Dear Vice President JD Vance,
"America First" is a good guideline for our government, but it is not enough by itself - God requires that we also be just to our neighbor nations, and even that we love our enemies.
I have read with some distress that Israel is accused of various atrocities in Gaza, including the execution-style murder of 15 Red Crescent paramedics and civil defense workers <Israel killed 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers one by one, says UN>, and the forcing of innocent Palestinians into buildings in Gaza to check for militants and booby traps <In Gaza, almost every IDF platoon keeps a human shield, a sub-army of Palestinian slaves | Opinion>,<Redirect Notice>.
These are not acceptable practices, even as means to the end of pressuring Hamas to release American hostages. As a Catholic, I am taught that good ends cannot justify evil means, such as willful harm to innocent people.
This problem may be compounded by the crackdown on non-citizen student protesters in the United States, sometimes described in the media as "Pro-Hamas". If such a person calls for the killing of Jews, fine, give him or her the boot. If they physically intimidate Jewish students, again, give them the boot. But I fear that this crackdown will reach students who rightfully, and merely, protest Israeli violence against innocents. Please ensure that this doesn't happen, and that the Administration publicly states that it won't happen - otherwise, there may be a chilling effect - not only on students themselves, but on university administrators, who may repress morally good speech out of fear that their universities will lose federal funding if they don't.
Yours in Christ,
Ben S.
"America First" is a good guideline for our government, but it is not enough by itself - God requires that we also be just to our neighbor nations, and even that we love our enemies.
I have read with some distress that Israel is accused of various atrocities in Gaza, including the execution-style murder of 15 Red Crescent paramedics and civil defense workers <Israel killed 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers one by one, says UN>, and the forcing of innocent Palestinians into buildings in Gaza to check for militants and booby traps <In Gaza, almost every IDF platoon keeps a human shield, a sub-army of Palestinian slaves | Opinion>,<Redirect Notice>.
These are not acceptable practices, even as means to the end of pressuring Hamas to release American hostages. As a Catholic, I am taught that good ends cannot justify evil means, such as willful harm to innocent people.
This problem may be compounded by the crackdown on non-citizen student protesters in the United States, sometimes described in the media as "Pro-Hamas". If such a person calls for the killing of Jews, fine, give him or her the boot. If they physically intimidate Jewish students, again, give them the boot. But I fear that this crackdown will reach students who rightfully, and merely, protest Israeli violence against innocents. Please ensure that this doesn't happen, and that the Administration publicly states that it won't happen - otherwise, there may be a chilling effect - not only on students themselves, but on university administrators, who may repress morally good speech out of fear that their universities will lose federal funding if they don't.
Yours in Christ,
Ben S.
