Faulty Theology

Regarding “Romney’s Religion” (Dec. 16):

As an adult, I made the mistake of reading the book The Great Apostasy by James Talmage before I was sufficiently formed in the Catholic faith. I began to view Scripture through “Mormon glasses” and was closer to becoming Mormon than I should have been.

What saved me? A long story short: I happened to (by divine Providence) come across a tape series by Scott Hahn titled “Finding Christ in the Old Testament” and learned about a word I had never heard of — typology.

At a much later date, I asked Father Mitch Pacwa (seconds before he was to begin Mass at our church) if he could think of any Catholic dogmas not prefigured in the Old Testament. He said, “No.”

If God had taken his “chosen people” status from the Israelites of the Old Testament and given it to another Old Testament people, it would have pre-figured what the LDS teach about the apostasy and restoration. Net result: I’d probably be Mormon today.

I began to consider what the Catholic Church taught. I discovered it was all pre-figured in the Old Testament, from Mary being Queen of Heaven and Co-Redemptrix to the sacraments. I also discovered what was missing from the Old Testament: the basic Mormon teachings, especially the “apostasy and restoration.”

An interesting side note: One of the Reformation’s foundational teachings is sola scriptura (Bible alone). That is also interestingly missing from the Old Testament.

As the LDS missionaries came by my house dozens of times, I asked many questions and discovered that artificial contraception is okay; abortion, although counseled against, is acceptable; a temple-sealed marriage “for time and for eternity” can be unsealed. This allows for divorce and remarriage, which is contrary to Jesus’ teachings. The communion service of the LDS is called their sacrament. The bread is blessed and becomes holy. It imparts a blessing to those who partake of it. After the service, the left over sacrament bread is thrown out into the common garbage. Joseph Smith corrected the “errors” in the Bible, yet the LDS use the (heretical?) KJV of the Bible even though it is filled with errors.

Joe Marincel

Flower Mound, Texas

Candidate Stood Out

Your Jan. 6 issue containing a short article, “Primary Looms,” resonated with me. Bishop John McCormack of Manchester, N.H., was quoted as stating, “in order to sustain a healthy democracy, all citizens have an obligation to vote.”

In the Jan. 5 televised debates from St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Mike Huckabee stood out as the one presidential hopeful who mentioned “sanctity of life.” When asked what principles would guide him as president, he quoted the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life ...”

Dorothy Boyle

Bristol, Connecticut

Zero-Population Bomb

I was surprised to see that you bothered to print the letter “Population and Nature” (Dec. 23) that was repeating 50-year-old false “Population Bomb” scare tactics.

With Europe and Russia facing social and financial collapse due to their birth rate that, at 1.3 per woman, will cause them to lose one-third of their population every generation, to worry about overpopulation is ridiculous.

Who will support all the old folks till they die is the question.

America is on the edge. Minorities have largely helped to increase the rate to 2.1 children per woman, when 2.2 is needed to break even. Muslims, with their strong religious beliefs, are at 5.6 but falling. Japan’s economy is in a permanent decline due to its low birthrate (especially as they abort 17% more girls than boys). China’s forced one-child policy will end its great rise in one generation.

What was even more surprising to me that his letter was followed by an editor’s note, not pointing out the above statistics that are now common knowledge, but saying that all those people could fit in Alaska.

Roland de Marcellus

Piedmont Triad, North Carolina

Divine Mercy Update

I am writing in reference to the interview of me, “Divine Mercy Devotee” by Patrick Novecosky, which appeared in the Feb. 10-16 edition of your paper.

First of all, I wish to thank both you and Mr. Novecosky for the opportunity that you gave me to share about the first-ever World Apostolic Congress on Mercy, which will be held in Rome on April 2-6.

I believe it is a very important event in the life of the Church. It will be followed up by national and regional congresses on mercy in 2009-2010 — including a U.S. Mercy Congress.

I did want to share an update on the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI’s participation in the World Congress on Mercy. On April 2, the opening day of the World Congress, Pope Benedict will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Square to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II and open the congress. The Mass will honor the legacy of John Paul II, who worked tirelessly to promote the message of Divine Mercy during his pontificate.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the archbishop of Vienna, Austria, will celebrate the concluding Mass on Sunday, April 6. Pope Benedict will then close the world congress in St. Peter’s Square with his Regina Caeli message.

Let’s pray that through the World Congress on Mercy and then the national and regional congresses that will follow, the message of God’s mercy will spread as never before in the Church and in our world.

Father Kazimierz Chwalek, MIC

Marians of the Immaculate Conception

Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Dancing With Death

Relevant to “Massive Protest” (Feb. 3):

The words of the old song tell us, “New York, New York, A Helluva Town,” but if Gov. Spitzer has his way, maybe a different quotation will become more appropriate.

Can you say, “Going to hell in a handbasket?”

There is a strong likelihood, that since it is now acknowledged by many experts in the legal profession to be “bad law,” Roe v. Wade will be overturned in the foreseeable future. It was decided upon through erroneous reasoning, based on the so-called “right to privacy,” which was not even mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. 

The Supreme Court justices also based this ruling on their conclusion that there was no proof in existence of when human life begins. Modern science and technology (i.e., sonograms and intrauterine photography) now refute this conclusion.

When Roe v. Wade is overturned, “abortion rights” will be decided by each individual state. Some states are already preparing to abolish legal abortion within their boundaries when Roe v. Wade is abolished.

In New York, the opposite is occurring. Spitzer apparently wants New York to once again become the abortion capital it was before Roe v. Wade. Spitzer is proposing Bill 16 (S.5829), the “Reproductive Health and Privacy Act,” which provides for:

• the right of non-physicians to perform abortions (jeopardizing women’s lives),

• allowing abortions for minor girls without parental consent,

• requiring doctors and hospitals (even Catholic facilities) to perform abortions despite objections on religion- or conscience-related ground, and

•requiring even faith-based insurance companies to provide abortion coverage.

Mayor Bloomberg also strongly supports legal abortion, requiring New York City’s teaching hospitals to teach streamlined abortion procedures.

This “Dynamic Duo of Death” seems to have forgotten the message of 9/11, about how precious and sacred human life is, and the biblical admonition to “Choose Life.”

Those who believe in the culture of life truly have an uphill battle to fight. Get involved. Demand that your representatives vote against Spitzer’s culture-of-death legislation.

Edwina and Gene Cosgriffs

Staten Island, New York

Suffering Mexico

I was encouraged to read in the Feb. 17 issue your article “Mexican Bishops: NAFTA Is Leading to Country’s Cultural Death.”

I recently spent a weekend in Juarez, Mexico, experiencing up-close the cultural and economic dynamics of the border region. I was shocked to find that even when both parents and several children work full-time in foreign-owned factories, they still struggle to obtain sufficient food and shelter, let alone education and time for cultural growth.

The factories so blatantly consider their workers as mere extensions of machinery that many force women to take birth control and fire them if they get pregnant.

Overcrowded, violent, immigrant-producing Juarez will continue to worsen if southern Mexican farmers cannot make a living from their crops, which flounder unprotected against subsidized U.S. agribusiness.

The immigration debate in the United States is incomplete if it ignores the tenuous condition of countless Mexican farmers and workers, conditions often induced by our own trade policies.

I hope that the Mexican bishops find U.S. Catholic legislators willing to put the needs of their suffering Mexican brethren ahead of large corporations’ profit when renegotiating trade treaties.

Bethany Musser

Denver, Colorado

True Happiness

In Father Dwight Longenecker’s article “The Tale of 2 Churches” (Feb. 10), he aptly describes the two opposing views as “happy here” and “happy hereafter.”

He attributes the former philosophy to the adoption of the “pursuit of happiness” as the overarching goal in life. Such a shallow, myopic outlook is surely doomed to failure. He wisely declares that what is needed is “a supernatural transaction between God and mankind.”
Simply stated, to find true “happiness,” we must be at peace with God.

As St. Augustine put it, “Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in you.” Jesus made this clear when he said, “My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you” (John 14:27).

How can we describe God’s peace?

St. Paul tells us, “The peace of God surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). It’s sad to know that some choose ephemeral happiness while on earth over the transcendent joy which comes from being at peace with God.

Joseph Markey

Sandy Hook, Connecticut