Offensive cartoon

Yesterday's Tony Auth cartoon mocks the very foundation of the Catholic Church. Why are Auth and The Inquirer Editorial Board printing cartoons that are so blasphemous and deeply offensive to the Catholic community?

The cartoon distorts the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 18:16, a text of sacred Scripture that is at the heart of the identity of the Roman Catholic Church. This outrageous distortion implies that the church is founded on deception.

The church in Philadelphia is openly and with great sorrow addressing the tragedies of the past. The Inquirer consistently fails to acknowledge all that has been done since 2002 in order to ensure safe environments for all our children, to respond to the unique needs of victims, and to resolve the cases of credibly accused priests in a forthright and transparent way.

The manner in which The Inquirer has chosen to treat this critical issue is an affront to the Catholic faith.

Most Rev. Daniel E. Thomas
Auxiliary bishop
Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Obama as messiah

Before the media whip us into a frenzy about Russia turning back into the Soviet Union ("Blogs are the Russian reality check," Feb. 21), maybe we should consider the irony here. Imagine how oppressive it would be to live in a land where TV networks and other major media are filled with "uncritical, often fawning coverage" of a presidential candidate. Doesn't that sound like the American media's messianic treatment of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama?

Unlike in Russia, journalists here don't fear being murdered for uttering critical words, and our public is free to dissent. So, why don't we all take more advantage of these valuable freedoms?

The last two U.S. elections proved that some serious critical thinking and exchange before voting is invaluable. The media message this election is positive - Change! - but it is bland, fawning and uncritical, and the American public is absorbing it with very little question. Frightening!

Katherine Glendinning
Haddon Heights

Obama as RFK

The other evening, my husband and I watched Emilio Estevez's movie Bobby. With all due respect to Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, who compares Barack Obama to JFK, the Illinois senator reminds me of Robert Kennedy. And the phrase "our last best hope" keeps running through my mind.

Meridyth M. Senes
Burlington

Federalist Society

The editorial "Bush nominees: Too far right" (Inquirer, Feb. 18) misleadingly described the Federalist Society as "ultra-conservative." As president of the Philadelphia chapter, but writing in my personal capacity, let me clarify:

The Federalist Society is the second-largest organization of lawyers in the country, with outposts in other countries as well. Although the membership is mostly conservative and libertarian, it also has hundreds of liberal and left members and routinely invites nonconservatives to speak at society events. It is a quintessential mainstream organization.

To be sure, the society's influence is on the right, and is, indeed, profound. I daresay that the majority of the right-of-center attorneys in Washington policy circles are members of, participate in, or sympathize with the society.

To suggest that membership defines a judicial nominee as "ultra-conservative" is inaccurate but, unfortunately, consistent with the misinformation that has too often been the hallmark of the attack on President Bush's well-qualified judicial nominees, many of whom have been denied so much as an up or down vote.

Judd A. Serotta
Philadelphia
Serotta@BlankRome.com

Spending spree

$118,628 of debt on 24 credit cards ("A family's struggle against great debt," Feb. 18)? They kept sending us checks? Spent too much on Christmas 2006? Double the size of your house (and mortgage payment) after you lose your job? Try to start a new business and reconstruct your house at the same time? Rent the business property before you get your operating license?

We all want things we can't have and we can't have them because we can't afford them. This family couldn't afford it but went ahead and did it anyway, and did it at a time of financial crisis. They did it on $118,000 of credit on 24 credit cards. It boggles the mind how people can be so naive.

Pete Curran
Mickleton