Sorry, Michael Goodwin, shame is not a rare concept in today’s culture (“Bring Back Shame,” March 10).
Liberal lawmakers, opinion-makers, television producers and media mavens are happy to use shame to suit their vision of society. This secular hierarchy uses its pulpits and media megaphones to publicize, shame and bully anyone who virtuously clings to the societal bedrock of marriage between a man and a woman, the mores of the Boy Scouts or the right to life from conception.
We are, unfortunately, in an age where our society no longer knows the difference between right and wrong. This continuous redefinition has brought us to a crossroads where all virtue eventually falls by the wayside.
Lou Murray, Boston, Mass.
Brain twisters
Maureen Callahan’s column was a sad tribute to pseudoscience (“Back From the Dead” PostScript, March 10).
The people “brought back from the dead” did not experience brain death, which is irreversible. Brain death is the true definition of death.
As for the coverage of alleged “near-death experiences,” psychologist Susan Blackmore established some years ago that it is due to oxygen deprivation in the brain, not to any “out of body” experiences. Identical experiences have been induced in healthy persons whose brains are briefly deprived of oxygen in controlled laboratory settings.
Finally, the notion that consciousness is “independent of the brain” is nonsense of the highest order. When the brain dies, consciousness ceases.
Martin Brahms, Brooklyn
Breaking vows
There will be lots of applause among lawyers who can now take one of our most consistent legal concepts, the contract, and spend hours of billable time explaining that “you were forced into it and didn’t know what it meant” (“Pre-Nope Guy Will Appeal,” March 14).
For our system of law to work, it has to be intelligible to the people it serves and who have to abide by it.
Having some cockamamie judge go along with the notion that people who sign things don’t know what they mean is obviously a perversion of the whole concept.
Steven Wolosker, Manhattan
Korean nuke race
Ralph Peters’ suggestion to counter North Korea’s threats is to have the president offer nuclear weapons to South Korea (“Kooks With Nukes,” PostOpinion, March 12).
This is on the well-reasoned assumption that a delusional, spoiled-brat lunatic who thinks Dennis Rodman speaks for the United States will react rationally to such a move.
This is nothing but the slow death rattle of a bankrupt, starving, Orwellian dictatorship. The South Koreans are going to have a lot of work to do when it collapses in on itself.
J. Terminiello, Saddle Brook, NJ
Jew-less jury
Following the logic of banning Jews from the jury in the case against Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, the court would also have to ban Muslims and Arabs in order to level the playing field (“Trial by Jewry,” March 11).
Attorney Fred Cohn is an excellent lawyer who wants what is best for his client. However, since the Constitution prohibits removing potential jurors because of their religious beliefs, there is probably a better chance of seeking a change of venue to Islamabad.
B. Robertson, Rockaway Point