ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996 A4PAGE} EDITORIAL TAG: 9603260018
SECTION: EDITORIAL EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
REGARDING Cody Lowe's March 12 article, ``Can faith affirm right to abortion?'':
We wish to clarify the Catholic church's teachings about conscience and abortion. Monica Appleby, a member of our parish, is correct when she says that the church has consistently taught that ``conscience is the ultimate arbiter of decision making.'' However, that alone doesn't adequately express the church's teaching.
For Catholics, individual conscience isn't autonomous or a guaranteed path to truth. Conscience is subjective, in that it's influenced by one's personal experiences, social context and situation in time. Therefore, conscience is subject to prejudice and error. Individuals must develop wise and moral consciences, and that includes giving due consideration to the wisdom of the whole, including teachings of the pope and bishops. We presume that the church's teaching authority is grounded in the Holy Spirit and sound judgment.
One can follow one's conscience, yet still make a wrong, sinful decision. Conscience is the ultimate criterion for decision making, but not for what constitutes objective truth. In other words, we can be misled by a faulty conscience. Thus, we're responsible both to and for our conscience. Following a poorly developed conscience isn't an acceptable excuse. It's something for which we'll be held culpable.
The church has consistently taught that human life is sacred and is to be cherished and defended from conception to death, and the direct taking of innocent life (abortion) is always wrong. The only possible exception is when the killing is indirect and done to save the mother's life. Choice isn't an absolute right, and doesn't supersede the right to life.
A prominent Catholic theologian, Father Richard McCormick, sums it up: ``Abortion is a matter that is morally problematic, pastorally delicate, legislatively thorny, constitutionally insecure, ecumenically divisive, medically normless, humanly anguishing, racially provocative, journalistically abused, personally biased, and widely performed.'' Let us pray fervently and compassionately for all involved.
DONALD H. LEMAY
Pastor
MIKE ELLERBROCK
Deacon
St. Mary's Catholic Church
BLACKSBURG
Is this a great country or what?
I FOUND three items in your newspaper recently to be indefensible, and I hope they serve to exasperate the American worker and all citizens.
Great news of the creation of 705,000 jobs caused a drop of 171 points on the stock exchange (March 9 article, ``Great news crushes Dow''). This lends to speculation that those who support the flat-tax rate and the reduction in capital-gain taxes have no interest in the American worker.
An American woman's car was seized when her spouse, without her permission or knowledge, sought company in the arms of another. I've never heard of any prosecutor deciding to seize the getaway car.
After the medical profession determined that carpal tunnel syndrome is a work-related condition, the state Senate decided against it being covered by workers compensation because it may cause an increase in the cost to the people who are considered responsible in the first place (March 9 news article, ``Carpal tunnel bill killed'').
JAMES PIERSON
ROANOKE
GOP tactics should be rejected
KUDOS to Robert Heller (Feb. 23 letter to the editor, ``America's Newts and their harpoons''). It's one of the best letters I've read in a long time.
For many years, Republicans have practiced the theory that if you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it. Case in point is their claim to be fiscal conservatives when in fact all they intend to do is enact tax laws so the wealthy will pay next to nothing in taxes on capital gains.
If being a liberal means supporting President Clinton - who wants to protect us from being held hostage by the medical industry, and protect the elderly who are on a fixed income by refusing to reduce Medicare - then let me wear the label as a badge of honor.
LLOYD M. HOLFIELD
ROANOKE
Checkbook diplomacy
IT MAY appear very presidential for Clinton to go to Egypt for a meeting on terrorism, but what seemed to result is a series of platitudes and only vague action plans. It's easy to talk tough, but will they act tough, too? I'm skeptical.
Why must American taxpayers always fund these empty threats of action? Why can't Egypt, England, France, Germany, Kuwait, etc., cough up a few million dollars? Are we the only country in the world with money? No, our leaders always go to these meetings with checkbook in hand. Enough is enough.
PHIL T. PAFFORD
ROANOKE
In defense of the most helpless
TWICE in a week our great newspaper had the audacity to play God - the March 4 editorial on abortion, ``Expect more lives to be lost;'' and the March 8 editorial on euthanasia, ``A right to die with dignity.''
It was a cowardly act bashing Rep. Bob Goodlatte. If you had done your homework, you would have known that we received a questionnaire from him on this issue (the Smith Amendment), and the majority supported him.
My parents taught me early in life that the most cowardly act I could commit was striking out against the most helpless. I shudder to think that in America the time has come when the two most dangerous places to be are in a mother's womb or lying on a bed of affliction. How cruel can we get?
If our congressmen are dedicated to protecting our Constitution, all of us should support them. If they're not, our religious beliefs will be infringed upon, and we'll see our tax dollars paying for abortions and euthanasia.
God pronounced a ``woe unto them that call the evil good, and the good evil.'' How easily we forget Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler or Dr. Kevorkian. Don't follow the sheep, follow the good shepherd.
C. BERKLEY STEVENS ROANOKE
Only Christian customs excluded
YOUR FEB. 22 news article (``Happy New Year, Vietnam'') showed how students at Garden City Elementary School celebrated Tet, the Vietnamese new year. Your photographs showed them dancing and a paper dragon that's said to have magical powers.
While it's good for children to learn about customs and celebrations of other ethnic groups, I find it upsetting that public schools in America can teach about any and all of these things but, at Christmas, my grandchildren cannot put on a Christmas pageant or sing the old-time carols because they might have Jesus' name in them. At Easter, they can't hang Christ's picture because this is said to hurt somebody's rights.
I fail to understand the reasoning behind this in a land that was founded for the purpose of religious freedom. We Christians seem to be losing ours.
ODELLA BYRD
MILLBORO
County will support a sensible plan
MURIEL Kelley's letter to the editor (March 16, ``What motivates opposition to the bond referendum?'') was based on emotions, not common sense. Roanoke County needs to be spending more money on education, not less.
However, the School Board and administrators need to give us a long-range plan that assures us that every tax dollar will be used efficiently in providing a better education for our students.
We don't want or need a large 2,000-student facility. Research studies constantly show that students in smaller schools do better. It makes no sense to have one school (Glenvar) with 600 students and a nearby school of 2,000 in the same county. Something is drastically wrong with this plan.
Give us a sensible plan that will ensure a better educational system for our students, and I and most other county voters will work hard to provide the money. The April 2 bond issue now before us is a bad idea and should be defeated.
JOHN REED
SALEM
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