Dear Windy City Times:
I am responding to a letter to the Windy City Times from R.M. Schultz about Chuck Colbert's recent article on the Vatican survey.
The article, in my opinion, was right on. We are all entitled to our opinion, but when you engage in name-calling most reasonable people get turned off.
In terms of getting a wider circle of response of those interviewed, I understand Chuck tried to get responses from AGLO and Courage, the two official organizations of the archdiocese, with no response. I even suggested contacting Fr. Barron with no response. You can lead a horse to water but you make it drink.
I communicated with Schultz's pastor and was told that Schultz is not a registered parishioner and the pastor did not know him. He also told me that Schultz does not speak for the parish in this matter. He indicated the there were some of his parishioners who did take the survey by going to the archdiocese's website.
It is quite clear that the Vatican issued this survey to move beyond the U.S. Conference of Catholics' ideological bent on anything LGBT. There were some bishops who put the survey on their websites such as Cardinal George's. The clear message was that the Vatican, under Pope Francis, wanted the broadest outreach possible.
Semantics aside, people were asked what they thought about certain topics. One of the questions dealt with ministering to LGBT families. In this framework, a rose is a rose—call it a survey or poll—and most reasonable Catholics understood it was an attempt to gather opinions on a wide variety of issues in preparation for the Synod on Families to be held in October.
I would encourage Schultz to register as a parishioner and get involved at his parish. This is not about good or bad Catholics; it is about a wide diversity of Catholics loving their faith. As Pope Francis recently observed, who am I to judge?
Joe Murray
Executive Director
Rainbow Sash Movement
Sister act
Open letter to Chicago Ald. Scott Waguespack:
You're one of the few alderman in Chicago who I actually respect ... most of the time anyway ( together with your allies Alds. Arena, Sposato, etc. ). But Mr. Waguaspack, REALLY? Seriously??!!
In the Chicago Sun-Times' April 2 article "Proposal to end Sister City pact with Moscow goes nowhere with mayor opposed," it stated, "[Chicago Sister Cities International Board President Samuel C.] Scott's argument struck a chord with Ald. Scott Waguespack ( 32nd ), whose ward includes parts of Ukrainian Village.
"As a Council, we're cutting off that last tie that might exist between different cultures and different countries," Waguespack said. "You cut off people who are moderates in Russia, who are opposed to Putin and what he's doing, who are opposed to the invasion of the Crimea, who are opposed to a Russian future that challenges the Western European powers, challenges the Ukraine and puts everybody on a war footing."
I can tell you have no knowledge of Russia under Putin.
Please reconsider before it's too late because your actions in this matter will be a historical record. God forbid, your historical record will be the equivalent of you voting to have Chicago be a sister city of Berlin in 1938, right after Germany annexed Czechoslovakia.
Cultural ties, you say? How many more cultures would you like to see subordinated by Putin? How many more dead people will it take? Are 250,000 Chechens not enough? How about thousands of Georgians? Or the 96 Poles—including the president of Poland—killed in the plane crash four years ago?
Ethnic groups are not your thing? Well, how about other minorities like the LGBT community? Any other causes you're interested in? Independent journalists? Putin's political opponents? Human-rights activists? How many more will need to disappear or be assassinated before you change your mind?
Are you honestly so naive to think that the sister city ties between Chicago and Moscow include ANY involvement from moderate Russians or anyone opposing Putin? You don't know Russia, sir.
Stand up to Rahm Emanuel and suspend Chicago's sister city ties with Moscow.
Regards,
A. Sobczyk
Chicago
The unconverted
To the editor:
They failed us—again! Despite a 71-47 Democratic majority in the Illinois House, the "Youth Mental Health Protection Act" that state Rep. Kelly Cassidy introduced was defeated 44-51. This means that many Democrats either voted against the measure or failed to vote, hiding behind "excused absences."
As was the case when the marriage-equality bill languished with no vote being taken, powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan refused to use his considerable means of persuasion to ram this bill through the house. If the bill is important to Madigan it passes, no matter how unpopular. The pension "reform" act attests to the speaker's ability to enact legislation favored by the business elites he represents.
The defeat of Cassidy's bill means that children and adolescents may still be forced into phony, harmful "conversion therapy"—a practice based on the assumption that homosexuality is an illness, and one condemned by many professional organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association. Stopping this blatant form of child abuse is an important step toward social acceptance of LGBTQ people.
Bob Schwartz
Gay Liberation Network
