Letters to the Editor

Safe, orderly polling places

As judges of elections, it is our responsibility to provide a safe, orderly, and efficient polling place. Your editorial, "Voter-ID test made some voters testy" (Thursday), which seems to encourage "that spirit of defiance to spread" among voters who disagree with the new voter-ID law at the polls in November, attacks democracy at its very roots.

You and I may not agree with the law, but that is no reason to potentially deprive many voters from casting ballots due to others refusing to obey the law and purposely disrupting the premises.

Gordon G. Lawrence, Blue Bell

Voter-ID law may backfire

The new voter-ID law may just backfire on the Republican legislators who were hoping it would be a successful voter-suppression tactic.

I know people who stayed away from the polls last week, fearing that the new requirement would cause long lines and delays for those in a hurry to vote and get back to the office.

Meanwhile, those of us who believe the law is unconstitutional will be motivated to stand in line for as long as it takes in order to exercise our franchise.

Ah, the sweet thrill of just deserts!

Sarah H. Widman, Trappe

In need of a learning experience

The Greater Philadelphia Food Stamp Challenge, in which participants will discover how to subsist on a food budget of $5 a day, is a powerful learning tool ("Taking up a survival challenge," April 23). The elected officials and community members who have volunteered for the experiment are to be commended.

However, in order for this experiment to be truly effective, those most in need of the learning experience should also participate:

Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich.

Also, Govs. Corbett and Christie, Sens. Mitch McConnell and Pat Toomey, House Speaker John Boehner, and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, and practically every Republican member of Congress.

Jim Davis, Avalon

Reread document on nuns

Monica Yant Kinney should reread the document "Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious."

Let me begin with her headline: "Vatican's rebuke of nuns ignores their good works" (April 22). The assessment gives effusive thanks to women religious for their commitment to God's people: schools, hospitals, and support for the poor. Hardly a rebuke. The line "the Vatican slammed nuns for devoting their lives to educating the poor" is fantasy.

To write that "the sisters sinned" by supporting President Obama's health-care plan ignores the fact that the document never mentions our president, his plan, or sin.

To assert that the Leadership Conference was "stunned" by the Vatican's concerns ignores the dialogue ongoing since 2008.

Msgr. Francis A. Carbine, St. Katherine of Siena, Philadelphia, msgrcarbine@aim.com

Elect a woman pope

Kudos to Monica Yant Kinney! I am the person I am today thanks to my 16 years of Catholic education with the nuns. As much as I enjoy telling funny stories about my escapades in school, I owe the nuns a world of gratitude. Maybe it's time we "elect" a nun to be pope. Oh, and I was never "afraid" to be left alone with a nun.

Donna R. Boyko, Holland