Published: November 28, 2008 09:21 am            

READERS' FORUM 12/1 | If only the city could lay off councilmen

If you want to watch a good comedy on TV, tune into Johnstown City Council meetings when they air on Wednesdays.

It is amazing how many questions go unanswered at these meetings, from financial to day-to-day operations.

I watched a meeting where the city manager asked a councilman for a report, only to be told that the report had been left at home. If you are a council member and know you have a meeting that evening, would you not be prepared to do your job and report when asked?

Now there is talk of losing two police officers so the city can save money on the budget. I’d sleep better at night if there were two or three fewer city council members than police officers or firefighters.

Brian Hohman

Johnstown



Don’t be ashamed to acknowledge Jesus

Using the word “Christmas” makes it too exclusive and insensitive to other religions? It’s ironic that those who cry most about intolerance are the most intolerant; those who cry about hate, hate the most.

Go to any college campus as a person with conservative values and the free-speechers will shout you down or throw pies at you. An outcry erupts when the “n-word” is used, yet Fred Sanford called me a “honky” all the time, and I shouldn’t be offended? Maybe both are offensive.

Christmas too exclusive? Why did Jesus come? Because “God so loved the world.”

Jesus used phrases such as, “whosoever will may come” and “to as many as received him.” Sounds more inclusive than convert or die.

But Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, God’s son. Does that offend you? Are you ashamed to acknowledge him?

And to those people and businesses that put friendships or profits over giving Jesus his due, let his words speak to you: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of his father with the holy angels.”

Who can best bless your business –unoffended customers or an unoffended God?

Barry Billings

Portage



If you know it’s wrong, why support it?

Molly Vasilko of Portage took the National Council of Catholic Bishops to task for zooming in on Barack Obama’s pro-choice stance (“There are issues other than abortion,” Nov. 24). “Babies should not be murdered,” Vasilko conceded, “but there were many other important issues at stake.”

This is a common theme among people who recognize abortion as killing but nevertheless voted for Obama. It brings to mind another civic-minded man who has been much maligned.

This outgoing, amiable man was widely respected, and was a precinct captain in the Democratic Party. He was a leader in charitable work with the Jaycees. He hosted street parties in his neighborhood. He was active in his church. He reached out to ailing children, volunteering to cheer them during hospital stays.

He was such a pillar of the community.

Surely there are a vast number of important issues other than just one issue, right?

Crime isn’t the only issue our communities face, after all.

Considering all his dedication and hard work, is it really fair that John Wayne Gacy is remembered only for the bodies in his crawl space? After all, the dead were such a small percentage of the many boys and young men in the community. Can’t we just overlook this one thing?

No, we can’t.

Suddenly, the idea that there are other issues besides killing doesn’t seem so palatable, does it?

If you recognize abortion as killing babies, how can anything else that a candidate has to offer offset this one fact?

Christina Dunigan

Johnstown



Blessings will not flow while we still kill

In response to the Nov. 24 Readers’ Forum letter, “There are issues other than abortion”: Barack Obama is not just pro-choice, he also voted against protecting an infant who is born alive after a botched abortion.

Have we become so desensitized that we cannot picture the ramifications of such a heinous act?

Have you ever seen a picture of an aborted baby? The word “torture” doesn’t even come close to describing the scene.

Consider that 4,000 babies per day have been murdered in this country and in the most painful way. That is the worst form of child abuse.

To even consider voting for a pro-choice candidate because you want “change” or you have financial and or budgetary concerns is inexcusable.

The church views abortion as an intrinsic evil, that there is never justification for such an act, and anyone who supports or participates in abortion is not in communion with the church and should not partake of Holy Communion. We, the laity, and those in silent pulpits will have a lot to answer for. An intelligent, informed person would know that you don’t murder children as a solution to anything.

Yet Americans have elected a man who has said he will sign the Freedom of Choice Act, ensuring that the killings continue.

How could we expect blessings from above when we support this barbarism against our children.

Obama is pro-death, not pro-life, and he was your choice for president, not mine.

Rosalie J. Dill

Johnstown

        

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