HEARTS OF THE CITY / Exploring attitudes and issues behind the news : A rotating panel of experts from the worlds of philosophy, psychology and religion offer their perspectives on the dilemmas that come with living in Southern California.

Today’s question: “President Clinton is rallying Americans behind his pledge to commit 20,000 troops to defend a fragile peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Clinton asserts that America’s values and interests require this. What ethical and moral standards should guide decisions on sending American soldiers abroad?”

Father Jeremiah J. McCarthy, Rector/President, St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo

A key American value influencing the decision to send American forces into Bosnia is the awareness that all people are created equal and that there is a responsibility to ensurethe dignity of every human person. This value is coherent with the Catholic concern for the common good for all persons. The notion of the “common good” includes the social conditions necessary for human flourishing. Paramount among these needs is the need for secure and safe social structures to enhance peaceful cooperation. These values provide some of the warrants for American participation in the peace effort in Bosnia.

Sharon Presley, Executive Director, Resources for Independent Thinking, Oakland

There is no question that the carnage in Bosnia is an immoral and insane grab for power. Individuals who choose to help the peace effort have every right to do so. But when politicians spout vague, idealistic sounding collectivist phrases, watch out. Politicians too often trick us with euphemistic, empty phrases. Remember the “peacekeepers” in Vietnam. Whose values are we talking about? The values of millions of Americans opposed to intervention? Apparently not. We are asking American soldiers to risk their lives when too many questions remained unanswered. For example, who is financing this war? Not the impoverished Serbs and Bosnians! Why not apply sanctions against those who pay for and supply the arms?

Richard J. Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary

We have to avoid both an active “moral policeman”-type interventionism and a thoroughgoing isolationism. Other people--individuals and nations--should normally be left to work out their own problems. But neither can we ignore the dictates of conscience. Sometimes, in the face of horrendous evils being perpetrated against the innocent, we must intervene. When we do, moral persuasion and other nonviolent efforts are always the best strategies. Military intervention must be employed only as a last resort; and it must be aimed at reducing the overall level of violence and restoring a just and orderly self-rule.

* Compiled by K. CONNIE KANG, Times Staff Writer