Womb to tomb
There are a few things I would like to refute in response to Andrea Irwin’s July 14 OpEd about birth control and abortion.
When it comes to unwanted pregnancies, women do have a choice — to stay pure. We are made in the image and likeness of God. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. How sacred is that to be carrying a life?
A woman’s choice, woman’s life, woman’s story matters, but how about the baby who has no voice, who depends on the mother to bring him or her to life?
In our self-centric society, we’ve drifted away from our innate spiritual calling to right and truth, and the right to life of unborn babies.
Respect to life from womb to tomb.
Claudette Michaud
Bangor
Let’s discuss facts
I find it sad that some of the Bangor Daily News blogs can only criticize and spread hate and discontent. I will never forget something President Richard Nixon said, something hateful blogs at the BDN tend not to do. He said, “My enemies didn’t get me, my hatred of my enemies got me.”
Words to live by. These educated people should know better. May their hatred not consume them, but reading what they write, it may be too late.
We need to have a conversation, and spreading hate and discontent is not a conversation. It’s a strategy many people with no facts tend to use. If they can’t shoot the message, they shoot the messenger.
Mainers deserve better than what may happen. Let’s have a discussion. Let’s discuss all the facts, not just the ones we like. Let’s let people live their lives, not the life someone else thinks they should live. Let’s show respect for each other and stop the name calling. Hate never wins, it only destroys the hater.
Dana Peterson
Trenton
Call of the loon
I enjoyed Bob Duchesne’s article about loons in the BDN Outdoors summer magazine. I grew up on Flagstaff Lake, and the call of a loon is still one of my favorite summer sounds.
It is heartening that observations from citizen scientists can help us understand our natural world and learn better ways to protect it.
Anglers can help protect loons by making sure discarded monofilament line doesn’t end up in the environment.
Those of us who live on lakes can potentially make a bigger impact by building a loon nesting platform. Proper construction and siting is key for a loon nesting platform to be successful and the Maine Audubon is a great resource for more information.
Like Duchesne says, loons enhance our lives on lakes. We should do our best to enhance their lives, too.
Andy Jones
Falmouth
A deal for peace
Howls of outrage over the diplomatic agreement Iran reached with six world powers to limit its nuclear program to prevent the construction of a nuclear weapon are predictable. Many members of Congress are beholden to the Israel lobby, which wanted war on Iraq and now is disappointed by no war on Iran.
Using force to reduce terrorism has been a dismal failure. With each bombing of civilian populations, more terrorists join the ranks of Islamic extremists — first the Taliban in Afghanistan, then al-Qaida across the Middle East and North Africa, and now Islamic State in Syria and elsewhere.
Negotiated settlements with all parties — including women — at the table are the real path forward. We need to stop sending troops into harm’s way, which includes the post-traumatic stress disorder that results from killing people with drones. Meanwhile, 22 veterans commit suicide each day, and terrorist atrocities increase. More violence is not the solution to violence.
I am not a fan of President Barack Obama. He has killed thousands using drones and continues sending troops into Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria while posing falsely as a peace president. But his administration’s negotiated settlement over Iran’s nuclear program is a step in the direction of real security for all. Join me in urging our members of Congress to ratify the agreement.
Lisa Savage
Solon
Bond veto sustained
Gov. Paul LePage’s refusal to issue voter approved bonds that would fund 30 thoroughly vetted Land for Maine’s Future projects is in itself unconscionable.
But the votes cast by 52 Republican legislators July 16 to sustain the governor’s veto of LD 1378, which would have forced LePage to sign off on the bonds, are despicable affronts to the conservation ethic championed by Republican Theodore Roosevelt and to the majority of voters who approved the bonds in the first place.
Indeed, a very sad day for Maine.
Paul Johnson
Oakland
National park rejection
Good job, Medway voters, turning down the national park and recreation area proposal in the June 23 straw poll.
The land, once removed from the tax rolls, will only manifest into a multi-faceted problem, not opportunity. Adjoining landowners would be faced with picking up the tax loss. Some of those 450 plus jobs it would create would be paid for by taxpayers.
I’ve seen this practice already for quite some time at the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge next to my family’s land in our little Washington County township of Edmunds. Make no mistake, it’s already happening across Maine, and we need not see any more of it.
Charles P. Curtis
Perry
Trump’s statements
I just have to say I do not believe Donald Trump is a race baiter. He was stating his opinion when he said Mexicans crossing the border are criminals, and I believe he was stating facts. The race baiters are Barack Obama, Al Sharpton and Oprah Winfrey. The U.S. has not been this divided since the Civil War.
Dola Carter
St. Francis
Is Trump for real?
Is Donald Trump’s absurd blustering a part of the Republican Party’s attempt to make the remainder of the presidential field appear more attractive? Does Trump want to be president, or is he sacrificing himself for the good of the other candidates? He’s news, and Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are getting much less attention.
Is Trump promoting John McCain for some position in 2016? Will he disappear to some large island he’ll buy when the primaries are over, or will he switch targets to the Democratic candidate?
A fool? Yeah, probably, but how much fool and how much actor?
Charlie Cameron
Addison