WHO’LL FORGIVE BUSH?

On July 2, 2007, Bush commuted the sentence of Scooter Libby. I was so surprised.

On September 30, 2003 Bush commented on the investigation of Scooter and is quoted saying, “There’s leaks at the executive branch, there’s leaks at the legislative branch. There’s just too many leaks. And if there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if that person has violated the law, the person will be taken care of.”

How naïve of me to think the phrase “will be taken care of” meant to be punished and possibly go to jail for a crime. When all along it just signaled to all the henchmen, “Do my bidding and you don’t have to worry about silly things like the law of the land.”

Is this one more reason to take to the streets and start shouting for impeachment?

Joan Healy

East Aurora

BISHOP TAKES QUEEN

As the football season draws near, many conversations among Buffalonians will focus on the Bills’ need for a good back-up quarterback. In forbidding the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, the African bishops are unwittingly being drawn into the role of back-up quarterback.

Imagine this scenario in a Catholic home: A truck driver has just returned from a drive that took him the length of Africa. During the trip he visited several prostitutes; if he wasn’t HIV-positive before, he certainly is now. He and his wife retire early, and he suggests having sex. She agrees, but tries to insist that he use a condom.

Rather than berate or abuse his wife, the man calls on his back-up quarterback, the African bishops. You know I can’t use a condom, he says, the bishops said so. An obedient daughter of the church, his wife reluctantly agrees, She will soon test positive for HIV/AIDS.

The saddest part of the story is that there is absolutely no scriptural or theological basis for prohibiting condoms, the pill, or any other contraceptive. Church leaders who do so usually cite the natural law, claiming that it is sinful to do anything that goes against the essential purpose of a person or action. Applying the feeble tenets of the natural law, one could claim that hair is intended to grow long and luxuriant, meaning that getting a buzz-cut is a sin against nature. The essential nature of our reproductive system is to reproduce, so that using a condom or other contraceptive to prevent conception goes against the natural law and is sinful.

The availability of the “morning after” pill renders moot many of the questions about sexual behavior and gives women more control of their destiny. Still, they’d better watch out for the men in the miters.

Kenneth J. Rummenie

East Aurora