There’s an intimidating picture on the front page of the Dec. 3 Bangor Daily News It shows an individual brandishing the Bible like some club with which to throttle those Christians (like me) who look into Scripture and see Christ’s words of love and tolerance.

An odd ecumenicism seems to prevail in the BDN. Some Jewish neighbors dance joyously with the Torah – the first five books of the Bible, but ignore its message of love and compassion when it comes to the plight of the Palestinians. The Israel Defense Force kills Palestinian youth on a weekly basis – read all about it in The New York Times, and, in the BDN, read an American-Israeli student’s frequent complaints about those notoriously inaccurate rockets fired from Gaza that rattle windows and keep Israelis awake.

A reader can only wonder which maxim applies. “Man is wolf unto man” perhaps? How about, “It all depends on whose ox is gored” or “Men were created a little lower than the angels and have been getting lower ever since”? After eight years of Bush militarism, the latter would seem to be the best choice.

Stanley Harrison

Sedgwick