Vatican’s new policy on homosexuals
Re: “Vatican document puts up new barriers to gays in priesthood,” Nov. 23 news story.
It is likely that the Vatican’s new policy banning homosexuals from becoming priests is in response to the ongoing scandal of priestly molestation of children. It is curious that they focus on the priests rather than the bishops who protected them for decades. Offending priests were protected from the law, and when the local uproar became too loud they were shipped elsewhere without warning to their new superiors.
While the offending priests were surely egregiously wrong, their superiors must bear the larger part of the responsibility. Had they immediately taken steps to control the wayward priests, there would have been several positive consequences:
The offending priests, having been outed, would have been unable – because of transfer to other duties, limitations on whom they could minister to, and police involvement – to repeat their nefarious behavior. No one seems to have made a count of the children molested after the bishops learned who were perpetrators, but obviously there are many. The children damaged by those priests are the direct responsibility of the irresponsible bishops.
Other priests might have resisted their urges lest they face similar sanctions.
Some wavering bishops might have become firmer in their response to control their priests. The Vatican’s “solution” maligns a group because of the crimes of some and spreads a broad and ambiguous net much further than makes any sense.
Bertram Rothschild, Aurora
Cellphone use and death of cyclist
Re: “Misdemeanor likely in traffic death,” Nov. 27 news story.
The sad story of cyclist Jim Price being hit and killed by a 17-year- old driver who was reportedly text-messaging on his cellphone must not be written off as “careless driving resulting in death.” We all make mistakes, but this is not just a “stupid mistake.” Feeling sorry for this young man, even if he is remorseful for driving irresponsibly, is not enough; correction is needed.
I still am a motorist and ride a bicycle after 70 years, and know that we all experience many drivers who are habitually rude, inconsiderate, aggressive and dangerous at the wheel.
One news report said, “Under Colorado law he could face up to a year in prison.” It will not help to apply the ineffective and expensive punishment and humiliation of incarceration. I suggest the plan for rehabilitation and correction include the following requirements: Relinquish the young man’s driver’s license for one year; make him purchase and use an RTD pass each month for a year; make him join Bicycle Colorado; and set up a plan of restitution to help Price’s widow with tasks to maintain their home.
Dean Farringer, Denver
…
My heart goes out to the family of Jim Price, 63, killed on Wildcat Reserve Parkway in Highlands Ranch while on his bike. My husband and I bike this road frequently, and this concerns us greatly.
If you have a driver’s license, then you should be responsible for your driving; otherwise, what is the purpose of having a license? I would support a law that does not allow using a cellphone while driving in any circumstance until the person has held a driver’s license for three years without any accident or traffic violation.
I have met twice with the Parks and Recreation Department of Highlands Ranch, asking for a paved path in the southern part of Highlands Ranch that is comparable to the Cherry Creek path that goes through and south of Parker. The Cherry Creek path is used by bikers, in-line skaters, moms with strollers, families on bikes, etc., and has a dirt path next to the paved path for runners, horses, etc. The response of the Parks and Recreation Department was that they were going to have only a natural surface path. This is inadequate, and I would not be surprised to learn of future accidents involving bikes. The many paved paths that connect housing divisions and parks are not conducive to road biking.
Ginger Wedin, Highlands Ranch
Admitting mistakes over invasion of Iraq
Re: “Iraq war is more than a mistake,” Nov. 29 Richard Cohen column.
Richard Cohen says the Iraq war was more than a mistake. Actually, it was a tragic mistake largely based on Bush administration duplicity and arrogance. Admitting that the Iraq war was a mistake now would be a courageous and authentic way to begin to deal with the difficult situation in which our country finds itself. The entry of the U.S. and Britain into the war was based on faulty information, lies, hypocrisy, lack of understanding of Iraqi culture and the very questionable and arrogant neocon philosophy that pre-emptive go-it- alone wars in the Middle East would benefit our country in the long term.
It is a known fact that by mid- July 2002, eight months before the war began, President Bush had decided to invade and occupy Iraq, although no weapons of mass destruction had been found. The administration decided to justify the war by correlating terrorism, including Sept. 11, and weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, although there was no evidence that Iraq was involved in Sept. 11 and U.N. inspectors had found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
Intelligence information and facts were being molded in a way that supported the decision to invade Iraq. Based on what is known today, it is not a sign of weakness or unpatriotic to admit that a tragic mistake was made.
Jack F. Salter, Evergreen
Pension problems
Re: “Pensions weigh on employers, workers,” Nov. 29 editorial.
In your editorial, you state, “In the end, the may need a taxpayer rescue.” I don’t have a pension other than my 401(k) and the income my savings generate. If labor unions demand and companies promise benefits that they ultimately can’t deliver, that is truly unfortunate for the individual. But I have one question: Why should I have to pay for someone else’s retirement benefits when I have none myself? To use your words, I, too, “sweated a lifetime to earn.” There should be no government bailout. Companies should be required to fully fund any promise they make to their employees, period.
Russ Orms, Steamboat Springs
Is it time to turn off the U.S. melting pot?
Re: “Bush touts worker plan,” Nov. 29 news story.
Reps. Marilyn Musgrave and Tom Tancredo are on the right track regarding immigration reform, and President Bush faces another defeat for his poorly thought-out ideas. Meaningful reform is actually rather simple:
1. Allow automatic citizenship to newborns only if at least one parent is a citizen.
2. Establish a nationwide online system for checking the validity of Social Security cards and driver’s licenses.
3. Penalize severely, on an escalating scale, employers who fail to use the online system to weed out illegals or who hire them in spite of their illegal status.
4. Deputize police and Minutemen to permit them to apprehend and detain illegals.
5. Establish work camps near major cities and along the routes taken by illegals where they can be incarcerated for one year for the first offense and five years for the next offense and then deported without recourse.
6. Declare a 10-year moratorium on legal immigration and then reduce the number of legal immigrants permitted to 150,000 per year.
7. Outlaw visas that permit foreign athletes to take jobs that our little leaguers could otherwise aspire to.
Gordon J. Johnson, Broomfield
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