leader for the 21st century. I wonder though if anyone will ever consider interviewing German (now German-American) people who did not side with the German authority, suffered intensely (some to death) and who later came to America to try and make a life here for themselves and their children. I've known Germans here in New Jersey who were children or teens at the time of the war and tell remarkable stories of what life was like for them: the incredible suffering, the loss of family and friends (yes, some Jewish) and the "patriotic humiliation" that came from knowing this was your country killing its own as well as its neighbors.
One German woman I know tells how her sister was forced to work as a prostitute in a German military camp for the generals and the leaders. They kept her there a year and took her when she was 18, newly engaged. A year later, upon release, she couldn't get married, feeling the degradation of the last year although her fiance still loved her and wanted to marry her; soon after she committed suicide by swallowing a demitasse spoon. She came from a house where they had deep religious
Christian faith and were against Hitler and his policies from the beginning. These stories are never told. It is easy to focus on the obvious victims, but there are many, many kinds of victims in a horror like the world war. A fair and balanced view would come from digging out these stories as well. Thank you.
Rosemarie Jaszka
New York, NY (WNYC, 820 AM)
The Armenian Holocaust? (May 5, 2005)
I appreciated your program with Elie Wiesel. He is always great. You are doing good work. After the program, I wondered if you would ever consider a program on the Armenian Holocaust. As you probably know, it was at the turn of the century when the Turks slaughtered the Armenians (over 1 million, by some estimates) and
the West looked the other way. I believe that was also done for religious reasons.
Ron Prasek
Maple Grove, MN (KNOW, 91.1 FM)
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (May 5, 2005)
I hope that you will press Elie Wiesel on the question
of moral justification for Israeli seizure of Palestinian
lands and Israeli determination to control substantial
aspects of Palestinian statehood. Can Bible-based claims
of land grants from God be used to justify current occupation?
If the Palestinians had equal military might, would the
principles be the same? How can we condemn Arabs for
seeking military and nuclear balance in light of Israeli
actions and U.S. policies vis-a-vis nuclear and non-nuclear
powers?
Tim Heaney
Falcon Heights, MN (KNOW, 91.1 FM)
Dehumanizing One's Enemy? (May 5, 2005)
In the run up to the Iraq war there was an e-mail being circulated in the Jewish community in which Wiesel offered his support for the invasion. I was appalled by the thought that someone of Wiesel's supposed stature as a man of compassion and peace could support an unprovoked preemptive war. Invariably, war is made possible by the dehumanization of one's supposed enemy. Wiesel as a Holocaust survivor should know this better than anyone. Do you suppose that if there was a sizable Jewish community in Baghdad and there was a significant risk of death to members of that community that Wiesel would have supported the war? Wouldn't he urge some other way to deal with problem and that war only be used as a last resort?
If this week's show has not yet been recorded I hope you will ask Wiesel some hard questions about his role in lending support to a war that has led to the death of perhaps 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians. Do you think God would endorse Wiesel's opinion that it was better for those people to die rather than live under Saddam?
David Pincus
Dix Hills, NY (WNYC, 820 AM)
A Question of Theodicy (April 20, 2004)
Two aspects of this show caught my attention. The first was the statement that God was in exile with the Jewish people. Even though not a new thought, in this context of one of the most horrific acts in human history it does answer a question for me. It also makes me angry. What was God doing while this horror was going on? It makes me wonder why he does not intervene more in our world and in my life. I am a believer that a crisis in faith brings us both closer and further from understanding.
The second point I found interesting was the statement that even the children of the Nazis have to deal with the sins of their parents. Having a foreign exchange student from Germany this year and she wanting to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington, I now better understand. She was very disturbed by the whole experience. With tears in here eyes she could not believe that her people could have done such a thing. Even though she had visited some of the concentration camps, it wasn't until she saw the floor covered with all the shoes of the victims that she realized the horror. She came away a sadder person, but I believe a better person.
Bill Turner
Rockville, MD (Listens via Web Audio)
Hope Provoking (April 18, 2004)
Thank you. This program was hope provoking for me.
It helps me know there are many more than most news
media lead you to believe, who do not feel the need
to retaliate against those who would want to bring
them harm. It reminds me that what I have felt victimized
by, is really quite small compared to Mr. Wiesel
and others. Amongst other things, I hope this program
sticks with me, reminding me about living vs. "revictimizing" myself,
when I am tempted to revisit old hurts. Thank you
again.
Colleen McHale
St. Louis, MO (KWMU 90.7 FM)
Existential Monotheism (April 18, 2004)
First I want to thank everyone concerned for the program itself, I want to pay honor to the love of ideas, ideas that help people, and the love of conversation. Myself, I guess that when Monotheism came along, the idea of God became much bigger, leaving behind the concept of a being or beings not much different from humanity, just more powerful in one area or another. And that put the details, and the responsibilities, in our hands. The best we've done, in the West, has been to develop art and science into working entities, and use the results for the betterment of all. The worst we've done has been to use what we've built for destruction, as in the Holocaust. So every decision is up to us, we have to try to get some ethics and do the right thing. Not easy, but we'd better do it.
Paul Simons
Levittown, PA (WHYY 91.0 FM)
The Morality of Prejudice (April 18, 2004)
I was very disappointed to note regarding Elie Wiesel
(who is presented by your program as a "towering
moral figure", winner of the Nobel Prize and the
Congressional Medal of Honor) that people like him
who have suffered so much themselves become, in
the drift of time, blind to the suffering of others.
I refer to his letter which was read on air in your
program, in which he mentions the mutual suffering
of the Jews during the Holocaust and the Palestinians
at the current time.
What was conveniently forgotten by him in that letter
from the 1970s was that the suffering of the Jews
during the Holocaust was not caused by Palestinians
or "fanatics" whereas the suffering of the Palestinians
and their dispossession (see the work of Benny Morris,
Israeli historian) from their ancestral land was
directly caused by Israel and the Jewish elite. His
letter while a beautiful string of words is factually
quite meaningless. While condemning the terrorism
of the suicide bombers, he similarly forgets that
such reactions do not occur in a social vacuum. They
occur within a social structure of hopelessness and
extreme oppression that Israel has constructed and
maintains. Similarly, his idea about martyrdom morality
in Judaism and Christianity compared to what those
he calls "fanatics" (his term for Muslims) is completely
detached from the view presented in the Old Testament.
The morality of Moses during conflict (see Numbers
31:17-19) "in the name of the Lord", makes the suicide
bombers look like Sunday school kids. Wiesel further
mentions that no government would deal with "terrorists," conveniently
forgetting that terrorism was used by the "founding
fathers" of Israel to get their "homeland"(the blowing
up of the King David Hotel, the Semirimis Hotel,
murdering the UN envoy, Count Bernadott, etc).
Before Mr. Wiesel makes moral proclamations to humanity, may I suggest he try to break free of the immoral prejudice of always seeing the Palestinians as the criminal culprits and Israel as the righteous victim.
M. Asadi
Detroit, MI (WUOM 91.7 FM)
Heart and Soul of a Jew (April 18, 2004)
I am a 69 yr. old native of Pontiac, Michigan living
in an American skin with the heart and soul of a
Jew. My husband of 42 years is a 90 year old gentle
man, native of Warsaw, Poland and Holocaust survivor.
I listen every Sunday morning to Krista Tippett's
program looking for clues to rationalize my soul
mate relationship. Speaking with Elie Wiesel on "The
Tragedy of the Believer" was a big window of light.
Thank you to Krista Tippett for her fine, fine programs!!
Esther Liwazer
Bloomfield, MI (WUOM 91.7 FM)
Palestinian Suffering (April 18, 2004)
I understand your guest's desire for a free and peaceful Israel. That said, it will not happen until and unless Israel addresses the Palestinian issue with compassion, understanding and plain old common sense. The reason Palestinians blow themselves up is because they have nothing left to lose. Israel has taken away their rights, their land, their basic human dignity. They treat the Palestinians as less than human. This I find to be intolerable.
Israel is oppressing Palestine, make no mistake about that. And the sad part is, that with the Holocaust as part of Israel's legacy, Israel should know better. Until the Palestinian people are treated with dignity, compassion and with full recognition of their rights as human beings, there will be no peace.
Daryl Lamkey
Franklin Park, IL (WBEZ 91.5 FM)
