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I�ve been riding CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) since I was 11, and CTA always disappoints me. Weekly, I must deal with buses that are sometimes 30 or more minutes late, and delays on trains because tracks are being repaired all year around. Then there are delays due to the fact that drivers irrationally end/begin their shifts in the middle of routes instead of at the end. Some of the drivers in these occasions are oftentimes late. As icing on the cake, there are drivers who are rude and lazy. Only six months ago, a bus driver pulled into a bus stop to let a woman in her 70s or 80s onto the bus. The poor woman slipped and fell backwards, hitting her head. She seemed rather dizzy, and couldn�t get up. Instead of helping her, the bus driver cruelly closed the door and drove off. When questioned as to why he did not help her, the driver responded �I have a schedule to keep.� This matter was reported to the police and to CTA, but he was still driving a bus two weeks later.
While a bus driver�s starting wages is $13.00 hourly, some drivers earn as much as $40,000 a year�just to drive a bus. There are full-time professors who make less than that, and they have doctorate�s degrees! Thus, many of these drivers are being under-worked and overpaid. Nevertheless, these same bus drivers complained last year that they were not being paid enough, and threatened �slow-down� service if they did not get raises. Kruesi foolishly gave in, but after the raises were given, bus fares increased. Instead of services improving, they declined. Train and bus schedules are rarely kept, and I still receive disrespect from drivers. I�ve made several complaints to CTA about late buses or rude drivers, but officials never respond to them. Now Kruesi says that CTA doesn�t have enough money and will be forced to cut services and impose fair hikes if they don�t get more state money. Ridiculous! Whatever happened to the money CTA receives from the state? What of the extra funds provided by increased fares? The answer is simple: Kruesi has been mismanaging them! If he would pay bus drivers what they were really worth and gave himself a pay cut, money would show up. Here�s a better solution: Kruesi should resign and his job should be offered to someone with brains and respect for CTA passengers.
I wrote the letter below because I felt that our society (at least the Christian society) has much unfounded anger and hatred against Jewish people for what happened 2,000 years ago. This has caused many tragedies over the last hundred years, with the Holocaust as the major one. The purpose of this letter is to assure Jews that there is at least one Christian who does not hold them responsible for the death of Christ. It is also meant to rebuke the hyppocrites who persecute Jews under such an accusation. If you could please place this letter in your Commentary section, I would be most grateful.
Devin Love-Andrews
An Open Letter to the Jews
Around the time I write this letter, time is drawing near the Holy Week of the Christian faith. On April 9th, we Christians will observe Good Friday, the day when Jesus Christ (or Y�shua Messiah) paid the ultimate price for the sins of humanity on the cross. As I look back on the history of Europe and how European Christians commemorated Good Friday, I find that many of them would have what are called �Passion plays� in their churches and cathedrals. As you are Jews, I am confident that you all know what would happen after these plays; bandits would raid Jewish communities and pillage, rape, and kill innocent Jews. These things they would do supposedly �in the name of Jesus Christ�!
Because of such historical anti-Jewish sentiments during Lent, it is not surprising that many Jewish film advocates have decried Mel Gibson�s movie, �The Passion of Christ.� They are afraid that more pogroms would arise to further persecute their and your people. Trust me, I sympathize with those with such fear. While I am not writing to argue the place this movie may or may not happen, I am writing to tell you three things. First, those who have persecuted and murdered your people for the last 2,000 years �in the name of Christ� are nothing more than blasphemers and hypocrites. As Christians, we are supposed to love and pray for all of our neighbors�even our enemies. Of course, I do not consider Jews to be enemies, but this rule of love is still one of the major foundations of Christianity. Secondly, we are never to kill in the name of Jesus (not only because of the fifth commandment, but because of the commandment, �Judge not, lest ye be judged.�) We are, however, supposed to sacrifice our lives in the name of Jesus (as he did for us), for the sake of the Church, and for the welfare of our neighbors. Those who kill people who are not even indirect threats do not have God in them, but Satan. Thirdly, Christians must not direct all of their focus on how Christ died, but why He had to die�to save the world, drenched in incorrigible sin, from eternal damnation. We are also to remember the fact that He rose from the dead on the third day! After all, regarding that ancient question, �Who killed Christ?� I stand by my pastor�s answer, �We all did!� This is the true response to such a question because our sin, our rebellion, and especially our hate made it so that He had to die for us. Thus, anyone who would dare point the blame on the Jews or even the Romans (present-day Italians) is nothing but a narrow-minded bigot who does not have the Holy Spirit inside of them.
Therefore, in accordance with this letter, I personally want to apologize to you for whatever harm those who dared to call themselves Christians (thereby defiling the name) have caused for nearly two millennia. I also apologize on behalf of those who would otherwise have made decent Christians for standing by and letting it all happen.
Shalom Aleichem
Pax Hominibus
Peace be with you.
