LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (01/29/06)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Ukraine should have kept some nukes

Dear Editor:

On January 13, President Viktor Yushchenko stated that Ukraine should produce its own nuclear fuel; this was interpreted as a direct response to the Russian "gas war" and was widely seen as a move toward a more energy-independent Ukraine.

This was a very smart move, but it could still be only a half measure. If Ukraine's present friends such as the United States, the European Union and NATO cannot guarantee the sovereignty of Ukraine, development of nuclear fuel should go all the way to the production of nuclear weapons. Here is why.

After the break-up of the Soviet Union Ukraine became the third largest nuclear power in the world. Partly due to the international pressure, partly due to the stupidity of the president of the country at the time - Leonid Kravchuk, Ukraine became free of nuclear weapons in the mid-1990s and that created a serious breach in the country's security and its ability to use nuclear warheads as a deterrent to unfriendly states such as Russia.

Yes, there was no need to keep the whole arsenal of 1,920 nukes (http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/1993/039303.shtml), since it would have been too costly, but a handful of them should have been left intact as a "friendly" reminder to any country looking to destabilize Ukraine's sovereignty, economy as well as political stability. It also would have helped to preserve the integrity of Ukraine's borders, especially the Crimean peninsula, from the Russian desire to annex it by perhaps using that large Russian fleet still based in Sevastopol.

Just one week after Mr. Yushchenko's statement on the possibility of independent enrichment of uranium for peaceful purposes, French President Jacques Chirac came out and said that France is ready to use nuclear weapons against any state that sponsors a terrorist attack against French interests. The question that we as Ukrainians must now answer for ourselves, our children and our history is this: Is Ukraine less important than France?

P.S. By the way, let us recall the words of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise." I highly recommend the refrain: "To arms, citizens. Form your battalions." Then there is also another part of the anthem that I personally am very fond of which says, "What! These foreign cohorts would make laws in our courts!"

Alex Kozhushchenko
Wilmington, Del.

Some thoughts on Christmastide

Dear Editor:

Between the December 25, 2005, issue of The Ukrainian Weekly coming in the first week of January, and preparation for celebrating Christmas according to both the Gregorian and Julian calendars, this response to Myron B. Kuropas' "Christmas: past, present, future" is somewhat late but, I hope, still timely as we end Christmastide today with the celebration of the Epiphany.

Like Dr. Kuropas, I celebrated two Christmases when growing up. Unlike him, I still do! In those "old days" we, too, sang Christmas carols in school and had a Christmas program followed by a party with cookies made by our mothers and we exchanged grab-bag gifts. We even had a Christmas tree in our classroom, dressed by decorations made by our little hands.

Things have changed as Dr. Kuropas noted. He joins Gibson (I might add, Falwell, Robertson, etc.) in lamenting these changes via Gibson's book "The War on Christmas..."

He notes that "wannabe constitutional lawyers ... are declaring unconstitutional normal and traditional Christmas representations such as Christmas trees, Santa Claus, treetop stars ..." and so on.

This reminded me of the old saying that "the more things change, the more they remain the same." The religious right (Gibson, Falwell, Robertson, Kuropas, etc.) is correct in saying that Christmas in America was not always as it is now. Up until the 19th century, the churches that today are the great champions of Christmas, those descended from the Puritans and Baptists said that Christmas was the work of the devil, was completely unbiblical, was an invention of the anti-Christ. And they hated Christmas so much that for 21 years, in the late 1600s, in New England Christmas was banned as a holy day and it was a crime to celebrate Christmas. The church beat the ACLU, if this is indeed the purpose of that organization.

As Christians (East and West), we must not romanticize the "good old days" (for perhaps they really were not!) and remember that although Jesus was born in a manger and wrapped in swaddling cloths, he grew up. And we are told by St. Paul to "grow up ... into Christ" and to "mature in the faith." One outstanding theme of Jesus and of the prophets is to advocate for and care for the poor, the friendless, children and widows. This is part of our vocation.

It would seem that a part of an authentic celebration of Christmas would be for us to go to the Salvation Army or a homeless shelter, tap a person standing in line with a soup bowl and say "come to my home for Sviat Vechir, there is room for you at our table. And come as you are." This, I think, would be one of the finest gifts we could give to Jesus for his birthday, and the finest to ourselves as well for the invited who would probably not be in a position to return the favor.

If the religious right, the left and those in between would put as much effort into caring for those Jesus loved, instead of fighting/supporting all of these Christmas externals, and care for the poor and marginalized which we are commanded to do, then perhaps those on the outside looking in would marvel and say once again "look how they love one another." We will then have "grown-up," "matured in Christ" knowing that Jesus is not born in the town square, not in the homeroom, not in the Christmas program (all of which are nice) but more importantly, "born in us this day."

Father Michael Fill
Philadelphia

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