Catholic antipathy is blinding

4/27/2010

Nicholas Kristof's April 21 op-ed column, "A church Mary can love," demonstrates his dense ignorance of all things Catholic, including the two Marys (the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene), the apostles, women deacons, celibacy, Scriptures, church history, the moral debate over condoms and HIV, priests and nuns, and even Jesus.

Scattering a few names such as Tertulian, Junia and Phoebe, and Origen, and quoting from gnostic gospels confer on Mr. Kristof only the veneer of knowledge, and reveal his severe lack of respectable scholarship.

For Mr. Kristof, it is all explained by the foolish diagnosis of a "patriarchal premodern mindset." The Vatican is not the Catholic Church, and the priest who wants to build a condom factory there had better scrounge for an alternate site.

There is only one holy, catholic, and apostolic church. The Catholic Church has sinners, who also populate every other church on Earth, and even more so those who are proudly free of all religion and make up their own moral guideposts.

Antipathy toward the true Catholic Church blinds writers such as Mr. Kristof from facts, fairness, and depth.

Sydney O. Fernandes

Perrysburg

Attention Catholic bashers: After 2,000-plus years of constant pillorying, the Catholic Church, led by the Pope and his successors, persists.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Edwin F. Durivage

River Road

I'm confused about the statements I hear that our country is headed into socialism. Listening to many people rant and rave, I wonder whether they do not realize that Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other government programs are socialist. If not, then what?

I am a Korean War veteran, I love this country, and I love getting my Social Security check. I don't want to imagine where I would be financially if it weren't for this monetary boost. I thank God for Franklin D. Roosevelt and the early 20th century Congress.

Socialism? It's just a word.

Gerard W. Jacobs

Fairhaven Drive

Contrary to your editorial "Yes on 1, No on 2" on April 5, only the venue of the casino to be built in Columbus is changed.

Unfortunately, the venue is designated in the fall 2009 casino constitutional amendment and can be changed only by another amendment. The majority of central Ohio voters were against the amendment, but it is now law.

The downtown Columbus location is family friendly, next to the new baseball park. The site of the former Delphi plant is in an economically blighted area that will be revitalized by the casino.

Issue 2 does not lower the license fees or the rate of taxation. It cannot, in your words, "open the floodgate to less desirable changes" because the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives will not vote to put such an issue on a ballot, and there is no group to gather the required signatures.

Albert A. Gabel

Columbus

Some people find a new breast-feeding advertisement on local TV offensive because of the dribble of milk coming out of the child's mouth. I'll admit that when I first saw it, I was surprised, but offended? No.

In your sports section recently, I found the image of a beautiful woman in an advertisement about enhancing a man's sex life. My 10-year-old grandson looks at your sports pages, and I find that ad much more offensive than having him see a billboard of a child's face with breast milk on it.

Do I want my children and grandchildren learning about sex-life enhancement or a mother's breast feeding?

Rose Rollins

Oakmont Street

The health-care circus in Washington was disgusting. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. Tom Harkin, and others showed their contempt or ignorance, calling health care a "right."

Obviously they don't comprehend the nature or source of rights. Rights do not come from government; they are natural or God-given.

Health care is not an unlimited resource. It has to be produced at a cost. Using the force of government to take someone else's property to pay those costs violates property rights and is an indirect assault on the natural right to life.

What has driven the cost of health care out of reach is government intervention. As always, when it fails the solution is more government. Hence the circus.

Jim Boehm

Drummond Road

The state should not declare "pit bulls" inherently vicious. The problem is that Lucas County, and especially Toledo, have too many irresponsible dog owners.

In the debate about "pit bulls," no elected official has proposed stricter laws for dog owners. Stiffer fines and jail time for violations would send a message that if you cannot control your dog, you should not own one.

Said H. Boraby

Bowling Green

There is little or no enforcement or serious consequences to deter irresponsible dog owners in Toledo.

A neighbor has several unlicensed dogs, including a "pit bull," and lets them out unleashed and unmuzzled to do their business. It's only a matter of time before they get hit by a car or someone gets bitten.

The dog warden's office has visited this residence several times. But if employees of the office don't see a dog, they can't cite the owner. The warden has no authority to enter a dwelling.

Recently a utility meter reader almost didn't read the meters on our side of the street for fear of the "pit bull" that was again on the loose.

Unless the dog warden's office is empowered to initiate stronger enforcement and consequences for bad dog owners, nothing is going to change.

Jenni Johns

Talbot Street

Anyone who thinks "pit bulls" should not be adopted should read the Dec. 29, 2008, issue of Sports Illustrated.

Most people know that Michael Vick received a two-year sentence for dog fighting - a light sentence for someone who still shows little remorse.

But not many know what became of Vick's 51 dogs that were destined to be destroyed. The magazine reported that Bad Rap, a "pit bull" adoption agency, rehabilitated the dogs to become loving family pets. Only one had to be put down because of aggressive behavior.

If dogs that were trained to fight could, after therapy, be adopted out, why not the strays in Toledo? It's the Michael Vicks and other people who don't respect leash laws who need to be punished, not their dogs.

John Manning

Holland

Now that we have spent time, effort, and money to fix supposed problems in the dog warden's office, when are we going to spend the same amount of time, effort, and money to fix school funding problems?

I am a dog lover, but shouldn't the education of our children be of more importance than whether a "pit bull" lives or dies?

Angie Sigurdson

Oregon