Letters to the Editor Policy

She Knows The Truth

Cardinal John O'Connor, former Bishop of Scranton, prophetically predicted that the time was coming when a Catholic would have to listen to their Bishop with one ear and the Pope with the other ear. If there was a difference, we were to stop listening to the Bishop. He also assured us that if we continued to allow abortion, it would threaten the lives of each of us, for all of us have a period in our life when, like a pre-born baby, we are inconvenient, unproductive or unwanted.

We are blessed with a Bishop who took his duty to publicly profess the teachings of the Catholic Church as they came from Rome. Unfortunately, some did not. Half-hearted, conflicting statements by some U.S. Bishops have lead to great confusion on many subjects. As Bishop Martino's letter showed, there is no confusion in the Holy Roman Catholic Church concerning any of the issues – abortion especially. It is intrinsically evil. It was not only Bishop Martino's right to speak the truths of Holy Mother the Church, as a successor to the Apostles, it was his duty. He was not "meddling in politics." He was performing his duty as the shepherd of the Diocese of Scranton. There was no Church/State issue involved, for he never named a party or a candidate. He was completely in line with the Church by telling us that voting for a pro-abortion candidate, on any level, was a vote for evil. Wanting to believe otherwise, many threw angry abuse at his "interference."

We are Americans, with the right to vote as we please. As Catholics, however, we have the obligation to study the teachings of our Church. It would be wise to accept the vision of John Paul II that the Church imposes nothing. She only proposes. But what She proposes, She knows is the truth and because human beings are hard-wired for the truth, the truth often imposes. And truth obliges!

I am personally writing to my representatives of my family's strong opposition to the Freedom of Choice Act, Embryonic Stem Cell research, federal funding of abortions, repeal of the protection gained for babies who survive abortion, and the large scale industrial production of babies to be used for biomedical research that soon-to-be president Obama has pledged to bring about. I urge all Christians to write their representatives and ask them to refuse to support what will amount to tens of thousands more babies killed, and grieving mothers who wake up one day to discover they did not solve their problem – they killed their baby. These women are quite vocal today, trying to get the world to hear their pain. Rachel’s Vineyard and the Church stand ready to help any mother or father who were sold society's quick fix for an unwanted pregnancy and are now grieving their decision to abort.

Sincerely,

Annette H. Corrigan

Jackson, PA

Memories of Camelot

I was listening to a couple of news commentators gushing how the Obama regime can be compared to Camelot.

My Irish soul soared with the image of Arthur and his noble knights. The chivalry, devotion, and above all honor. It was because of this honor and manners that Percival did not ask the Fisher King about the cup, and so the quest for the grail continued. The legend has been resurrected many times and in different lands, and always with such hope. We forget the other side. In Arthur’s' court, there was betrayal by family and friends, always positioning for power. The quest itself took many years and money, and with each betrayal, the land darkened. Finally on a battlefield, Arthur's son slays the father, and the father slays the son. Pretty heady stuff.

I listened to the JFK legacy. On the History Channel they do not gush about Camelot. They give credit to the media for not revealing all. Manners. They do give credit to the media for romanticizing the youthful look, and the young family moving into the White House, only with a horse. In JFK's court he had Bobby as his Attorney General, who could guarantee you would not like how you were dealt with if it was not his way. He had J. Edgar Hoover, who is credited with having private citizens on file with the FBI. He had the Cold War, and a few politicians who could rival any tent-preacher, getting the folks worried if there was a commie in your neighborhood or on the silver screen. His court had civil rights zealots, those who favored segregation, and those who really didn't care.

JFK also had the Bay of Pigs. Now the truth of how scary this really was is being told. And then there was the war in Vietnam that I guess we got involved in because of French allies.

The one thing I do remember about Camelot, was seeing my folks cry for a man they did not know, yet felt they did. My beloved grandmother, a straight from the boat in Boston-Irish Catholic, who was saying prayers and mass for months to save all our souls. I wonder if that Camelot had more to do with unrealized potential of the man and his administration, more than for the hidden reality of the man and his administration.

I do wonder about this new version of Camelot. Will courtesy, honor, and discretion become respectable again? Will the children and the new puppy be allowed to be young without the media power lens? Will lines be established between what is public and what is private in one’s life? Will the knights he puts in his court be there because of loyalty to the office, or same old business as usual? I hope he uses the things available and not create some more unnecessary “Department of” positions to satisfy a party line of cradle-to-grave mentality.

I hope that the gushing commentators are right. It would be nice to see respect back. There are some good social programs that were initiated under the old Camelot and the Johnson administration that deserve to be funded again, and not a newly-created program to fix the old one. I cannot help but be impressed with the old Camelot ways. Children were invested in, fed in body and mind. People asked what can they do to help, and then helped.

I may not have total recall of the early 1960s, but I do remember the day that JFK was assassinated, and can only hope this President can inspire that respect, and grief in the people he serves, when the ship for Avalon comes.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Allen

Summersville, PA

How Can They do That?

The price of gasoline is below $2 dollars a gallon. The price of diesel fuel and heating oil is still above two dollars a gallon! Can anyone tell me how they can do that? Not that I am not relieved, gasoline was priced over $4 last summer.

We have to change our way of thinking about what is a good bargain, and what is just wrong. Diesel fuel should be cheaper than gasoline, lesson 101. It's like a "corvette" and a" pinto.” Oil does not have to be refined as much to make fuel oil. Fuel oil does not require as much to refine. However you want to think about it, it’s just wrong. Something like tar, ya know, and feathers? Or feathers and tar? Both are byproducts.

Winter is here in North America, and in our poor economy millions of people will need to buy fuel oil to stay alive this winter. The truck drivers who drive to make a living suffer every day with the wrong price on fuel oil. Road tax is one thing that makes the cost of diesel fuel oil go up, but fuel oil? More than gasoline: the whole concept is wrong. Do they have economics 101 as a hotline to our government? I suggest we make a new year’s resolution to demand that fuel oil is priced lower in the new year. Let’s meet in Washington DC, some of us with tar, and some of us with feathers. Maybe they are easier economic examples for them to understand (bring a long pole).

Sincerely,

Peter A. Seman

Thompson, PA

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