Counterprotest was necessaryIn response to your article "Don't fall for picketers' trap; avoid a response" (Forum, Nov. 23):

I can understand the intent of Ms. Diamond's opinion. In a perfect world, everyone would hear the call to ignore the Westboro Baptist Church and isolate opinions like this until they die on the vine.

Unfortunately, that idealized world doesn't exist. You aren't going to keep people from commuting down South Street on a Friday morning.

This is one of the reasons they chose a weekday and not a weekend to protest outside of Brandeis. They will have a built-in audience one way or another. I also disagree that the solution in any case is isolation of The WBC's message. Isolation of that message only serves to condone it.

If anyone is unfortunately miserable enough to buy into the church's message, then when viewed on its face with a lack of opposition, it will come out as clarion rather than insipid. Increasingly on the political stage, we've seen the result of attempted "ignore-to-marginalize" campaigns against the provably false accusations and opinions of a limited group of liars and spin-pushers.

The result is that the members of the WBC embolden their base to accept the lies in the absence of presentation of the overwhelming truths out there. The lies then reverberate, and the end result by many is their acceptance as facts. When it then becomes expedient to expel those myths, they're hardened in the minds of the willing rather than exposed as they should have been in the beginning.

There will always be a certain element that will wholeheartedly accept whatever lie fits the ill-conceived notions that they already hold dear. No amount of the truth will shake that.

But we live in an age where to ignore is to tacitly accept as valid, or worse, as fact, the opinions of the ignored. The correct response to such despicable opinions is to address them.

-Karl Clodfelter

Boston

WBC protest is exceptional

In response to your article "Don't fall for picketers' trap; avoid a response" (Forum, Nov. 23):

Ordinarily, I agree with the general sentiment of Ms. Diamond's remarks. However, the Westboro Baptist Church is one of the most universally reviled institutions in all of the U.S.

Many have speculated that the WBC's appearances substantially benefit the causes that they protest (especially gay rights) because of a) hyperbole they use and b) the way that their protests unite and recruit counterprotestors, especially counterprotestors who might not otherwise have been likely to take a stand. The WBC's protests outside numerous high schools, for instance, have raised the profile of LGBT rights among high school students far more than gay-straight alliances alone could have.

-Matthew S. Meisel

Boston

Rev Cuenin's service is admirable

In response to your article "Chatting with the chaplain" (Features, Nov. 23):

As a Brandeis alumna and a staunch atheist, I am so proud to have Father Cuenin as part of the Brandeis community. Even though I never spoke with him directly during my time there, I only heard warm descriptions of him from my fellow students and always saw him as a positive and respectful force in the often ugly world of religion. I wish him all the best and hope he continues to serve Brandeis for many years to come.

-Amy Hoffman '10

Foster positive discourse on Israel

In response to your article "Lamenting the fractured condition of Zionism at Brandeis" (Forum, Nov. 16):

Thank you for stating your ideas so eloquently. As a Israel History teacher in a Jewish day school and as a Brandeis graduate, I think that you speak for many of us who love Israel and see both its strengths and its weaknesses. I hope that you will continue to share your views and help us (modern Jews and Zionists) reshape the discussion on Israel to focus on the ideas of democracy so that people can see the values of Judaism that care for the widow, elderly and poor as governing values for a country.

-Tamara Beliak '00