Response for Life

Today in a local Catholic newspaper, the following Letter to the Editor was printed. My response to the letter follows. Hopefully the paper prints it:

To the Editor:
I read with great interest Patricia Zapor's June 13 Catholic News Service article "Professor Refused Communion over Obama Support" in a local newspaper.

Although [my wife and I] consider ourselves conservative, we have a strong feeling this year to vote for Sen. Barack Obama, chiefly for reasons of "change" and for reasons against Sen. John McCain's stance on the Iraqi war resulting in continual killings and devastation.

While we do understand Sen. Obama's stance on abortion, which is unfortunate, we understand Sen. McCain's stance on the Iraqi war that results in continual "murder" of our own soldiers and innocent lives.

If Pepperdine law professor Douglas Kmiec, an active pro-life advocate, and endorser of Sen. Obama, was refused Communion on the basis of his support of a candidate, what, indeed, is the Catholic Church's teaching on supporting either candidate?

Stanley M. Kochanek
Berlin, NJ

In response to Stanley Kochanek’s Letter to the Editor

With the horror of war, we must realize that the objective is not to murder the “innocent”, whereas in abortion it is the reason for it.

War is an atrocity, there’s no question about it. Abortion is double the atrocity, which is why it is the primary concern in the USCCB Voter’s Guide. If you review these several items of importance from the Bishops, you’ll see that Senator Obama is by far the worst candidate for the Presidency. By contrast, that doesn’t mean Senator McCain is the best. Thankfully, we have more than two choices.

No Catholic should be voting for Senator Obama who, in addition to supporting partial-birth abortion, believes an aborted child who is removed from its mother’s womb with vital signs can still be killed by an abortionist.

It’s reported that on average nearly 50 troops and civilians have lost their lives each day in Iraq.
Conversely, 126,000 innocent children are aborted worldwide every single day.

I agree with Mr. Kochanek.

Come November, a “change” in the “continual murder of…innocent lives” is a moral imperative.