her pride. With her husband in thernarmy, she is left behind to do the hating.rnFaced with an Indiana captain (playedrnbeautifully b}’ Chris Cooper) who treatsrnher with an unaccustomed kindness, shernfaces a painful trial of her loyalties, andrnby necessity she drags her young sonrnalong with her.rnThere are several wonderful scenes inrnthe film, one of the best showing Sararnrocking herself beside her daughter’srngrave, in an eerie and very real portrayalrnof overwhelming grief. Clarkson has anotherrnstriking scene in which she goes tornwash her dress (and her soul) in therncreek. Ilenson acknowledges that “somernpeople have been put off by how cold shernis, especially at the end. But I wanted tornbe truthful to the Scotch-Irish women.”rnHe has been truthful to that and tornmuch more by creating a film thatrntouches on many of the ironies of thernwar, without seeming labored. Manyrnspanking-new immigrants from Europernended up fighting to teach the Southrnwhat it meant to be an American, andrnthere is one here, a Pole nicknamedrn”Chicago” for his new hometown (he’s arnsympathetic character, played well andrnwith a completely credible accent byrnRobert Joy). To his captain, who likesrnhim, Chicago is nevertheless an outsider,rnwho has inexplicably taken sides in anrnAmerican fight.rnThe role both Northern and Southernrnpastors played in supporting (or inciting)rntheir congregations is made crystal clearrnby Kris Kristofferson’s half-fey Confederaternpreacher, and by the story the Unionrncaptain tells of how he was recruitedrnat church. Also, the one black characterrnin the film fights on the Southern side,rnto the astonishment of the Union sympathizersrnon screen and no doubt severalrnin the audience.rnYet I lenson, who like many Kentuckiansrnhad family on both sides of the war,rndoes not consider his film pro-Southern.rnPerhaps it seems so only because Hensonrnhas so much compassion for his charactersrnon both sides, and because today,rnnot to demonize the South is by defaultrnto defend it.rnSometimes there is nothing so currentrnas ancient—which in American termsrnmeans 19th-century—history. As Americanrntroops are once again sent off tornfight somebody else’s civil war in Bosnia,rnwe would do well to be reminded byrnfilms like this one that war is a very hardrnnecessity. I am not thinking so much ofrnpeople’s lives, even, though lives arernimportant enough: the hell of it isrnthat there is no high moral ground inrnwartime. The nature of war preventsrnthat. No one can fight, even for the mostrnjustified cause, and not do violence to hisrnown ethics. War changes our souls, andrnseldom for the better, even when ourrncause is right. And if it is wrong?rnPharaoh’s Army is available on videornthis month from Orion Home Video,rnand will be shown on PBS television stationsrnthis September and October.rn—Katherine DaltonrnW H E N CHRISTIANS invite Muslimsrninto their homes, it sometimes happensrnthat the guests wish to performrntheir ritual prayers at the specifiedrn”prayer time.” This mav be intended asrna witness of their Muslim commitment,rnbut it is not a religious obligation as such,rnas the prayers can be made up later, atrnhome. This means that it is not an offensernfor the Christian host to ask thernguests to defer their prayers until they returnrnhome, but of course it is also possiblernto accommodate their wish. In countriesrnwhere there are many Muslimrnimmigrants, churches have been asked tornprovide facilities for Muslim worship; untilrnnow, this request has seldom beenrngranted, at least as far as the sanctuariesrnare concerned.rnIt is accepted as a matter of coursernthat Muslims will not make their ownrnmosques available for Christian services,rnand of course they cannot be faulted forrnthis, because it would be inconsistentrnwith the fundamentals of their faith.rnMuslims who take their faith seriously,rnand even many who do not, naturally understandrna similar reluctance on the partrnof Christians. Christians, by contrast, oftenrndo not see the issue clearly enough torntake a firm stand, perhaps thinking thatrnby offering their facilities for Muslimrnworship they will win friends and perhapsrneventually create an openness tornthe Gospel, but in fact the Muslims willrngenerally regard the Christians as insincere,rnsuperficial, woddly, and impious.rnLast December, while commentingrnon Bosnia, Republican Senate MajorityrnLeader Robert Dole, a Methodist whornattends a conservative congregation,rnstated that while we intend to be evenhandedrnin Bosnia, “We are not neutral:rnwe are pro-Muslim.” Surely SenatorrnDole does not mean to imply “anti-rnChristian,” because, like many AmericanrnProtestants, he hardly identifies the OrthodoxrnSerbs with Christianity. In fact,rnto be “pro-Muslim” in such a situation isrnto be anti-Christian. Attitudes such asrnthat expressed by Senator Dole are receivedrnby most Muslims as a sign of thernweakness of the individual, of his faith,rnand of Christianity itself, and hardly contributernto interfaith tolerance.rnTolerance makes sense only when differentrnparties respect one another, and itrnis hard to respect a group or party that isrnlacking in confidence and self-respect. Ifrnany reader is aware of a similar situationrnanywhere in the world concerning arnprominent Islamic official who has said,rn”We are not neutral, we are pro-Christian,”rnwe would be glad to hear of it.rn—Harold O.]. BrownrnO B I T E R DICTA: it’s not too late tornreserve a place at the annual conferencernof the Midwest G.K. Chesterton Society,rnwhich will be held from June 27-29 atrnthe Cousins Center in Milwaukee. Pastrnspeakers at Chesterton Society conferencesrnhave included Thomas Fleming,rneditor of Chronicles. For more information,rnwrite to John Peterson, 740 SprucernRd.,Barrington,IL 60010.rnWe are pleased to announce that thernfirst session of the Southern LeaguernSummer School will be held from Junern30 to July 5 at the Kinard ConferencernCenter in Leesville, South Carolina.rnThe faculty of this school includesrnMichael Hill as well as Thomas Fleming.rnHigh school juniors and seniors, collegerngraduates and undergraduates, mayrnenroll. For more information, write orrncall The Southern League, P.O. Boxrn40910, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404-0910,rn(205) 553-0155.rnChronicles is now available at the followingrnstores in and around Los Angeles:rnBrentano’s, Century City Suite 190, LosrnAngeles; Bookstar, Inc., West HollywoodrnAve., Los Angeles; News Spot, 10953rnKinross Ave., Los Angeles; Borders Bookstore,rn330 S. La Cienga Blvd., Los Angeles;rnWestside International News Inc.,rn11949 Wilshire Blvd., West Los Angeles;rnDel Amo Book and News, 163 Del AmornFashion Center, Torrance; Barnes & NoblernSuperstore, 16325-16461 VenturarnBlvd., Encino; Barnes & Noble Superstore,rn731 N. San Fernando Blvd., Burbank;rnBookstar, Inc., Studio City Theatre,rnStudio City; Bookstar, Inc., 21440rnVictory Blvd., Woodland Hills; WoodlandrnHills Newsstand, 19714 VenturarnBlvd., Woodland Hills.rnAPRIL 1996/7rnrnrn