It is somewhat encouraging that you included an article from Catholic News Service in the May 25 issue on the recent school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. But other than expressing deep sadness for this incident, there was little that Cardinal Daniel DiNardo had to offer in the way of concrete action.
We as Catholics don’t hesitate to speak up, march and take other actions regarding abortion, but we can’t seem to find our voices regarding the gun issue.
Yes, we bemoan the degradation of our culture as the blame for these school shootings, but we just can’t mention the word “gun.” We like to say that “it is not about the guns,” as we express our thoughts and prayers.
To the young people in our schools, however, it is absolutely about the guns. Our young people are the ones facing the muzzles of the guns and getting wounded or killed.
To them, our feeble excuses about culture, mental illness and Second Amendment rights don’t mean too much.
And surely they are wondering why we are not standing up for them in supporting real action on gun control. Police Chief Art Acevedo of Houston, Texas, got it right when he recently said, “This isn’t a time for prayers, and study and inaction; it’s a time for prayers, action and asking of God forgiveness for our inaction.”
Kenneth Schammel lives in Cornelius.
On April 27, North Carolina Bishops Peter Jugis and Luis Zarama issued a joint letter addressing the nation’s immigration problems. We agree with their efforts to highlight the dignity of each person regardless of background. Recognizing this is the first step towards building a culture of life.
However, the bishops’ policy suggestions seem to be a more secular approach to a spiritually rooted problem.
Respectfully, experience has shown a solution will not come from Washington, D.C., as the bishops suggest. Rather, it will come from local communities as national politics flows from local culture and morality. Therefore, we propose an alternate solution: Since abortion devalues the family and human dignity – the root of our problems – why not enlist Latino immigrants to engage in the defense of life and morality?
Engaging Latinos to fight the root of our crisis – legalized abortion and contraception – will result in a better spiritual vision for America that will guide us in crafting just immigration policies. Their fervent faith is just what our culture needs.
The apostles didn’t wait for Roman citizenship to evangelize the gospel and convert souls, and neither should immigrants. Rather than wait for a law that never comes, our bishops should inspire them to live up to their collective vocation and build a culture of life.
After all, if they succeed in saving our country from these moral evils, it is probable that changes in immigration legislation will follow suit. Through prayer and action, we can build a culture of life.
Michael FitzGerald, Tammy Harris, Andrea Hines, Bill Lamay and Tina Witt are members of the Catholic Pro-Life Action Network of Charlotte (C-PLAN).