Let letters stand alone

I expect you are going to start receiving fewer letters to the editor. The response you made criticizing or “correcting” the letter writer regarding the primary election was so over the top I scarcely know what to say (“Clergy and partisan politics,” Letters, April 23). It was inappropriate of you to do so, to say the least. I take no side in this issue, neither his nor yours. But what you did violated the basic tenet of having a “Letters to the Editor” section. Who is going to write a letter to the editor knowing they might be publicly shamed? The letter writer had a point of view. You have a different one. In your mind, you are right and he is wrong. That is your interpretation, nothing more. Slamming him with your not so sly snide remark about not being clear was inappropriate. Pick up the Star Tribune and read the letters to the editor column. I assure you the editors think many of the letters are factually incorrect but their job is to share what the people wrote, not challenge anything that disagrees with what they believe to be the truth. I think many of the letters printed are nonsense but I support the right of the letter writer to be heard. Shutting down another person’s opinion because you “know” your interpretation of the facts is correct is a slippery slope.

Jim Koepke
Nativity of Mary, Bloomington

Nature and nurture

The pain Elizabeth Rosenwinkel showed with your readers in your (April 9) issue (“Sexual identity,” Letters) made me believe that she is probably the loving mother of a “transgender” child. However, I question her implications that “God wanted us the way we are” and therefore all our differences must be accepted. Yes, God created our souls, but not our bodies, except for those of Adam and Eve. All the other bodies of the billions of us who have lived or are living or will live on this earth are the result of human generation and nurture, i.e. our responsibility. So, let’s not blame God for the differences or quirks among us. Is there any evidence available to indicate whom or what to blame? Well, yes, there is, in my view, namely the disintegration of family life and the concomitant role-modeling for the young, alongside a pervasive culture which rejects sexual norm and encourages the misuse of sexuality and gender confusion. The importance of family life and culture used to be affectionately labeled “Mother Nature,” and had a powerful cautionary adage connected to it: “God always forgives, mom sometimes forgives, nature never forgives.”

Roland Mayer
Epiphany, Coon Rapids

Share your perspective by emailing [email protected]. Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number. The Commentary page does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit.