To the editor:
For years, I have sponsored two children in the missions, and I recently received a letter from a 15-year-old boy in South America. For his 15th birthday, he received a roasted chicken and was very thankful, and it reminded me of things we take for granted. I feel it is my duty to try and help various charities in this country, and Catholic Relief Services World Wide. I attended a friend’s funeral and one of this brothers addressed us, stating that there seems to be so much fighting and arguing going on in this country. He stated it is time for us to get along with each other, and show understanding. He said I am a liberal and my brother was a conservative, but we always could respect each other’s opinion and be friends. He said if you want to do something in my brother’s memory show kindness to others.
During World War II, my son-in-law’s dad was taken at age 13 from his home in Poland and put in a German work camp. He lost his brother and other family members who were killed by the Germans. He was liberated by Patton’s army and eventually arrived in Waterville, where he had relatives. Gene is still alive in Topsham, and he told me this June that the bodies in some camps were piled like wood, and that “anyone who says the Holocaust never happened should have a grenade put in their mouth.”
I have some friends who are gay or lesbian. Some of them are better Christians than I am. The gay community has been marginalized and discriminated against for years, and I never met one who chooses to be gay. The threat to marriage is divorce. Having been married for 48 years, I fail to see how gay and lesbian couples have any effect on mine or any other marriages.
I do not appreciate the Bishop paying $100,000 to that outfit from California to overturn a bill that our Governor and Legislature signed into law. I do not appreciate being asked in church to donate and support this cause. My church does a lot of good, locally and worldwide, but this amount of money could have been better spent.
People can have different opinions, but a campaign such as this will bring out the worst in some people. I like the old Indian prayer which says in part “May I not criticize a person until I have walked two miles in their moccasins.”
August 26, 1920, women were given the right to vote, with the passing of the 19th amendment. Women’s groups had been working for this right since 1848. If two committed people want to get married it should be their business, not mine or the general public’s. I hope that a majority of citizens will vote early and vote ‘No’ on Number One.
Westfield
