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Letters to the Editor

Another perspective on guns

Scott Welsh • Sep 09, 2024
The column by Greg Erlandson in the Sept. 20 issue (“The monsters in our own nightmare”) picks incidents that are not the norm in order to call for gun control.  What he fails to mention are how many times a year guns are used in self-defense (2 million, according to one statistic) where no one is shot. But I guess those potential victims are better than the thug dying or being shot in the process.  More people die as a result of gun control policies than are saved.  — Scott Welsh, Lewistown, Montana

What do we mean by defending ‘life’?

Linda Johnson • Sep 09, 2024
When it comes to the Sept. 6 issue Letter to the Editor in response to John Allen’s piece “More than a swing vote,” I'm always surprised that so many Catholics see “life” only in terms of abortion. The Catholic teaching on life is that we defend and value human life from conception to natural death. That covers death from abortion, disease, gun violence, euthanasia, extreme poverty, war, etc. Gun violence is now the No. 1 cause of death of children. When voting, each Catholic must follow his own conscience: Which leader advocates policies that are likely to save the most lives? — Linda Johnson, Long Beach

Voting for life

Sally Carpenter • Aug 26, 2024
Regarding “More than a swing vote” by John L. Allen Jr in the Aug. 9 issue: When voting this fall, remember that in the spring Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to several states in the “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour” to stump for legal abortion.  She visited a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Minnesota and praised the staff for its “true leadership” in providing health care. Harris never dropped by a pregnancy center to speak with women who chose life. Her values are not Catholic values. — Sally Carpenter, Moorpark

Wealth, weddings, and sin

Phil Argento • Aug 26, 2024
Thanks to Robert Brennan for his Aug. 21 column in AngelusNews.com (“This $600 million wedding doesn’t compare to my parents’ nuptials”) on the simplicity and sincerity of his parents’ wedding prompted by an extravagant wedding of two super-rich persons.  His references to the opulence portrayed in “The Great Gatsby” were spot on. U.S. billionaires do not have a monopoly, in the words of the economist Thorstein Veblen, on “conspicuous consumption.” Rulers and oligarchs from Solomon through Louis XIV have created spectacles of individual and family wealth, manifesting that cardinal sin: pride.  But there have been rich saints such as St. Louis of France, St. Charles Borromeo of Milan, and St. Thomas More of England. Each of us, whatever our wealth, should reflect on our resources to identify what more we can do in light of Matthew 25:31–46. — Phil Argento, Pasadena

Authors of God’s love

Stephen Watson • Aug 13, 2024
Just a thank you note to Heather King for her article, “The risks of revolution without Christ.” It was very enjoyable and informative. The paradoxes she points out in the lives of Father Carretto, Dorothy Day, and Caryll Houselander reminded me of Chesterton and helps us remember how wide is the love of God. — Stephen Watson, Vista, Ca.

Church’s positions are clear

Margaret Short • Aug 09, 2024
Regarding John Allen’s “More than a Swing Vote” article in Aug. 9 issue: When faced with the absolute evil of the Democrats’ stance on abortion and transgenderism, emphasizing the Church’s “neither left nor right” political position is unhelpful and misleading.  The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has made clear that abortion is the greatest social evil and that the Church needs to be unified in condemning the party and politicians who are blatantly pro-abortion. We can argue about effective environmental policies later. — Margaret Short, Pasadena

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