Jesus, Not Agendas

In his letter (“‘Seamless’ Argument,” March 18) Nick Wineriter claims, “The Democratic Party is the party of social justice,” leaving me amazed that any Register reader could be so uninformed.

He declares his belief that “abortion is nothing short of murder,” while proudly proclaiming that he’s “not a one-issue voter” — in effect reducing the right to life, which the Catholic Church rightly sees as the foundation of all human rights, to one minor item on his “social justice” checklist. It doesn’t seem to occur to him that seeing such murder as “a woman’s fundamental right” inevitably leads to a distorted view of all human life.

I’m an Independent who’d vote for a pro-life Democrat over a pro-choice Republican. However, my problem isn’t with Republican ideas, but with their ineptitude in presenting them. Obviously they’ve failed to inform Mr. Wineriter that, far from wanting “to deny health insurance to millions of Americans,” they favor enhancing our freedom to choose policies we actually want and need.

By contrast, the present administration, armed with the huge new powers given it by Obamacare, seems intent on forcing us all into conformity with its own ideas of “essential health care.” Their reply to our conscientious objections to the HHS contraception mandate is an “accommodation” so narrow that it doesn’t cover EWTN, Priests for Life or the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Individuals and families using the insurance exchanges are offered one-size-fits-all policies that pay for others’ contraceptives and abortions.

Ascribing the basest possible motives to Republicans hesitant to raise the minimum wage, Mr. Wineriter seems oblivious to the danger of making the price of labor so high that small businesses are forced to stop hiring. (Contrary to popular opinion, most people don’t work for the giant corporations Democrats love to revile — while accepting their campaign contributions — that can afford the cost of all of those well-meaning regulations.) Where’s the social justice in saddling Americans with European-style high unemployment and economic stagnation?

In short, the Democrats’ agenda appears to consist in encouraging people to become slaves to their own passions and then trying to remedy the consequences by calling for more government control of all other aspects of our lives. To me, this sounds a lot more like the “dictatorship of relativism” Pope Benedict XVI warned would lead to totalitarianism than “what Jesus would want.”

         Anne G. Burns

         Cos Cob, Connecticut

 

Gnosticism Never Rests

Relative to “Who’s Afraid of the Theology of the Body?” (In Depth, June 14 issue):

It had to happen: the revisionist movement’s “theology of love.”

With his theology of the body, Pope John Paul II dealt Gnosticism a knock-out blow, we thought. Our perennial enemy got its European-grown intellectual stuffing knocked right out of it. It was down for the count.

Now, it stumbles again to its feet. Look out, it’s got new moves. No, wait. That’s the same old move, just new boxing trunks. What’s the label on the tag? “Made in Western Europe: from only the most contemporary and relevant lived experience.”

         Karen Winterburn

         Glenview, Illinois

 

Reinforced Faith

Pertinent to “Who’s Afraid of the Theology of the Body?” (In Depth, June 14 issue):

Thank you for your article by Donna Bethell. I found it extremely informative on current issues in the Church that have greatly confused me. Her article reinforces my confidence in the “Rock,” the foundation our Church has been built upon.

         Rich Wancho

        Cleveland, Ohio