Misleading headline
I take issue with the BDN’s recent headline, “Efforts to limit abortion draw big crowds to hearing.”
It is inaccurate because the bills in question do not limit abortion in any way. They only provide a stronger requirement that accurate information about her child be given to the mother; they provide for a 24-hour reprieve for the preborn child so maybe the mother will see his or her beauty and decide to let him or her live; and one requires that parents are informed of their daughter’s pending decision before she can go through with it.
The forms presented to patients for their “informed” consent are very long and confusing to read. Certainly a teen would have a hard time sorting out all the terms and really understanding what she is being urged to sign. At least she should have a day to try to understand it all. Her child’s life hangs in the balance.
Judith Murphy
Sebec
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Understanding atheists
I was glad to see Gergory Paul and Phil Zuckerman’s May 4 op-ed (“Why do Americans still dislike atheists?”). I had not given much thought to the general reaction to one who declares himself an atheist. I remember a college classmate of mine who declared himself such, and my surprise that it did not offend my father who was not just a cleric but also a bishop. He remarked that my friend was very thoughtful.
It led me to believe that many atheists are very thoughtful. I think that’s true. Paul and Zuckerman did not, however, describe the atheists they were defending. Were they very thoughtful, or merely disillusioned?
I have always liked Garrison Keillor’s remark about a citizen of Lake Woebegon: “He was an atheist, actually a Lutheran atheist because it was the Lutheran concept of God he’d rejected.”
There is always a concept of God that we’re dealing with, and for most of us that concept grows as we grow. Paul Tillich wrote “Dynamics of Faith” to help those with experience of World War II regain a love of God that had been lost. Anyway, I believe God’s more concerned with our behavior than with our beliefs.
Rev. Frederick E. Emrich
North Haven
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A vote for Alex Gray
Alex Gray of Bangor Waterfront Concerts has shown it is the management team with its connections and resources and drive that can bring events to Bangor.
Can you image if Alex and his team were operating the new arena? He would not just move Bangor ahead, he would catapult it. My next vote is for Alex Gray!
Dan O’Connell
Bangor
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Save LURC, save Maine
Can someone please tell me what is going on in Augusta? Every time I look at the paper, someone is attempting to modify or remove regulations that protect Maine.
Maine is so much more than the people who inhabit the acreage we define as Maine. We are a small part of what makes up Maine. The lakes, rivers, ocean, mountains, air, soil, trees, blueberries, fish, lobsters, scallops, moose, bears, deer do more to define Maine than its inhabitants. And yet, all are under attack.
Can we protect Maine from those who want to rape and pillage for their own gain? We can if we let the Land Use Regulation Commission do its job. LURC is needed to defend against those who would attack Maine. Please ask your legislators to oppose LDs 17, 1258 and 1534.
Mary Royal
Winterport
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Drawdown now
As President Obama makes his decision on how many troops to withdraw from Afghanistan this year, it is time for U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe to weigh in by co-sponsoring S. 186 that would show support for his promised “significant” drawdown and require a timetable for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops
The war has gone on far too long. Every day that the war continues, our nation continues to ask our military families to make the sacrifice of living as a family divided by war. With each passing month, another $10 billion is spent on the occupation. Imagine what $10 billion would do if it were invested directly into our communities! And yet, it is lost as a cost of this occupation. We can no longer afford it.
Are we ready as a nation to consider the pain that our occupation has caused the Afghan civilians? Recently we as a people have been upset by airport scans. Imagine if your house was raided by armed forces because you live in the “wrong” country. I would not wish that on anyone.
End the cycle of suffering, pain and sacrifice. Bring the troops home to where they are needed, in our communities.
Garrett Wilkin
Monroe
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Close to home
I want to thank Brian Crane for his comic strip “Pickles” My husband and I get a chuckle out of it almost every day. Has he been watching us in our window for his material!
Jean Herrick
Princeton
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Pro-life fiscal responsibility
Put succinctly and without pejorative connotation, a fiscal conservative doesn’t support subsidizing the cost of living for people who do not make enough at their current job(s) or do not work. But by supporting legislation that limits women access or information on pregnancy options and opposing government funding to work with an insurance group that covers the medical procedure of abortion, more children will be forced into that demographic.
Herein lies the fiscal obligation of a pro-life vote: demanding that unwanted children are brought into this world means you’re fiscally responsible for raising those children.
Personal beliefs on a woman’s right to choose, the moment that life starts and the fight for the unborn child are not being debated here. Fiscal conservatives voting pro-life should take a long look at their family and religious values vs. fiscal beliefs and ask if they are at odds with each other.
Being truly pro-life is to be truly concerned with the life of the child. Accepting responsibility from child to functional adult is easily done by supporting appropriate socialist programs and public education legislature. Fiscal conservatives whose votes mean children are born to financially or emotionally unprepared parents should also advocate for more social workers, school employees and an increase in government spending.
Brendan Dagan
Bangor