WHEN I READ Tim Kantzer's letter in your September-October 1994 issue, a quote from the Bible immediately jumped into my mind: Mark 9:40, "For whoever is not against us is for us." True, Sojourners goes outside the Christian tradition sometimes, but it is in a spirit of finding other truths that complement our own. This is an essential part of my faith journey. I have nothing to fear from these "outsiders." Indeed Jesus had the habit of hanging around and conversing with people who were considered outsiders with different visions of faith than the prevailing theology.
I have even found the words of those who are "against us" as challenges that can be used constructively. Camus and Nietzche leveled several charges against the Christian faith that cut deeply. We should examine our lives under their lenses on occasion to see if we are what we say, followers of Jesus in both word and deed.
Michael C. Monnens
Washington, D.C.
THE SOUND OF MONEY
BOB HULTEEN PICKED a relevant topic for his "Worthy of Note" column in the September-October 1994 issue. He's right when he says, "It's difficult to work up a sweat over millionaires." However, I'd like to examine the Pearl Jam-Ticketmaster dispute from a slightly different angle.
As I see it, Pearl Jam-the profit-making entertainment entity, not the laboring musicians themselves-made a business decision to limit their profit on their summer concert tour. On the one hand, one could see this as a shrewd marketing move to increase concert attendance and goodwill, thus promoting sales of albums, T-shirts, concessions, and the like.
On the other hand, one could see it (and I do) as an honest attempt to practice economics as if values mattered-a major subject in Sojourners this year, thanks to Chuck Matthei's brilliant series of articles. Pearl Jam's members have plenty of money, but they remember the days when they couldn't afford to go to concerts.
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