Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010
April 7, 2003
WCR Letters to the Editor
Take the log out of one's own eye
There is much to ponder in Suzanne Elston's article, "Take this ready-for-war quiz" (WCR, March 10).
To their credit, the American people decry the genocide of the Kurdish peoples and the unspeakable horrors perpetrated by Saddam against his own people. But 40 million legally aborted American babies as of year 2000 is an unspeakable horror too.
We peace-loving Canadians need to hang our heads too. Passionately, we talk of protecting Iraqi children and all civilians while in the same breath we fully endorse the law prohibiting peaceful demonstrations in the vicinity of abortion clinics. The Human Shield Movement was run out of Canada as it was out of Iraq.
Our government which we elected has foolishly spent billions on gun registry, bilingualism, Bombardier aircraft sales and the prime minister's jet. Imagine the impact if we had spent that sum on poverty here and abroad.
As Canadians, we've used and abused our own people too. I am reminded of the Eskimo people who were coerced into moving to Davis Inlet to protect Canadian land rights for the government. They complied but found the government hadn't given them adequate supplies.
When our native soldiers returned from the Second World War they weren't granted the same benefits as the white veterans. Prisoners of war weren't compensated for their trauma until decades later and then only if they responded during the short period allotted them. Lastly, our current soldiers and peacekeepers are not receiving the support they need after their tours of duty abroad.
We all need to take the lead in removing the logs out of our own eyes that others will take the splinters out of theirs.
Dan McRae
Edmonton
Married in naive times
Re: "Take back your manhood" (WCR, March 23).
What a shock, that after 46 years of marriage, my husband and I learned that we had it all wrong, according to Tim Staples.
Back in the dark ages, when we married in 1956, neither my husband nor I realized that he was the boss and I was the weak little woman, whose job was to make him comfy, polish his shoes and meet all his needs in every way.
Did I walk 10 steps behind him, not partake of food until he was satisfied, or voice an opinion, lest I offend him? Well heck no, since I don't recall looking like a doormat.
What a dull life that would be. It is contributing, together, for the good of the marriage and the family and having faith in one another and of course commitment and love.
We never considered the testosterone factor. What a silly, pathetic, and narcissistic attitude to be the most important factor in considering a successful marriage.
There are enough dictators in this world already. While Mr. Staples expresses a deep need to assert himself, as in charge, it sounds to me that he is a very needy and immature man who only feels self-worth in his own importance.
Mr. Staples needs to understand that the important things and issues in life are not all about him, nor any other men of his ilk, who are so puffed up with their own self importance. They are indeed a poor choice as a marriage partner.
Mrs. L. Bertram
St. Albert
American way is main obstacle to world peace
Concerning war in Iraq. This issue is being badly confused with double talk and American propaganda.
I don't condone violence by anyone but the Americans and British have concentrated on the sins Saddam Hussein committed, not on why he did it. I would like to know what justification he had for gassing thousands of Kurds, and was it much different than Bush's own justification for making war repeatedly.
Bush calls himself a Christian. If this is so, why doesn't he consider self-sacrifice an alternative to war? It seems to me that the American way of life is the main obstacle to world peace; namely capitalism and American economic imperialism.
It seems to me that the Third World is only trying to preserve its peaceful existence and simple, uncomplicated lifestyle, from the ever-looming Western threat. It is said that war is all about money. This is becoming more apparent all the time.
If by "weapons of mass destruction," the Americans are really talking about intellectual property and their effort is to control this, has Bush not considered what Jesus said on the way to Calvary at Luke 23:31: "For if men use the green wood like this, what will happen when it is dry"?
Please read Revelation 13:1-8 and 17:10-17. These verses speak of the rise and fall of the United States and say that it will rule the world for only 42 months, probably beginning in the summer of 1996. Sooner or later its downfall is assured.
Why don't people take the time to uncover the roots of violence and injustice rather than resort to the knee jerk reaction of "an eye for an eye"? Christ condemned this in the Sermon on the Mount but today it remains the fundamentalist perspective and the guiding principle of the Bush-Blair alliance.
Bernard Rioux
Edmonton
Saddam scapegoat of the year
While the loss of life and the dehumanization inherent in war are serious issues, I believe the most important concern here is not with the particulars of this war with Saddam Hussein. The real concern is the precedent that is being set, wherein the U.S., as the only remaining superpower in the world, can place its own national security and prosperity ahead of the lives of non-American citizens, with no global accountability whatsoever.
Saddam is certainly a tyrant, likely guilty of all the crimes with which he is charged. However, those who imagine that this is why the U.S. has invaded Iraq are mistaken. The real reason for this Iraqi war is that, failing to secure Osama bin Laden, the U.S. has diverted attention to Saddam Hussein, who has become a scapegoat, the easiest and most obvious possible target in a U.S. campaign to regain its own sense of invincibility, lost on Sept. 11, 2001.
In addition, while securing Iraqi oil itself is likely not a goal of U.S. military action, gaining control over the price of oil certainly is a goal of American economic foreign policy. The idea that a nation with so much hostility toward the U.S. might have control over its economic status must certainly be frightening to the U.S., given the value it gives to wealth and prosperity.
So the U.S. is clearly motivated by fear and self-interest, lousy reasons to kill innocent people. The reason this is such a problem is that the U.S. is acting on these reasons without any accountability to the rest of the world. Of course, the U.S. has been doing this for decades throughout South America and Africa.
However, the public and violent nature of this new action, and the use of fear to justify it, raise frightening questions about this all-powerful superpower, the United States of America. How far will it go to secure its own "freedom," "security" and national self-interests in the future, potentially at the expense of the autonomy and dignity of the rest of the world?
Fr. Mike Mireau
Edmonton
Losing the battle for the culture of life
It would seem we are losing the fight/battle in our attempts to make the culture of life prevail over the culture of death. Tens of thousands of abortions are performed in Canadian abortion mills and hospitals from coast-to-coast every year in the new millennium.
One of the key battlegrounds are where our young people are - their schools, their colleges, wherever they gather. And our young people are basically good but like the rest of us they need to be led because we tend to be like sheep and we all need, young and old, the Good Shepherd to guide us. The Good Shepherd uses another shepherd, the successor to Peter, to guide us.
And several successors to Peter have guided us in terms of the Christian meaning of sex and marriage in the modern era, since the beginning of Vatican II - especially Pope Paul VI (of happy memory) and our present pope, one of the longest-running popes in history, Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul has been a special gift to holy mother Church at a difficult time in human-history - the modern era and the new millennium.
Pope Paul VI gave the Church the gift of Humanae Vitae, a brilliant document which warned Catholics and non-Catholics alike about the dangers of promiscuous sex, abortion and the contraceptive mentality. His words have gone, for the most part, unheeded and we are now bearing the bitter fruit of that disobedience. The contraceptive mentality has destroyed many marriages and relationships.
Lives built on lust and birth control pills, not to mention vasectomies, tied fallopian tubes and condoms lead to death, to the culture of death. Pope John Paul has warned us again in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life).
A prophetess, no less than the late, great Mother Teresa of Calcutta warned us in the '80s and '90s, "Abortion will lead to nuclear war, for if a mother can murder, can kill her own child, what is there to stop you from killing me or me from killing you?"
Where is our disobedience, our sin, leading us all as a Church, as a people? God only knows!
Gerard Liston
Edmonton
Force gov't to raise AISH payments
It is time once again for the budget, and we cannot afford to go through another year of this shocking poverty. If we don't bring a great deal of pressure to bear there will be more homeless families, and no hope for the ones already driven to the street.
We are one of the richest provinces in Canada, able to afford the likes of the G8 Summit, and our government pretends that we have no more money for our children! It is shameful!
Those of us on AISH, SFI and OAS; and those of you who aren't but agree that this situation is appalling, must phone, fax, write, or email Premier Klein; the Minister of Human Resources, Clint Dunford; and your MLAs. We have to demand enough help for shelter, utilities, food and clothing, let alone things like shoes and coats.
We need to act now so that despite our complete lack of status with the government they will be forced to listen and act in our favour.
Debbie Arthur
Mirror
Converts bring heart, spirit
In reference to Phil Little's letter regarding the Baptist to Catholic conversion (WCR, March 24), it is not clear whether he is commenting on the journalist's slant or the quote attributed to Mrs. Peterson.
In any event, I believe the Catholics can use a little more heart and spirit. God bless the Petersons. You are welcome in our midst and may you be "home" wherever you are.
P. Milliken
Edmonton
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