Mr. Rooney,
Thank you for your thoughtful and interesting piece in Friday's Observer ("(Political) science and faith," Mar. 1) it is clear to me that you are indeed being very thoughtful. I do think though that there are a few errors in your logic. First and foremost, I believe that it is very important to keep one thing in mind as Catholics or persons of any faith tradition: We should have faith inform our politics and not try to fit faith into one political scheme. This means not that "in order to be good, conscious Christians we must be liberal," but rather as good, conscious Christians we need to weigh each policy on its own with our faith and vote for the candidate that best matches up with our beliefs.
Now, that being said, there are certain values that we hold as paramount. One of these is the right to life. As you and I agree, life begins at conception, thus this life must be protected as it is outside the womb. Being a fellow man, I agree that I do not know and will never understand the incredibly difficult decisions that expectant mothers go through. This is why it is so important for us as a society to build a community that is welcoming and supportive of all its members, including the unborn. Being pro-life does not mean trying to impose restrictions on what women do with their bodies, but rather providing the support needed so that every child can be born into a loving community.
As life begins at conception, it has to be protected from conception. The 'problem' in unintended pregnancies is not the unborn child, it is the society that refuses to protect it and support both the mother, father and child. This is the key to building a culture of life, and I welcome anyone who wishes to discuss these issues further to contact me.
Thank you for your thoughtful piece, and remember there are 2,000 years of thought that have gone into the Church's teachings; they are there to guide us in our search for truth.
Sincerely,
Stephen Wandor
Stephen Wandor
senior
Siegfried Hall
