What Does it Mean to be ‘Religious’?
Dear Editor: I note your continued effort to weigh in on the upcoming national election while striving to balance any preferences.
The article “Religion and the Trump-Pence Ticket” (August 29) continues in that vein. It offered a balanced approach concerning the religious status of President Trump. However, the question should not be how religious he is but how tolerant and encouraging is he to the religious choices and beliefs of others.
The media at all levels, as your article, continues to quote from Pew Research polls that ask Americans what they think about President Trump “being a religious man.”
The article references their recent survey that indicates that 63% “think Trump is not very religious.” Wrong question! What does it mean to be ‘religious’?
We all know many friends, neighbors, and family members who were brought up Catholic but don’t go to church. Yet we know how good they are, thoughtful, and many other fine qualities.
Why do we hold the president, any president, to a higher standard when what really matters is how tolerant and supportive is he/she in support of religious freedom for all faiths? And, does he/she encourage support at every level of government. This president does!
In my lifetime there were a good number of presidents that we could have held to higher moral and religious standards but their tolerance and support of religious freedom always came first.
In China today, they continue to build hundreds of more jails to house their round-up of Muslims in an effort to ‘purify’ the country of diversity. In the Middle East, Christians are being murdered and churches converted to mosques.
It is nonpolitical to recognize that our current president continues to support religious freedom while fighting back those that seek more and more control of our lives by implementing an agenda to eliminate religious freedom, as all freedoms. That is the bottom line!
Peter J. Purpura
Breezy Point
Catholic Voters Are Obliged to Vote Pro-life
Dear Editor: It is not a violation of the Johnson Amendment for priests to share what the Catholic Church teaches. There’s nothing preventing them from reminding their flock of their responsibility as Catholic voters.
The Bishop of Rockville Centre, New York did just that on October 24, 2016. Most Reverend William Murphy used more delicate language, but the point of his guidance was clear: Catholics cannot support a pro-choice candidate. They just can’t.
There’s no wiggle room. None. They would be complicit in continuing this grave sin if they did so.
Further, there’s no balancing the pros and cons of pro-choice candidates. The pro-choice position of candidates for elected office should be an immediate disqualification.
To summarize, Catholic voters are obliged to vote pro-life.
Tom Temistokle
East Northport, Long Island
The Pew Research Poll About President Trump’s Religiosity
Dear Editor: God Bless the Tablet to be fair and balanced in reporting on pro-life opinions (“Trump-Pence 1st Term Record Leaves Catholic Leaders With Mixed Feelings,” August 29.)
Then The Tablet also reported on August 29 the results of the Pew Research Poll entitled “Religion and the Trump-Pence Ticket” (August 29). The article stated that the majority of Americans don’t view President Trump as being a religious man. Is there a poll on other political figures? Is there a Pew poll on Catholic political figures?
We can’t judge others on how religious they are. There are plenty of lay and religious people who publicly display an appearance of being religious because they attend church services. Only God knows their beliefs.
All we need to be concerned about are Trump’s actions and his kept promises. He is not afraid to be outspoken on pro-life issues. President Trump was the first sitting president to address the March For Life in Washington, D.C. in person. He is for religious freedom, freedom of choice for education, and against religious organizations being forced to pay for abortions and contraceptives. He is also against assisted suicides and the right to die issue.
We don’t need Pew polls! Practicing Catholics should not be doing pew polls.
Madeleine Santangelo-Palumbo
Seacliff, Long Island
The Wide Spectrum of Issues at Stake
Dear Editor: The Trump administration’s four-year legacy extends far beyond the content of this article (“Trump-Pence 1st Term Record Leaves Catholic Leaders With Mixed Feelings,” August 29). Mixed feelings indeed.
I urge my Catholic brothers and sisters to think deeply and consider the wide spectrum of issues and policies at stake. You may not agree with all that Biden and Harris stand for, but both have a strong moral compass and the good of the American people at heart.
Carol McNelis
Forest Hills
Does “pro-life” simply equate to a “pro-birth” stance? Pro-life includes everything from the “womb to the tomb”. Who was pro-life when hundreds of children were put in cages? Who was pro-life when a man mocks a reporter for his disability? Who was pro-life when speaking of a woman’s anatomy? Is ridiculing and name calling pro-life? Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Here we go again. Same old discredited arguments against Trump. Quite frankly it’s getting old and shameful. Let’s refresh Gerry Moss’s inaccurate accusations: It was the Obama administration who funded and started putting children in cages and Trump never mocked that reporter’s disability. As for speaking of a woman’s anatomy, another fake story from the “fake news” maybe? How come this last criticism usually comes from the Left who embraces Hollywood’s trash in movies and on TV?
Yes, he could be more charitable but his actions speak louder than words. He’s the most Pro-Life President we ever had and his support for religious liberty is without comparison to any other President we’ve had. So no, the only wolves in sheep’s clothing is the party of death, the Democrat Party.