amNewYork letters to the editor
Prez should have been challenged
Re “Notre Dame anti-abortion activists fighting wrong battle with Obama,” May 15-17: Ellis Henican purposely sets up a straw argument. If he had done his homework, he’d understand that opponents of President Barack Obama’s invitation do not believe he should be “forbidden to speak,” but rather question giving him an unchallenged platform. Because his policy pronouncements on life profoundly clash with those of the Catholic faith, a debate where Obama would have to explain his position on a critical moral issue (rather than gloss over it with the glib response that abortion is “above my pay grade,” as he told Pastor Rick Warren) would be more appropriate.
— Gilbert Colon, Manhattan
Palestine is still a real place
Re “Pope backs ‘Palestine,’” May 14: Why was it necessary to put quotes around the word Palestine in the headline? To do so introduces an editorial bias that suggests a certain skepticism of the place. While Palestine no longer exists on most U.S. maps, it certainly exists on maps in most of the rest of the world, and it was the name of that small sliver of land up until the creation of Israel in 1948. More important, it remains very real in the minds of those who were driven from Palestine in 1948 and 1967, and those who strive to live freely in a future Palestinian state.
I wonder if you would have put quotes around: “Pope backs ‘heaven.’”
— Kathryn Casa, Manhattan
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