Spring 2009

Winter issue cover

Letters

I loved the article (Please—Keep the Cow) by Gary Hauk—it is inspiring, uplifting, and very timely. It is comforting to know that even though Emory has weathered financial storms before—it continued to grow stronger and wiser from each downturn of the economy—so we should not expect any less than that now.

Annie Carey

Senior Secretary, Emory University Department of Music

I take umbrage at the cover of the winter edition of Emory Magazine. It is not the subject, “Mind Over Money,” nor the coin graphic itself, but in the logo on the coin: “In the Brain We Trust.” No, I do not believe that God expects us to park our brains at the church door. But by the same token I do not believe that he expects us to exclude him from secular matters either. In the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, an Emory New Testament professor was instilling in his students the concept that neither communism nor socialism nor any other traditional “ism” then in fashion was the greatest threat to humanity. It was, he declared, secularism. He went on to define secularism as saying, “If there is a God, he doesn’t matter.” In every secular equation there is a factor which cannot be slighted. Just as we cannot make adequate business decisions based on emotion you cannot make them on pure pragmatism either. There are times in which God (religion, morals, etc.) must become a part of the equation if the problem is to be solved correctly. For entirely too many the God factor of the equation has been totally ignored and, thus, we find ourselves in the financial mess we face today. To ignore the God factor is pure secularism—and it is eating the heart out of this nation and even out of Christianity itself! Jean Cardinal Danilieu wrote a book entitled God and the Ways of Knowing. One sentence in that book is worth the price of it all : “I believe in God because He leads me where I would not go.” I trust neither my brain nor my emotions for both are deceitful. I must use both—but factor in God as well.

Charles R. Bruce 63T

Saint Cloud, Florida

I’ve known that I could access the magazine online for some time now and am embarrassed to admit that I have never done so until now. I’m having a great time reading through all of the stories. I hope that other alums will take advantage of this opportunity. Keep up the great work you are doing—I always look forward to reading your thoughts in Prelude.

Marcie Hirshberg 85MN

Johns Creek, Georgia

I just want to drop a quick email to say how much I enjoyed Mary Loftus’s article on socioeconomics that appeared in Emory Magazine several months ago. She presented a very difficult subject in a most lucid way, and wrote so well that I could not put it down.

Phil Kennedy

Atlanta

Write to us

Has something in Emory Magazine raised your consciousness—or your hackles? Write to the editors at Emory Magazine, 1762 Clifton Road, Plaza 1000, Atlanta, Georgia, 30322, or via email at paige.parvin@emory.edu. We reserve the right to edit letters for length and clarity. The views expressed by the writers do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or the administrators of Emory University.