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Contributions to Reader's Forum should be limited to 250 words.
Letters must be signed and must include the writer's address and
phone number for verification purposes. All letters are subject
to editing.
Mail your letter to:
The Catholic Voice
2121 Harrison St., Suite 100
Oakland, CA 94612
FAX: (510) 893-4734
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Defending Notre Dame
I have followed the many letters in this forum by Catholics, enraged by
President Obama’s presence at Notre Dame’s commencement ceremonies.
As an American, Notre Dame alumnus, and Roman Catholic, perhaps I can
provide some needed guidance on this issue.
Firstly, respect the office of the President. These are men, not God,
and so come with human faults and occasional lapses in judgement. I, too,
believe that Obama is wrong about abortion; however, I also found Reagan
wrong for funding Central American death squads, Clinton for sleeping
with an intern, and George W. Bush for authorizing torture. President
Obama’s foreign and domestic policies in general have more in common
with Catholic principles and teachings than not.
Secondly, understand Notre Dame tradition. Notre Dame has always invited
sitting presidents of each political party to visit the university. This
has never been done to show support for a particular president’s
policies; rather, this is a show of respect for the office, an opportunity
to create dialogue on issues, and a chance to highlight Catholicism within
America.
Finally, “one issue” Catholics are often truly unaware of
their Church’s real teachings. Abortion is listed as the third item
in a list of 16 examples of violence against human life — not as
a single issue — by the Second Vatican Council.
The U.S. bishops regularly ask for adherence to sanctity of life principles,
including economic welfare, housing, and hunger — not just abortion.
Let our outrage against the threats to human life encompass more than
abortion and let’s let that outrage stretch to both sides of the
political aisle. Then, from the outrage, let us offer solutions. I have
been just as alarmed by the outrage without solutions as I have been by
just the outrage.
For those who continue to denounce Notre Dame, rather than simply denouncing,
let the visit serve the purpose that Notre Dame president Father Jenkins
intended: to start a dialogue with pro-life Americans, to learn more about
the Church’s stance on the sanctity of all life, and to work for
solutions in line with the whole of our Catholic teachings.
While the letters to this forum will certainly continue to question my
faith and Notre Dame’s standing as a premier Catholic university,
I remain a proud American, Domer, and Roman Catholic.
Gregory Brown
Pleasant Hill
More Christ-like approach
I am a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a long-practicing
Catholic. I am still astounded by the action of the many bishops and other
protesters against President Obama’s visit. They’re so filled
with anger and self-righteousness. These people are to the right of the
Far Right and would probably approve of the Spanish Inquisition. They
may even approve of Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage.
Instead of their waste-of-time protests, why don’t they concentrate
on helping the women who are prone to seek abortions. Obama said, “Let’s
make adoption more available. Let’s provide care and support for
women who do carry their children to term.”
Isn’t this a more Christ-like approach? I can hardly believe that
he would condone the other harsh way.
Patrick Fleming
Pleasant Hill
Spectrum of life issues
I wonder if those who criticized President Obama’s visit to Notre
Dame were equally outraged when former President Bush spoke at the university.
While George Bush may be anti-abortion, he is certainly not pro-life
as evidence by his record of executions while governor of Texas.
I urge people to look at the entire spectrum of what our Catholic faith
teaches us: pro-life means conception to natural death.
Jan Conway
Alamo
Clarifying identity
My name is Kate Doherty and I am the youth minister at Christ the King
Parish in Pleasant Hill. I just want to clear up the fact that I am not
the Kate Dougherty who often has letters published in The Catholic Voice’s
Reader’s Forum.
Though I enjoy all the great dialogue her letters have opened up between
me and many parishioners here at CTK both in conversation and email, I
think it’s about time people understand that it is not I voicing
these opinions.
I think it is wonderful that Ms. Dougherty has opened up such engaging
and healthy dialogue in Voice readers, and I encourage everyone to keep
up these interesting and important conversations about our rich faith!
I do believe that the Spirit works to make our Church stronger and better
through great conversations like the ones the Reader’s Forum seems
to be generating!
Kate Doherty
Pleasant Hill
Setting the record straight
For some years now, The Voice has printed letters from a Jim Dempsey in
Walnut Creek. Voice readers need to be award that there are two Jim Dempseys
in Walnut Creek.
I am the Jim Dempsey who is a former managing editor of the Berkeley Daily
Gazette, later a public relations manager for Pacific Telephone, and then
for 13 years a member of the editorial staff of The Catholic Voice. One
of my major jobs was to produce the Around the Diocese column.
Over the years I have had a number of phone calls and queries from friends
commenting negatively about “my” letters appearing in The
Voice. Most recently I got an anonymous letter bordering on hate mail,
making negative references about me and my wife.
While the other Jim Dempsey certainly has the right to write anything
he wants, it is obvious that we differ strongly on most any subject he
writes about.
Not a big deal. But I would like to set the record straight and note that
if and when I write another letter to Reader’s Forum, I will specifically
note that I am the Dempsey who wrote for The Voice.
Jim Dempsey
Walnut Creek
A troubling focus
Justin Gagnon, Keith Cosbey and Ryan Mariotti are to be commended for
re-directing their talents toward the interests of children rather than
mere materialistic gain, “School Lunches shifts from cafeteria fare
to healthy cuisine” (Voice, June 8). Their business plan appears
to be generated by concern about the epidemic of presumed overweight and
poorly exercised children. Their goal, they claim, is quality lunchtime
meals that schools and parents can’t or won’t provide.
One aspect of this program is troubling. Is children’s health the
primary concern or are the children and their eating habits merely tools
to spread the gospel of the Mother earth first, people second movement?
The quote by Mariotti is: “My science and engineering studies opened
my eyes to the larger-scale offenses to our planet.” He states,
further, that “his work reflects his commitment to ecology.”
One of the Children’s Choice’s goals is mov[ing] “beyond
cooking and delivering food, into educating children and teachers about
the environment and recycling.”
The closed environment of the classroom has become the prized ground
of every conceivable public/private partnership seeking to “save”
the world by changing our children’s values, preparing them
to meet the humanistic goals of supporting the sustainable society.
If it’s the earth first, then it’s not really children’s
choice, is it?
Camille Giglio
Walnut Creek
A cold cathedral
As a child, I could sit for hours in St. Francis de Sales Cathedral. I
attended my school years at St. Francis, made my First Communion there,
attended Mass and was involved in May processions to the Virgin Mary.
I was in awe of the beauty of the cathedral with the light beaming through
the stain glass windows. The music from the organ sounded angelic. The
statue of Jesus in the arms of Mary made me feel safe and comforted.
In my child’s eyes, the cathedral was huge but felt warm and safe
from the world outside. I felt all the beauty of heaven was in this place
for it was where God lived.
Many years later, I visited the new Cathedral of Christ the Light and
my heart was broken. The place of warmth and comfort was replaced by a
symbol of stone, a gray, cold, lifeless stone. I feel no amount of peace
and light can warm the walls of the new cathedral.
Delilah Castaneda
Fairfield
Gratitude and a request
We are overwhelmed with the generosity of Catholic Voice readers. Jacquie
Landry’s recent article (Voice, April 27) on St. Vincent de Paul’s
sewing class brought us nine donated sewing machines — one was brand
new and purchased specifically for the program. Readers have also donated
four boxes of fabric, patterns, and assorted sundries.
We are now able to expand the class and offer each participant hands-on
use of a sewing machine. We are so grateful for the spirit of generosity
that moves people to help others build a better life.
St. Vincent de Paul’s website features a wish list of items for
those who are looking to clean out their cupboards (www.svdp-alameda.org).
Our Champion Guidance Center for Men is starting a chess class to help
men develop concentration and critical thinking skills. If any readers
have chess sets — or other board games — that they no longer
use, we would be happy to receive them.
Thank you so much for helping us help others.
Carmen Reyes-Edstrom, Manager
St. Vincent de Paul Center
for Women and Children, Oakland
Self-destructive activities
Keli Piper believes “social justice” legitimizes same-sex
“marriage” — and that Miss California’s mild objection
requires “education in Christian morality” (June 8).
Piper, a self-proclaimed “25-year-old Catholic woman with an advanced
degree, knowledge of Christ’s teachings, and a brain,” needs
to travel the road to Damascus.
She should recollect that St. Paul, 2000 years closer to Christ’s
teachings than she, warned of “degrading passions” —
“females exchanging natural relations for unnatural” and “males
doing shameful things with males, receiving in their own persons the due
penalty for their perversity” (Romans 1: 26-27).
Sounds like Someone discouraged the tragically self-destructive activities
implicated in most U.S. AIDS cases, elevated breast-cancer rates among
lesbians, and widespread homosexual incidence of other deadly diseases.
As an AIDS-infected ex-homosexual said at lunch with my wife and me, it’s
at best false compassion to encourage, or even blandly to tolerate, behaviors
which harm their participants.
And as Dr. Robert Spitzer — who helped lead political maneuvers
which removed homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s
manual of mental disorders in 1973 — has more recently found, reparative
therapy can help those seeking to reorient homosexual inclinations.
Genetic predispositions are sometimes claimed for both alcoholism and
homosexuality. Both are actuarially unhealthy. But political and (allegedly)
religious liberals, while reasonably discouraging one compulsion, irrationally
celebrate and seek to normalize the other.
In contrast, the Church is consistent, prescribing temperate alcohol consumption
(Catechism, n. 2290), and reserving marriage for the “conjugal
love of man and woman” (nn. 1601, 2360-2363).
Michael Arata
Danville
Implied death penalty
The State of California has a relatively new style of death penalty —
an implied death penalty. The Board of Parole Hearings has targeted term-to-life
prisoners during the past 20 years through a de facto “no parole”
policy directed by three recent governors, Wilson, Davis and Schwarzenegger,
for political expediency.
Little has been stated honestly and truthfully about the more than 8,000
term-to-life prisoners who have responsibly reclaimed and renewed their
lives despite the impediments imposed by the parole board and the prison
system.
These prisoners have expressed remorse and sorrow and in most cases atoned
and apologized for their offenses. They have attended more than 40,000
parole hearings during the past 19 years only to be denied parole time
and time again.
Prison officials have determined these prisoners do not pose a danger
to the prison system and would not pose a danger to the community when
paroled. Yet, these prisoners are serving sentences beyond the rule of
law, the sentencing matrix of the Board of Parole Hearings.
Out of these more than 40,000 parole hearings, approximately 390 term-to-life
prisoners have been paroled. Another 853 eligible for parole died in prison.
The rest of the 8,000 term-to-life prisoners are subjected to the implied
death penalty.
Yes, term to life prisoners made serious mistakes by taking the life of
or injuring other people. They were given sentences for their offenses
with the possibility of parole.
These prisoners through responsibility and accountability fulfilled their
sentences under the rule of law, not by the rule of man, but by the grace
of God.
The present cost of housing a term-to-life prisoners is approximately
$49,000 plus at least $14,000 for medical expenses and more if the prisoner
is advanced in age. Billions of dollars have been wasted over the past
many years. One thing is certain, the prison system in California has
been in a perpetual state of reformation, a state of dysfunction, a redemption
is doubtful.
Robert Kaser
San Quentin
The opinions expressed in letters to Reader's Forum
are the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of The
Catholic Voice or the Oakland Diocese.
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