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U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks at the White House in Washington Sept. 9, 2019. (CNS photo/Erin Scott, Reuters)
Editor's note: This letter is a response to "Taking liberties with language," (Letters, Dec. 19, 2019). That letter responded to the Dec. 5, 2019, reader letter, "Secularism's record," which itself responded to the Nov. 7, 2019, letter, “’Moral chaos’ not secularism’s fault.” That letter was in response to an Oct. 25, 2019, article on U.S. Attorney William Barr's address at the University of Notre Dame Law School on the free exercise of religion. We have posted the full version of the original CNS article, "Barr sees 'growing refusal' to accommodate free exercise of religion."
Dec. 30, 2019
JR Hermann
San Mateo
Letter to the Editor
Catholic San Francisco
Re "Taking liberties with language," Letters, Dec. 19, 2019:
Oh, my. Mr. Mandell (Letters, Dec. 16) certainly threw several Molotov cocktails holding church doctrine responsible for millions of deaths, unwanted pregnancies, illiteracy, abandoned children, blah, blah, blah. Mr. Mandell, each person (me, too) is ultimately responsible for our own actions. Sin is Satan's foothold in this world. I can suggest you try to study why the church has the obligation to teach what it does (start with Jesus' commission to His disciples). It is the Catholic Church which, through the centuries, built hospitals, schools, orphanages and to this day still serves the poor more than any other single charitable organization.
By the way, condoms can "fail" -- but they also fail to build true fidelity in sexual relationship between man and woman (husband and wife). In cultures where polygamy or multiple partners are more common, even if the condom "works,” the stain on a person's soul remains. Multiple sex partners, same-sex activity, transgenderism, I could go on -- all manifestations of personal rebellion against our true nature as we were created, rebellion through sin.
So, the church does what Jesus commanded us to do -- speak up for the benefit of our souls. Against killing the most innocent. If not for "extreme" (really?) right-wing lawmakers, there would be more partial-birth abortion. The Democratic Party has removed any restrictions whatsoever on abortion from its platform.
We should pray for each other. I ask you to join me in that regard for a more just world that recognizes the truth of Jesus' coming to heal the world, and to do what we can to (yes, I'll say it) fight for the Truth -- His Truth.
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