Dear Editor: It seems more political than common sense to oppose the Keystone Pipeline. Sorry to say this in a Catholic publication, but Dennis Sadowski’s (March 7) writing promotes opposition and at the same time lauds Obama.
Nothing was brought out that possibly Obama is only concerned about his and his party’s political control of Washington. Nothing was said that this pipeline would benefit hundreds of thousands in jobs and taking care of their families. Nothing was said about the benefit of this project as opposed to only opposing it based on environmental studies that do not report the whole truth.
The New York Times, which we all know is a liberal-biased newspaper, published a study that states the pipeline will not damage the environment.
How can any Catholic support any decision this president makes based on his record of being against all that Catholics stand for? We cannot pick and choose what is good and what is not. We must look at the opposition by this president and his Democrats and see that they are dedicated to the destruction of our faith.
We cannot support a president and a party that allows our persecution with laws passed with which they want to force us to abide by their agenda. Are we not in supporting any part of their action in essence destroying ourselves by allowing a perception that we as Catholics support a president and a party that are rabid for abortion, contraception and the destruction of our Bible-based faith and our Lord’s Gospel?
ROSA CERRATO
Brooklyn
I am never surprised by the continuing onslaught of opinions that are based on misinformation, dislike, and outright propaganda rather than facts. It is preposterous to claim that this was about Obama’s political control of Washington. A veto is a Constitutional right granted to all Presidents from the founding of the Republic. Ronald Reagan used the veto 78 times; George H.W. Bush 44 times; and Bill Clinton 37 times. Obama has used it 3 times, hardly an attempt for political control of Washington.
Another claim is that the pipeline would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. These companies always use this attractively sounding argument but the jobs rarely materialize. Forbes magazine (5/10/2013) placed the range of newly created construction jobs between about 5,000 to 20,000, a sad fraction of the “hundreds of thousands” of jobs to be created. And once the pipeline is built, the jobs disappear but we are stuck with the pollution.
But the most pernicious and troubling claim is that the President and his party is committed to destroying our faith. This saddens me greatly. A simple review of budget priorities, which is far, far more important than any single issue, illustrates the main priorities of each party. The GOP plans to eliminate Obamacare, which would leave millions uninsured. The GOP also wants to slash funding for Medicare, Social Security and Disability. If we read the Bible, we learn that Jesus made taking care of and healing the sick, elderly, powerless, and the marginalized a main priority. I can not understand why any Catholic would oppose these programs on moral grounds when in fact Jesus showed us by his example how important this was.
Pope Francis is getting us back on course so we focus on the things that matter – to Jesus. But if we are stuck in the myopic land of abortion (although important) and birth control, we lose sight of the suffering, poor, disabled, elderly and needy who are right in front of us, begging us for our assistance.
James Tartamella
Lay Ministry Program, Class of 2017
Mr. Tartamella seems to promote Obama, and as a Catholic i cannot understand why, forgetting that Obama and his Democrats (not Republicans) are the ones that are, and i say ARE, mounting an assault on our faith by doing all they can to force us all into his Obamacare of abortion, contraceptives, and abortifacients. Look at what the same Obamacare, which Mr. Tartamella so praises, is doing to the Little Sisters of the Poor and all other Catholic institutions. Obama and his Democrats are actively supporting and passing laws that are forcing states into accepting homosexual marriage and which eventually will try to force priests and churches that they have to accept this or will be brought before the law with charges of discrimination and if anyone doubts this will happen then they probably are living in a fantasy world. This agenda is directly pointing to eventually forcing churches, Catholic churches, to have homosexual couples walk down the aisle, or close the doors. Do not forget that already some Catholic adoption agencies have had to close because they faced criminal charges for not accepting homosexual couples as possible adoptive parents. Though as Catholics we are not the only Christian denomination but, we as Catholics are the ones that directly opposes Obama on his homosexual, abortion and euthanasia agenda.
Yes, the pipeline will create lots and lots of jobs directly because of it and indirectly, and you are wrong on the facts that the pipeline will cause pollution. Right now crude oil is transported via rail and there have been many disasters that have affected our environment worse than the clean transport of crude thru a pipe. Where do you get your facts which are not based on any common sense which even the average human being can see that a clean pipeline can carry a lot better and safer oil, please do not use the same talking points of Obama.
You are wrong again by stating wrongly that GOP wants to slash Medicare, Social Security and Disability. All three of these programs are bankrupt because of liberal use of the funds by former liberal Democrat presidents who were more interested in promoting their party than fiscal responsibility. Hence they used the funds from these programs as reward for their voters, and afterward it took a conservative president and his administration to be the ”bad guy” and get the economy back on track and to be fiscally responsible. i would rather have a choice in choosing my health care whether now that i work or after i retire than to have a government agency dictate to me which insurance i must get, which medical procedure at my age they will allow me to have, and let’s tell the facts that Obamacare will still not insure all because so many will not be able to afford buying the insurance and thus will pay the penalty, but will still be uninsured.
Please state facts and not talking points that Democrats are using to put fear in all of us citizens, not all Americans are ignorant of the facts and do not vote from the fear mongering that Obama has used for his election platform, lot of Americans are actually quite smart. Gruber the architect of Obamacare said this:
‘The Stupidity Of The American Voter’ Led Us To Hide Obamacare’s True Costs From The Public ”
If Obama and his Democrats were not against God and our Lord Jesus then ask yourself Mr. Tartamella why did it take a vote, three times, at the Democrat convention during the last presidential elections to include God in their platform…? Why did they ‘reluctantly’ invite Cardinal Dolan to pray at this same convention after initially rejecting him …?
Ask yourself what else will it take to open the eyes of all Catholics to see that since we are the largest group in America this Obama and his Democrats are waging war on us …?
This is one of the finest letters I have read in The Tablet in quite some time. It surpasses any of the ones that discussed how the recently deceased Gov. Mario Cuomo was not a true catholic or how the late Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts did not merit a Catholic funeral.
Just read it again and savor the observations. For example, even though the Republican party controls both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court the epistle reminds the reader that “…Obama is only concerned about his and his party’s political control of Washington” or how the Keystone pipeline “would benefit hundreds of thousands in jobs and taking care of their families.” That Obama fella must be some sort of an anti-family socialist if he is against the Canadian oil company’s pipeline benefitting hundred of thousands here in the United States. I now know I am quite informed since Ms. Cerrato unmasked the bogus environmental reports that she obviously studied in great detail. After reading this detailed and informed letter, I must admit I now fear for America and the American catholic church’s future because of the Democratic party’s “persecution” of the faithful and that the President and his party in “control of Washington…are dedicated to the destruction of our faith.”
Thank you Ms. Cerrato for being the vanguard of orthodox Catholic faith ever on the alert for false prophets such as Obama. Pax tecum
Mr. Abercrombie…
Hope that your response to me was sincere and not facetious…
None of us can judge the heart of those that commit sins and how they reconcile with our Lord. In reference to Cuomo and Kennedy we can pray and hope that they had the time to repent and thus gain salvation.
Though we cannot judge hearts we can judge with righteous judgment actions, and so far the actions of this president has not been one of respect for our Christian faith, for our determination to keep the Lord’s scriptures as He gave them to all of us when walking amongst us 2000 years ago. A commentator said looking at this president’s personal life we really do not know which Christian church he does attend with his family or by himself and whether he goes to church at all. The laws he and with the help of his Democrats has passed all point to his desire to control the freedoms we so love in our country such as the freedom to worship our faith. Can we really look away and justify a president and his actions when he forced on all of us a health care which he purposely lied as to the cost and the abortion mandates included which are now costing our church in legal fees to defend our right to operate our Catholic hospitals and schools according to our belief…? How can we not see that this president’s actions are specifically done to curtail specifically the rights of people of faith, and can we trust this administration who has had majority control in all three houses for the most part of his administration to do what is right for Catholics especially when he promotes the homosexual right of marriage but will not defend the right of marriage between a man and a woman and has blessed Planned Parenthood …?
Ms. Cerrato has turned a simple discussion concerning the Keystone pipeline into an uninformed chaotic rant about abortion, abortifacients, contraception, homosexuality, Obamacare, euthanasia, and the “fact” that Obama and the Democrats are destroying our faith. Normally I would allow this misinformation to speak for itself but Ms. Cerrato felt the need to address me directly. So please excuse me if my own response seems direct.
Ms. Cerrato’s argument that Obama is forcing us into “his Obamacare of abortion, contraceptives, and abortifacients” is absurd. The law does NOT cover an elective abortion. This means that almost all abortions are NOT covered under the law. The law only covers an abortion in the case of rape, incest, or to save the mother’s life. There are also no abortifacients covered under the law. An abortifacient is an abortion inducing drug, which is used after the egg is fertilized and attaches to the uterus. By contrast, Obamacare covers only contraception such as Plan B and Ella which work BEFORE conception. Please do not attack simple contraception by dousing it with the smell of abortion by calling it an abortifacient. Abortifacients and contraceptives are entirely different and Obamacare does not cover abortifacients.
After bringing the emotionally neutral topic of abortion to an environmental discussion, Ms. Cerrato conveniently pivots to homosexuality, claiming that Obama and his Democrats are “forcing states into accepting homosexual marriage.” Maybe in Fox News land this is true, but here on planet earth in the real world, not a single law was passed under the entire Obama Administration that does this. Not one. Zero. The reality is that the Supreme Court has issued rulings guaranteeing this right, which is based on equality concepts in the Constitution. So what you really should be doing is taking your homosexual grievances (whatever they may be) and bring them to the Supreme Court, and stop blaming Obama and the Democrats. But I want to ask you a simple question about homosexuality: Do you know what Jesus said about it? Do you? The fact is nothing. Nada. Jesus never said one word about homosexuality. By contrast Jesus spoke about the poor, sick, marginalized, suffering and afflicted dozens of times. This tells us something about his priorities and what he wants us to focus on. This means that Jesus was not obsessed with the “bedroom issues” but rather focused more on human suffering. But you would only know this if you actually read the Gospels. You know that radical, liberally biased book that claims that ALL people should be healed from disease (health insurance including Obamacare is a good start); that ALL people should be fed (“big” Government programs like food stamps help feed the hungry); that ALL people should be treated fairly (even Samaritans and homosexuals). I am sorry Ms. Cerrato but all of your disdain of abortion and gays will not accomplish this very important work which Jesus himself told us to do.
For good measure, or perhaps as a cosmic style joke, Ms. Cerrato throws in Euthanasia as part of the Obama agenda. Euthanasia (!) WOW. I don’t know what to say. Can you please enlighten us with your wisdom by explaining what you are talking about?
Thankfully, Ms. Cerrato got back to the issue at hand, stepping away from the bedroom issues and returning to the pipeline. You accuse me that my facts are not based on common sense because a “clean pipeline can carry better and safer oil.” Did it occur to you that although the project is called the Keystone Pipeline, there is much more to the project than a pipe? The Keystone plan is also to extract crude oil from Canada’s tar sands. The extraction process for tar sands is notoriously filthy. Vast amounts of heat, water and chemicals are needed to separate the tarry substance from sand, silt, and clay to flow up the pipeline. The process results in toxic sludge which flows into water supplies. Additionally, these types of pipes have also spilled on numerous occasions, unleashing vast amounts of chemicals into the surrounding environment. Finally, tar sand extraction produces high levels of greenhouse gasses, contributing to global climate change. In the Bible we are commanded to be stewards of the Earth, yet we are slowly destroying the earth in the name of greed and profit.
Ms. Cerrato claims that I am wrong in my assertion that the GOP is planning to slash Medicare, Social, and Disability but offered no proof other than calling me “wrong”. Even cursory research would reveal that I am in fact correct. For example, the Paul Ryan budget which passed the Republican controlled House (Fiscal Year 2015, H. Con. Res. 96) plans to start reducing Medicare funds now and to eventually turn Medicare into a voucher system by 2024. The Republican controlled House also enacted a rule change recently that threatens to slash Social Security Disability payments to the most poor, sick and vulnerable – you know those socialist liberal takers that Jesus is always whining about – by as much as 20% starting this year. Here is a sample article for you. Enjoy. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/republicans-target-social-security-114382.html
Additionally, to claim that these programs are bankrupt because of liberal use of funds is preposterous. These programs have been in use with both liberal and conservative administrations with roughly the same amount of funding. Both parties have taken credit for and utilized these programs. So please don’t tell me I’m wrong. The facts are in black and white.
Ms. Cerrato claims there was a fiscally conservative President who got us back on track. And may I ask who was this fiscally responsible conservative President who got us back on track? I can only guess George Bush. The fact is Mr. Bush almost doubled our national debt, adding six trillion dollars. He was so fiscally responsible that he presided over the worst economic disaster since the great depression. And let us not forget his exemplary work in Iraq, which is now a bastion of peace and Democracy in the Middle East.
Ms. Cerrato is also misinformed about other aspects of Obamacare. We are now and will always be free to choose the healthcare we like. No one is forcing us to pick Obamacare or telling us what procedures to have. What’s truly disheartening is that Ms. Cerrato doesn’t see the irony and contradiction in her own statements. She claims that somehow Obamacare will dictate to her what kind of insurance she must get when she retires. Are you unaware that when you retire you will have one choice: Medicare? That will be your insurance – Medicare as primary – or pay tens of thousands of dollars in premiums, if you can find a private insurer to take you on.
As for Ms. Cerrato’s “gotcha” question about God at the Democratic convention I really don’t have the time/space to discuss it here. Briefly, it has to do with the separation of Church and State which is in the Constitution. Many of the founding Fathers were not Christians (let alone Catholics) in the way we understand. They were creatures of the Enlightenment so tended to be more secular. That is why the word “God” is not present in many of the founding documents. For example, they used the word “Creator” instead because they understood the almighty to be more of an impersonal deity rather than the personal God we pray to directly. They also wanted everyone to be free to come to understand the Creator for themselves and in the way that suited them. That is why religious freedom is at the top of the list of rights protected in the Constitution.
As for why the Democrats “reluctantly” invited Cardinal Dolan to pray, you finally got me. Maybe he was in favor of the Keystone Pipeline, which interfered with Obama’s mission to personally destroy the Roman Catholic Church, its history and memory, and all Catholics living in these United States.
Mr. Tartamella i will say that in all your long winded second reply to me again you are advocating for politics to tantamount over the benefit of the pipeline, you never addressed how much more is the destruction of rail driven oil than in a pipeline but you did go off and give a lengthy discussion how i don’t know what i am talking about, but ‘glad’ to see you do . Did you research the many many accidents of rail transport of oil and how it actually affects the environment worse…? The Christian Science Monitor wrote an article and it showed that either way oil will be shipped and shipments will increase as have the disasters of rail oil transport. Pipeline is safer and best for the environment. Maybe you should watch the real news Fox News and not the Obama propaganda MSNBC station…
Reading your whole entire reply to excuse Obamacare on abortion, on euthanasia , on contraceptives, on abortifacients, it seems you have forgotten that we, Catholics, we Christians DO NOT ever advocate for life to ever be terminated or stopped at any time…! There is no language that can be excused in Obamacare in reference to abortion and you actually are trying to say that it only enforces abortion when it is for rape or health of the mother, really…? Read: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/01/obamacares-many-loopholes-forcing-individuals-and-taxpayers-to-fund-elective-abortion-coverage
“In passing Obamacare, Congress made one additional attempt to allay concerns about abortion funding in the insurance exchanges. It established a mechanism that proponents say ensures that only private funds are used to purchase elective abortion coverage. Thus, Section 1303(b)(2)(A)-(C) of the Obamacare law mandates that insurance companies must “segregate” any federal affordability tax credits that they receive from the individual premiums used to pay for abortions.
According to regulations finalized last year, every individual enrolled in a plan that includes coverage of abortion will be forced to pay an additional abortion premium of at least $12 a year with private dollars.[9] The insurer will then “segregate” those payments into a separate account, used solely to pay for elective abortion procedures for enrollees in the plan. ”
As for Euthanasia in Obamacare, here is some facts: http://www.mccl.org/euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide.html:
“Rationing of health care: The rationing of health care can mean denying lifesaving treatment, food and fluids against the will of patients, based on degree of disability or perceived “quality of life.” The threat of rationing has grown due to the increasing emphasis on providers containing costs and the passage of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) in 2010.” By the way did you know, Mr. Tartamella, that the Hippocratic Oath has been replaced and mostly no longer invoked…? Did you know that the assisted suicide advocacy organization, the euphemistically named Compassion and Choices (formerly the Hemlock Society) was deeply involved–by the group’s own account–in drafting portions of the Obamacare legislation…?
Just like Obama it is all Bush’s fault, did you know Mr. Tartamella that the fact we had so much cold and so much snow storms was also Bush’s fault…? CBS reported that under Obama the debt rose more in just 3 years of Obama’s administration versus 8 years of Bush, and that it is now in 6 years of Obama to $17 trillion. Guess Obama has no fault in the countless denial of help to assist Christians being killed by terrorists. Did you know that Obama denied help to Nigeria fight Boko Haram, which has killed last year 10,000 people mostly Christians, because Nigeria would not change its laws regarding homosexuals and abortion…? He is thus allowing terrorists to murder innocent Christians just because they follow the Bible teachings.
What bothers me the most about your whole answer to me is actually that you are about to finish your Lay Ministry studies and soon become a deacon or some other leader in the Catholic church, and yet you have such ardent fire to excuse Obama and his administration on abortion, euthanasia, and his clear evident push in his policies for all that is against our Catholic faith.
Matthew 19:
4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Colossians 3:5-7
5 Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.[a] 6 Because of these the wrath of God[b] is coming [upon the disobedient]. 7 By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way.