European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 12, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars  stripes religion saturday december 12, 1992 god s mail comes to life in israeli dead letter office by Cox news service Jerusalem a every week since 1987, a new Hampshire physician has written a letter to god asking for help to heal his patients. The doctors pleas like thousands of others sent annually in search of supernatural assistance Are buried at the dead letter office in Jerusalem because god does no to have a . Box in the holy land  postal workers done to have his Street address. Letters come in roughly 90 languages  some contain contributions of Money a typically $10 or $20 a perhaps As Down payments for gods Good graces. The volume is heaviest during the Christmas season. Most of the letters Are pleas for peace Good health financial  boyfriends or girlfriends or requests to be free of parental control. Or they re simple Friendly notes saying hello to the place where the writers believe that god must surely live. Many of what postal workers collectively Call a letters to god Are addressed to somewhat More specific entities. Examples a the creator of the world the Only god of Israel a or a Jesus Christ  or a to god the Western Wall in Jerusalem a reference to what is reputed to be the retaining Wall of the second jewish Temple that was destroyed by the romans in . 70. Mosh Ben Meir a Man of wry Good humor supervises a Crew of 15 in the dead letter office. He is slightly amused by the letters to god which of. Rom overseas they done to know i done to Havo connections with  a Moshe Ben Meir complicate his Job. But he understands the areas attraction to members of three of the worlds great religions. A from overseas they done to know i done to have connections with god a Ben Meir said his hands waving in supplicant fashion. A i done to know what to do with their  but Ben Meir is being modest. It could be argued that god lives at the dead letter office in Jerusalem. Some letters sent to the Western Wall Are actually deposited Between the rocks in the Wall Ben Meir said. It is a popular custom among jews who want to leave petitions for divine help in a place believed to be closer to god. An israeli woman wrote to a the creator of the world the Only god of Israel. Please Send some Money so i can pay my electricity Bill. I am very weak  need Only your  on multicoloured flowered paper Paul wrote from Kailua Hawaii to a Jesus Christ Jerusalem. How Are you i think i met you at downtown Honolulu. Do you remember me a study disputes Church stereotypes new York apr a new study challenges the Assumption that Liberal Church congregations Are More committed to social service ministries than their conservative counterparts. The study finds that the two groups show about the same degree of support  that theologically conservative churches often were More Active in helping social service ministries. A Many churches defied the stereotypes a said the study a directors Carl s. Dudley  Thomas Van Eck of the Center for Church  Community ministries in Chicago. A evangelical churches when compared with moderate  Liberal churches indicated higher priorities on local social ministries a greater concern for How systems cause poverty  More Liberal social  the study involved 100 Midwest congregations of 14 mainline protestant roman Catholic  conservative evangelical churches. The findings were included in the 1992 yearbook of american  Canadian churches recently published by the National Council of churches. The study found no support for the idea that Large rather than Small churches Are More Likely to support Community ministries. Also no significant differences were found in attitudes toward such ministries Between congregations of varying socioeconomic Levels with the two exceptions a churches of lower socioeconomic status place uniquely Strong emphasis on personal responsibility for poverty. A churches with higher socioeconomic status do not place As much blame on the individual for being in poverty but they also resist blaming the system. The report also said congregations in Urban areas support involvement in Community  Justice ministries More than congregations in Small towns  Rural communities. Another consistent difference was that Black churches were a significantly More Liberal on social issues  orientation to working for Justice than predominantly White  still hold Lead As biggest bloc in Congress from wire reports Washington a roman catholics remain the largest denominational bloc in the new . Congress totalling 141 members one fewer than in the previous Congress. According to a Survey by congressional quarterly methodists make up the second largest group with 70, Down from 74. They Are the largest protestant bloc. Baptists Are second among protestants totalling 62, an increase of three. Other groups Are presbyterians 54 episcopalians 50 jews 42 unspecified protestant 29 lutheran 21 United Church of Christ 14 mormon 12 unaffiliated 20  unitarian universalist  had jewish vote new York a a poll indicates that 79 percent of american jews voted for president elect Clinton 7 percent for president Bush  10 percent for Independent Ross Perot. The poll was conducted by the synagogue Council of  backs Somalia  Chicago a the head of the 5.2 million member evangelical lutheran Church in America has voiced support for using . Troops to assure food deliveries in Somalia. Bishop Herbert w. Chilstrom expressed the Hope that a every precaution will be taken to avoid aiding the warring factions  a to make certain we remain True to the purpose of this venture a to provide food to the starving  seeks new religion new York a Richard Yao founder of fundamentalists Anonymous  a frequent critic of the religious right says mainline churches Are impotent  a new religion is needed. The religion a must respond to our fear of death  our desire for immortality a he said in a statement. It a must affirm women Gays free speech science the environment the human body sex  human life in general a he  ties protested Nashville Tenn. A a Southern Baptist official has asked president elect Clinton to revoke a policy instituted by former president Ronald Reagan of appointing a . Ambassador to the Vatican. The Rev. Richard land head of the Southern Baptist social concerns Agency urged Clinton to a strike a blow for keeping Church  state separate by a redressing the wrong done by Reagan in 1984.avoid bludgeoning technique on insensitive husband editor s note these questions  answers arc  from the Book Quot or. Dobson answers your questions. A question my husband is somewhat insensitive to my needs but 1 believe he is willing to do better if i can teach him How i am different from him. Can you help me communicate my needs to him effectively or. Dobson first let me Tell you How not to handle this assignment. Do not resort to what i would Call the a bludgeoning technique a which includes an endless barrage of nagging pleading scolding complaining  accusing. Here san example of How that approach sounds to an exhausted Man who has come Home from work moments before a a won to you put Down that newspaper George  give me five minutes of your time rive minutes a is that too much to ask you never seem to care about my feelings anyway. How Long has it been since we went out for dinner even if we did you a probably take the newspaper along with you. A a in la Tell you George. Sometimes i think you done to care about me  the kids anymore. If once a just once a you would show a Little love  understanding i would drop dead from sheer  obviously that is not the Way to get Georges attention. Instead you should look for opportunities to teach your husband during moments of closeness  James c. Dobson understanding. That instruction requires the proper timing setting  manner to be effective. 1. Timing select a moment when your husband is typically More responsive  pleasant. Perhaps that will be immediately after an evening meal or at bedtime or in the freshness of morning. The worst time of the Day is during the first 60 minutes after he has arrived Home _ from work a yet this is the usual combat hour. Done to lumber into such a heavy debate without giving it proper planning  forethought taking advantage of every Opportunity for the Success of the Effort. 2. Setting the Ideal situation is to ask your husband to take you on an overnight or weekend trip to a pleasant area. If it is not possible to get away the next Best alternative is to obtain a baby Sitter  go out to breakfast or dinner alone. If that is out of the question then select a time at Home when the children Are occupied  the phone can be taken off the Hook. Generally speaking however the farther you can get him from Home with its cares  prob lems  stresses the better your Chance will be to achieve genuine communication. 3. Manner it is extremely important that your husband does not View your conversation As a personal attack. We Are All equipped with emotional defences that Rise to our  when we Are being vilified. Done to trigger those defensive mechanisms. Instead your manner should be As warm Loving  supportive As possible under the circumstances. Let it be known that you Are attempting to interpret your needs  desires. Postpone the conversation if he is under unusual stress from his work or if he Isnit feeling Well or if he has recently been stung by circumstances  events. Question do you think children Between the Ages of five  10 should be allowed to listen to Rock music on the radio or. Dobson no. Rock music is an expression of an adolescent culture. The words of teen agers songs Deal with dating broken hearts drug use  love love love. This is just what you done to want your 7-year-old thinking about. Instead his world of excitement should consist of adventure books Disney i a productions  family activities a camping fishing sporting events games Etc. Pf03iden< 0 on the family a nonprofit organization ded the preservation of the Home. Correspondence to Dobson should 80903 in the fan ily p 0 to 32 of ofad0 Springs Colo