Posted by JHR on March 01, 2003 at 13:33:41:
In Reply to: One Serious Question About OVER THE WALL posted by Tracy a 8th grader in Nebraska on February 25, 2003 at 22:58:59:
In response to: "One Serious Question About OVER THE WALL" posted by "Tracy a 8th grader in Nebraska" on February 25, 2003 at 22:58:59:
Original letter:
Dear Mr. Ritter,
Remember when the Dog-man in Over the Wall was talking to the crowd and he asked one question? It is after he said, "Jesus said, Fear thou not." This is page 159. Then he said that this whole country of America is walking around full of fear and that that was against Jesus because we should Fear thou not.Then he asks everybody a question and shouts "If Sad-dam Hussein was lying in the street, beaten and bloody, how many of y'all would pick him up? Carry him to shelter? Pay for his needs? (Well, that's three questions.) Anyway, he said, Jesus said, do it. Pick up your enemy. Don't walk by. "That's what Jesus taught, y'all"
Well, my teacher said that that was what Jesus taught in the old days, when Arabs and the jews were fighting like the Good Samaritan who helped the jew on the strret but not today. Today if your a soldier you have to kill your enemy because that was your orders.. I think he is wrong I think it takes the most bravery to help your enemy like Dogman said.
then okay later everyone calls dogman just a lunatic. But to me that was like calling Jesus a lunatic. Then we had to read tha poem of Mark Twains the War Prayer where at the end everyone calls the guy a lunatic. I was just wondering is that where you got the idea? Or was Dog-man Jesus?
Oh ijust noticed that dogman backwords is GOD NAM.
OK That's all. So far it is a very good book. It makes you think about it.
Sincerely,
Tracy Alexander
***
Dear Tracy,
You students in Nebraska never cease to amaze me. Yes, you truly used the "right side," or the cognitive side, of your brain to draw that connection between Christ's story of the Good Samaritan and the very message the Dog-Man wanted to impart, each in their own unique style. And you are right. It takes far more bravery to assist one's enemy, with love, charity, and generosity, than it does to kill him. You are extremely brave for saying so, especially in today's climate.
Next, for you to see my quite deliberate link between the "lunatic" in Mark Twain's WAR PRAYER and the man in the crowd calling Dog-Man a lunatic is phenomenal. Many adults fail to make that connection.
BUT, you top it off, kiddo, with your final, seemingly off-handed (no pun intended) remark-truly from the "right" (or left-handed) side of the brain-regarding the backward spelling of Dog-Man.
Actually, his name spelled backward would be "Nam God." And, yes, once again that was deliberate. During the Vietnam War, the country, then called Viet Nam (two words), was often referred to simply as "Nam." And my intention was that this solitary figure, Dog-Man, on the sidewalks of our nation's capital, would in his own way represent a sort of Spiritual, or God-like, perception many of us now have regarding Vietnam and our devastating and unholy treatment of that country during the days of incredible fear most Americans had of the people of one tiny country on the verge of electing a Communist president.
My wish is that today we could be compassionate and fearless toward our enemies, as Jesus proscribed for his true followers, and not follow the path of fear and hatred which always leads to war.
Keep up the great work, Tracy! Please write back anytime.
All my best,
-JHR
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