In response to Mr. Gasbarro’s latest attack on marriage and what would Jesus do! 

The Last Supper painting by Leonardo Da Vinci was with Jesus and his Apostles and not with dudes that you wrote. I give you credit for capitalizing the word Eucharist and expecting a final judgement. That proves Mr.Gasbarro, that you are not an atheist. Thank you for that part of your recent letter to the Susquehanna Transcript. Jesus expects us to forgive others, just like He told the prostitute not to engage in unlawful sex acts and sin no more. St. Paul also preached about sexual conduct in what Jesus taught. I cannot ‘throw stones at a sinner’, because I am also a sinner at times but Jesus forgives me if I try to obey His Father’s Commandments.

It is my intention not to judge anyone for their chosen lifestyle. However, when the agenda is to attack my beliefs, then it is my duty to take a firm stand. If a ‘so called poll’ would be taken around the world, (with no threats to the voters) the overwhelming majority results would be that marriage is between a man and a woman only. The marriage attack continued again a few weeks ago, when about 10 same sex men dirtied their hands and tried to enter a Mass at St.Patrick’s Cathedral in N.Y.C. The plan of these activists is to disrupt the Catholic teaching of marriage. They were stopped by police at the request of a Catholic spokesman from entering.

Pope Francis, Cardinal Dolan, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and many Protestant and most Religions welcome everyone into their Services (including same sex men or women) as long as they follow what is taught. We will be responsible for all of the deeds and actions that we do or have done - whether good or bad. That applies to everyone in the past or into the future. I and so many of us would like to see people live in a culture where medical doctors would obey the Hippocratic Oath that was established in the 5th century B.C. - no abortions or baby killing and no euthanasia. It would be so great if everyone would stop using bad language when they speak or write. No breaking of God’s laws (the 10 commandments), good movies with no openly vivid sex scenes or filthy public actions, etc. No wars or violence against anyone. 

Unfortunately Satan (the deceiver and misleader) disobeyed God and was thrown out of Heaven along with other bad angels. We inherited concupiscense (strong sexual lust). Prayer, regular visits to our House of Worship (or where you live if you are unable to attend Services) where we adore and honor God. Good companions can lead us all to a happy life.

As I wrote before, I believe in the Bible that was inspired by the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Constitution but not in many ways that 10 Supreme Court Justices and other Justices interpret what is the ‘law of the land’. An example is the ‘Roe verses Wade’ tragic decision, legalizing baby killing. Upcoming Supreme Court cases will have great consequential effects that will be good or bad.

We have a free will and God hopes that we will see Him and His Mother Mary and so many others at the end times, or Final Judgement.

Sincerely,

Bruce Moorhead

Susquehanna, Pa.

Something’s going on in the military, something bad. More troops are dying by their own hand than at the hand of their enemy. The brass has commissioned dozens of studies, spent tens of millions of dollars on research, and instituted 900 suicide prevention programs. Yet the suicides continue at record numbers and at an accelerated rate.

The statistics tell a disheartening tale. In 2000, there were 150 self-inflicted deaths among active duty personnel. In 2004 it rose to 180. By 2008 it jumped to 210. Last year, 350 soldiers committed suicide.

The stats for 2013 are worse. For the first five months of this year, 57 troops were killed in action and 161 were killed by self. That’s something to think about; for every death in combat there were almost three deaths by suicide.

Extrapolating the 350 suicides for the entirety of 2013 predicts 386 suicides. On a 100,000 basis, that’s more than twice the number of civilian suicides in the U.S.

And that’s just the edge of the blade. Vets continue to kill themselves decades after discharge. Some 70 percent of vets who took their own lives were aged 50 or older.

If one combines the suicide deaths of active and inactive personnel, it comes to more than 8,000, a year or 22 a day every day; by another estimate it is 26 a day.

Why?

An off-the-cuff answer is the stress of combat. Doubtless that’s part of the problem. Yet Pentagon data show 80 percent of those who committed suicide had never been in combat.

What about post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD)? It’s another piece in the puzzle. The ghosts of buddies killed, the guilt of being alive, and the regretted deeds of violence can consume the present. But quantifying this is as illusive as the ghosts and memories themselves.

Perhaps even being in the military can act as a catalyst to existing problems: marital, financial, personal, family, or illegal drug use.

But there is another contributing factor that is frequently given short thrift: the intentional drugging of our troops by the Army; they call it medicating.

More than 14 percent of active duty personnel are on prescribed drugs. An additional six percent are taking the same psychotropic drugs implicated in 90 percent of the bizarre school shootings. Associated with these drugs are violent and unpredictable behaviors. Foreseeable was an increase in violent crime among service members. Between 2006 and 2011, crime in the military increased by a third.

The Indiana University School of Medicine was awarded a $3 million grant to develop a nasal spray to ward off suicidal thoughts. Since this “medication” is short lived the soldier will have an inhalant attached to his shoulder to use the moment self-destructive brooding enters his mind. Sounds crazy? Maybe because it is.

But there is an answer to the endemic of suicides, specifically two answers.

First: Get out of Iraq and Afghanistan post haste. When our men and women are asked to go in harm’s way to do others harm, it takes a psychological toll. Distressing emotions can be overwhelming especially among the maimed, the disfigured, the crippled, the paralyzed, and those suffering with PTSD.

Second: Get women out of the military in all but traditional roles. One-fourth of all attempted suicides in the military are by women, all of whom are noncombatants and represent less than 15 percent of active duty personnel.

Both men and women are psychologically unsuited for combat, but women more so than men. Subjecting them to the stresses of combat will escalate an already disproportionately high percentage of severe mental depression and its consequences.

Moreover, the military per se is a dangerous place for women. The number of rapes defies credibility.

Last year there were 3,374 rapes in the military or 1,576 per 100,000 women. According to FBI statistics, there were 83,425 forcible rapes in that same time period in the civilian population, or 54 per 100,000 women. Rape is an astounding 30 times higher in the military. And a Pentagon report says that only 10 percent of rapes are reported.

Living by the sword exacts a heavy price in lives and dollars. It is a price that in all probability we shall continue to pay unless we withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan and discontinue non-traditional assignments for servicewomen.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA

I was watching a TV special on the Normandy invasion. One of the points of interest was the comments and pictures of the unbelievable courage these men showed in the face of such horrible slaughter. After many examples of the super human courage just displayed one commentator made the point that he found it very interesting that the men of that great generation had a much lower rate of suicide than the now shocking rate of suicide for the baby boomers of today.

Personally, I was not surprised. So many of their generation have taken God out of schools, out of politics, and generally made it politically incorrect to mention His reality. They have, if only by their silence, contributed to the death of over 56 million totally innocent babies.

When you remove God, you remove conscience. Statistics – like the fact that married people who attend church every Sunday have a 20+% better chance of their marriage surviving – are ignored. Catholics who do not artificially contracept and attend Church each week cut the national average of 50% divorce rate to single digits. Good Catholic pre Canna classes try to make the fact known that today’s Natural Family Planning is 90+% effective – much higher than artificial contraception. When you remove God from your life you ignore facts and are guided by emotions and secular opinions. You have no direction in difficult times. You have no moral compass to direct you to answers your loving God always has ready.

So try to remember that God is all forgiving and loving and always ready to welcome you back. Our Lord loves each of us as though we are His only child and wants desperately to be a part of our lives. We all have to speak out and take back our rights to freedom of speech and religion without interference. It was so hard won by our forefathers, with the help of God, and so easily lost.

Sincerely,

Annette Corrigan

Jackson Township

I just love reading letters to the editor and the editorial sections of the paper. Gives a person a chance to see how others folks see things. I am a bit concerned because lately the letters seem to be more pop culture than thought provoking. I’m surprised not a single thing has been said about how American citizens are losing privacy. Aren’t we independent anymore?

Do we really need big brother watching out for us, when it’s big brother who plants the ideas in mainstream media that we are all just a terrorist threat away from.... we don’t even know. We instead will willingly submit to listening devices, and constant surveillance, for what?

Is this a chance to make us all reality t.v. stars?

Do we really need the secret societies? Does anyone really want to look at the pictures we post on Face book? Do we really want all of our conversations recorded because our cell phone service is Verizon? Can you hear me now?

We Americans do expect some government participation in our lives, but I wonder if the average American even realizes how invasive this participation really is. What really bugs me out is that we no longer teach government and civics in our schools, or even have the civic clubs in our towns anymore. I guess it’s not cool to know what is going on, much less how it works. What a shame. We give up more freedom, expect more from our warriors, and less real time protection. I’m sure we have heard of the IRS mis-steps, Benzaeli boondoggle, and homeland security breaches of our civil rights, but do we really know the extent of these treasonous acts?

Do we only listen to what someone else tells on face value, without our own research? Why would we believe some pretty faced news anchor, who only parrots what is given to them to read. I guess I’m astonished that letters and editorials are all becoming more pop culture instead of letters that give a person an exercise in thinking.

I hope to read some opinions that are factual and thought provoking, instead of a quick glance before it becomes a fish wrap.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Allen

Summersville, Pa.