Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010
May 7, 2007
WCR Letters to the Editor
Alberta needs rent caps, rent subsidies - now!
Although the Alberta government is giving cities nearly $200 million to create affordable housing units, it is doing very little to alleviate the suffering of the individual citizens who, for several years, have been paying more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.
Since it will take time to create affordable housing, emergency measures are needed in the interim to safeguard the dignity of those Albertans who presently find themselves economically disadvantaged.
At the very least, rent supplements should be made available to those who are on low incomes, rent caps should be put into place and there should be a moratorium on condo conversions.
The government could easily fund these measures if they took a few hundred million dollars from the $747 million that they plan to spend this year on the expansion and upgrading of post-secondary facilities and the $407 million that they plan to spend this year on community facilities.
Isn't the dignity of human beings more important than the upgrading of buildings?
Mary-Ellen Robinson
Edmonton
French volunteers labour in the Bronx to help parish's elders, needy
As a French citizen living and working in the U.S., I was very fortunate when a friend emailed me your article "Prairie historians uncover Catholic Reformation" (WCR, March 26).
I thought it was the most compelling article I have read in a Catholic newspaper in North America since arriving in the Bronx 18 months ago.
Clearly, the perceptions of the Catholic Church in France have always fueled speculation and half-truths when discussed in other countries.
The separation of Church and state in France is not only a part of history, but also an ongoing debate.
Many believe that the Catholic Church in France in this new millennium is on its way to a revival in many ways.
I want to also inform your readers of a different kind of "French revolution."
There is an organization called Heart's Home USA (www.heartshomeusa.org), a mission of French volunteers in the Bronx that work within a Hispanic parish to help people apply for disability benefits and food stamps.
They also visit the elderly and disabled in the parish, in addition to visiting local cancer and AIDS hospices.
This mission in the Bronx is part of the Heart's Home network, an international Catholic volunteer program that allows young adults to devote at least 14 months to serving the Church through helping the most suffering people in the world.
Heart's Home has 35 missions in 20 different countries. Founded in 1990 by Father Thierry de Roucy, a French priest, the organization has trained over 1,000 volunteers. The Bronx mission consists of three nuns, two seminarians and seven lay volunteers.
I mention this organization in case any of your younger readers might be interested in checking out their website, or calling them at 718-901-1276.
Nguyen Tan Phong
New York, N.Y.
Heaven, not hell, celebrates the positive of our faith
Re: "Hell is a place we choose in the afterlife" (WCR April 23).
Charles Moore says,"Belief in the reality of hell is essential to a functional understanding of Christianity." I totally disagree with him.
I think what is essential is belief in the ever presence of God. I don't believe in hell because hell means being separated from God and as a Christian I know that is impossible because God is with us, Emmanuel.
We can think that we are separated from God but that doesn't change the reality that we are not and never will be. By his cross and resurrection Jesus defeated sin and death once and for all.
Before his resurrection Jesus spoke of hell because it was still part of his reality, but on Easter morning everything changed and a new reality emerged. "God with us" is the ultimate reality.
As Christians we are expected to live this new reality, this risen life in Jesus. This is the Good News we are called to share with our sisters and brothers.
Don't be afraid. All is well. I am with you always. The more real God's presence is to us, then the less real hell is to us. It's all in how we think and what we think.
This is our free will.
We are free to think anything we like and I prefer to think life not death, heaven not hell, Jesus not Satan, love not fear.
Lori Dexter
Gibbons
Letter to the Editor - 05/21/07
Letter to the Editor - 06/04/07
Letters to the Editor
The WCR welcomes your letters. Please write 300 words or less and tell us your name, address and daytime phone number. All letters are subject to editing.
Opinions expressed in letters to the editor do not necessarily represent the views of the WCR.
|
