Hale Named Bloomsburg Coach

James Perrins Sr.

Tuesday, December 22, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





for 12-23-92 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Peace and goodwill are still but a dream in America &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Peace on earth. Good will toward men." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Whatever one's religion -- or lack of it -- and regardless of almost
anywhere one may be in this world at this time of year, that greeting
expresses a universal wishIt also expresses a universal failure -- for peace
and goodwill are a uniquely human concept and ability; their absence is solely
a consequence of human rejection -- and as almost never before so clearly,
peace and goodwill are dismayingly scarce this season. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some are taking comfort from the assistance that forces led by the United
States are giving those tragic victims in Somalia -- although it took months
of debate and handwringing during which thousands died before the decision to
move was made. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Even then, there is a taint of suspicion that politics played more of a
role than compassion in reaching that decision. For a brief spell, it did
relieve the pressure to do something equally effective in former Yugoslavia.
There, thousands of innocent women and children have been murdered and more
than one million of them driven into exile -- into a not always hospitable
Europe. But criticism from Americans comes with especially poor grace when one
considers the awesome burden of providing refuge for all the dispossessed that
Germany has shouldered, as contrasted with the appalling record of the United
States in rejecting Haitian refugees. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Of course, it has been the U.S. position that the "ethnic cleansing" in the
Balkans is primarily a European responsibility -- and Europe's leaders,
particularly Britain's, have been doing anything and everything to avoid
facing up to that duty. There has been so much unholy dithering and
negotiating as to make it appear they are just waiting for the Serbian
irregulars (Serbia's equivalent of the "skinheads," who have taken over the
country) to finish the job so Europe won't have to get involved. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But if the people of Somalia and former Yugoslavia were to find their
senses, the intractable divisions of the Middle East would command full
attention. There, in the center of the Holy Land, the region that gave birth
to three of the world's great religions, there is at least as much violent and
unyielding ethnic and religious hatred among the disciples as anywhere else in
the world, and perhaps more. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Even within those groupings there still are sub-divisions, just as deep and
ruthless, between the Kurds and the Turks, Iranians, Iraqis, and the people of
sections of the former Soviet Union, for one example. Or, just a short
distance away, between the Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Or -- in another
direction -- between factions of the Afghanistanis. Or, beyond them, between
Pakistani and Indian, between Moslem and Hindu. Or, look at the terrible
internecine warfare in Indonesia. Or, at the political police state of former
Burma. Or, the resurgence of the Khmer Rouge against every peacemaking effort
of the United Nations in Cambodia. Or, the agony of Tibet under China. Or, the
still unresolved and still awesomely dangerous uncertainties of most of the
former Soviet Union -- including the prospect of an uprising by the right wing
-- former communist -- leadership against the efforts of Boris Yeltsin to
bring both democracy and a free market economy to those tortured people. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 While all kinds of excuses may be offered for these -- and for those yet
unmentioned who are drenching Africa in blood, famine, disease, and civil and
tribal wars -- what excuses can be offered for those who have for so long a
time been part of the very meat of Western culture, tradition, and values as
the people of Ireland? If they can't make it, who can? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And, of course, the United States is no paragon of virtue. Earlier this
month there was release of that utterly dismaying report that found 20 percent
of us -- one of every five people -- to be anti-Semitic; that found
inter-racial, inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-social prejudices, hatred,
and discriminations pervasive among the American public. We in this, the
wealthiest, best housed, fed, clothed, educated, and informed people now or
ever, are as sorely divided by ignorance and avarice as any of those hundreds,
perhaps thousands, of burning human failures around the world whose stories
fill our news every day. No less than when Lincoln first proclaimed it, ours
is a nation divided. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Oh, for the most part, America's divisions aren't always so violent or
blatant. But the ruptures, fractures, the emotional abrasions are as deep and
raw -- and the violence no less deadly. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And what makes it all so incredible is that none of it -- none -- needs to
be. The alternative always has been, is, and will be, at hand -- available for
the taking. Only humans are able to conceive of peace and goodwill -- and to
reject it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Given the gulf between word and deed, it is difficult to muster -- however
heartfelt -- more than a grim, even desperate, hope for: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Peace on Earth, Goodwill to all."

For 12-23-92 
Peace And Goodwill Are Still But A Dream In America 
"peace On Earth. Good Will Toward Men." 
Whatever One's Religion -- Or Lack Of It -- And Regardless Of Almost Anywhere 
One May Be In This World At This Time Of Year, That Greeting Expresses A 
Universal Wish.

For 12-23-92 Peace And Goodwill Are Still But A Dream In America "peace On Earth. Good Will Toward Men." Whatever One's Religion -- Or Lack Of It -- And Regardless Of Almost Anywhere One May Be In This World At This Time Of Year, That Greeting Expresses A Universal Wish.