Carter Trip to Bosnia

Re “Carter, Driven to Do Good, Looks to Bosnia Quagmire,” Dec. 17:

“Why he pursues his altruistic agenda is a mystery to many” is the subhead on the story of Jimmy Carter’s attempt to help negotiate a solution in Bosnia. Questioning his motives is astonishing and in itself may indicate what’s wrong with our media’s values.

In the body of the story, the reporter states that “many believe he is shamelessly seeking the Nobel Peace Prize.” Shamelessly is an adverb that might better be employed if Carter was trying to accumulate more money than Michael Milken.

The Old Testament posed the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Carter has answered in the affirmative. We all should.

PAUL LEDER

Los Angeles

What a surprise that Ol’ Jimmy Carter was invited to talks regarding the Bosnia mess. If I were the one choosing someone from the U.S. to go, who better than Carter? He has shown that he is a “crack” negotiator. He single-handedly negotiated America into a corner regarding the situation in North Korea, giving away the farm and leaving us with nothing except the promises of a morally bankrupt nation and a multibillion-dollar bill.

Radovan Karadzic must be hoping that we don’t recognize the errors of our past.

LARRY GORNEY

Simi Valley

Jack Nelson, in writing about Carter, missed the forest for the trees. In seeking to know the mystery of “what makes Jimmy Carter run,” he examines such driving forces as world peace, a legacy in history or a huge ego.

Nowhere amid his analysis does Nelson examine President Carter’s deeper motivation of Christian faith. Such a faith is not mysterious, magical or new.

Simply put, it is “trust.” Trust in God. Trust that the future is being shaped by God’s love. Trust that together with God, we as people working together can make a difference in that future.

President Carter’s active engagement in the world, from Sunday School class, to Habitat for Humanity, to Haiti, Disease in Africa and Bosnia comes from a profound gratitude before Christ for all the love and forgiveness that he has been given. Such gratitude leads him into prayer, regular conversation with God about many of the world’s ills.

Out of such a close relationship with God comes a responsibility to use those gifts to the greatest benefit of all those around him. He is clearly engaged in a Christ-inspired “ministry of reconciliation.”

The world may misunderstand and ridicule such behavior, but seen from a spiritual viewpoint, it offers a way out of the social morass of the cynicism and the “me-first” attitude that we all unconsciously promote.

Thank God for President Carter and all who like him who have the courage to live out a life filled with God’s love . . . no matter what the “worldly” cost.

THE REV. W. TERRY VAN HOOK

Pastor

Culver-Palms United Methodist Church

Culver City

Lessons learned from Bosnia:

There are three choices for small/weak states to preserve their sovereignty and territorial integrity: discover oil, develop/purchase a nuclear weapons arsenal, convert to Christianity. We should applaud the West for a lesson well-taught.

ORHAN GURBUZ

Huntington Beach

The hand-wringing going on over the Balkan situation would be comical if it weren’t so tragic. The specter of a little country like Serbia thumbing its nose at the powerful nations of the West is not hard to understand if we just look for reasons behind this amazing show of boldness and bravado. Isn’t it obvious that these people are getting all their moral and material support from Russia? Does anyone believe they would be so intractable and impossible to negotiate with if Russia were to withdraw its support?

The problem is how to persuade Russia to use its influence to bring that war to a satisfactory conclusion. I believe Russia will only be moved by getting something in return. There are two things that might influence Russia to alter its stance toward the West at the present time--a greater show of respect from us and membership in NATO.

Although we seem to be reaching out to them in matters of trade, we continue to treat them as enemies in international affairs. Why not let them into NATO? I know that many people in America and Europe would prefer to keep Russia out of NATO but it would seem to me that we would have greater control over their behavior if they were in NATO than if they were not.

TOD BROWN

Venice