Death penalty hardly tough on crime

ISSUE | MORATORIUM

Death penalty hardly tough on crime

Two positives arise from the death-penalty confrontation among Gov. Wolf, District Attorney Seth Williams, and Attorney General Kathleen Kane ("Wolf calls on court to uphold his moratorium on death penalty," July 22). It keeps capital punishment under the spotlight, and it also makes it clear that many Democrats differ little from Republicans in important areas.

Williams, Kane, and other tough-on-crime officials of either party seem to have given no consideration to the words of George Bernard Shaw: "It is the deed that teaches, not the name we give it. Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their kind."

In addition, capital punishment inevitably kills some innocents; wastes vast fortunes of public revenues; likely prevents no homicidally inclined people from committing murder; and unjustly punishes utterly innocent families and friends of the condemned, a punishment that lasts long after the execution.

|John Jonik, Philadelphia, j_jonik@yahoo.com

ISSUE | CAMPAIGNS

Lexicon don'ts

Memo to Mike Huckabee and other conservative candidates: End all references to Hitler, Nazis, and the Holocaust. The opponent is not a Hitler; compromises do not equal a Munich; and every event that doesn't meet favor is not a Holocaust.

This rhetoric demonstrates intellectual laziness, closes discussion, cheapens the Holocaust, and dehumanizes and demonizes those with different views. Such references do not belong in our political discourse.

|Kenneth J. Wissler, Philadelphia

ISSUE | IRAN DEAL

Trust goes two ways

Like so many critics of the Iran nuclear agreement, U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan (R., Pa.) seems to share a blind spot about our meddling in Iran's affairs ("Reject Iran deal, and work toward better one," July 28). From efforts to overthrow democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in the 1950s, to our support of the Shah, to our unwarranted attack on and destruction of Iraq, it is we who should be working to gain trust.

Every critic also hides behind the same fig leaf - that elusive, undefined, unreachable better deal. They behave as if there will be no further efforts to achieve a workable peace between Israel and Iran. This abundance of criticism and paucity of critical thinking set the stage for terrible outcomes - like the ones we've brought upon the world through our arrogant, ham-fisted, bumbling invasion of Iraq.

|Suzanne Bush, Gwynedd Valley

Draft choice

War with Iran would mean a commitment with the potential to exceed our capabilities. Would the saber rattlers in Congress initiate the draft? Not on their political lives.

|Warren R. Smith, Kennett Square, rtstkndvr@gmail.com

ISSUE | PAPAL VISIT PREPARATIONS

Take a nice (long) walk in Philadelphia

I couldn't agree more with recent letter writers on the papal preparations ("City's insecurity showing in security plans," July 26). Working in health care in Center City, my organization still has not decided whether to give employees in nonessential areas the day off.

As for visitors being told to be ready to walk for miles, how do we appear welcoming when we instruct the elderly and infirm to walk when they may be unable?

|Joanne L. Gotto, Philadelphia

What's next, a shelter-in-place order?

It is now apparent that the Secret Service is running the show for this pope-visit fiasco ("Huge crowd, big worry," July 28). Hark back to the days following 9/11, when federal officials wanted to shut down Chestnut Street in front of Independence Hall permanently. The city stood up to them. If the Secret Service had its way, undoubtedly, the whole city would be closed - and people would be required to stay indoors, and everything would stop. But wait: That's pretty much what is happening.

The idea that details will not be released until three weeks before the visit is ludicrous and unacceptable. Mayor Nutter needs to stand up.

|Dwight Bechtel, Philadelphia

Looking as if that weekend will be real quiet

I just received notification from my Washington Square condo management that due to the papal visit, streets in my neighborhood will be closed as early as Friday, Sept. 26; there will be no vehicular traffic (including cabs) in my neighborhood; I will not be able to get my car either into or out of my garage at Sixth and Locust Streets for the duration of the visit; I won't be able to receive deliveries while the pope is here; and I won't have mail deliveries during the visit.

If this is the price I have to pay, future visits of this sort should be restricted to Fairmount Park or one of the South Philadelphia stadiums rather than residential areas. In Center City, there are some 64,000 high-income, high-tax-paying residents. There is no reason that we should all be treated as if we posed some sort of security threat.

|Jim Siegel, Philadelphia

ISSUE | MINIMUM WAGE

Up or down, voters deserve action on pay

Religious and responsible civic organizations are working with Raise the Wage PA in support of a bill to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, sponsored by State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione (D., Philadelphia). While there is overwhelming support throughout the state, the measure is languishing in the Labor and Industry Committee because State Sen. Lisa Baker (R., Luzerne), its chairwoman, will not let it go to a floor vote.

Baker and other Republican Senate leaders contend that people just need to find better jobs to raise their wages. But that ignores the fact that there are many minimum-wage jobs that provide services - services that cannot be filled by teenagers working part-time. People need those jobs to support families and have no assets or time to train for higher-paying jobs. Voters have expressed support for a living wage, and it is up to Baker and other leaders to respond appropriately and move Tartaglione's bill.

|Mardys Leeper, cochair, Unitarian Universalist Pennsylvania Legislative Advocacy Network, Villanova, ma1leeper@gmail.com

ISSUE | GAY EDUCATOR

A good guide on kids' spiritual journey

As the parents of two Waldron Mercy Academy students, we applaud Joan Dawson McConnon, James J. Maguire, and Sister Mary Scullion for their thoughtful commentary ("More spirit, less doctrine," July 21). There is no one we would have rather had teaching our children about Catholicism, spirituality, compassion, service, and justice than Margie Winters. There is no one we would have rather had preparing them for First Communion than Winters, and our children were blessed to have had her show them what great things can be accomplished when a community mobilizes to help the less fortunate.

We are saddened to have lost Winters from Waldron. We cannot understand why it was OK for gays and lesbians to serve when closeted, but not now that they can be out in the open.

|Jerry and Christine Dever, Philadelphia

Fearing a closet door may be closing

It is a breath of fresh air to read thoughtful public dissent regarding church teaching ("More spirit, less doctrine," July 21). I hope that meaningful dialogue will result. Otherwise, it seems that the church is intent on driving gay Catholics back into the closet.

|Loretta Dugan, Erdenheim