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Fields and Tables

The article on genetic engineering by Gerald D. Coleman, S.S., (2/21) lays out a framework for evaluating the arguments for promoting genetically engineered crops to meet the problems of world hunger As one who has been engaged in this debate for some time from a practical, political and ethical perspective, I cannot let pass unchallenged his remark that it was a moral disgrace that in 2002 African governments gave in to G.M.O opponents and returned to the World Food Program tons of G.M.O. corn simply because it was produced in the United States by biotechnology. Had the author been in Zambia in mid-2002, when the government, after very serious scientific study, rejected importation of the G.M.O. maize pushed by the U.S. government, he would have commended this move as a moral necessity to protect lives of both present and future Zambians and to safeguard the agricultural infrastructure of the small-scale farmers who produce 80 percent of the local maize.

In fact, the real moral disgrace was that the U.S. government refused to provide financial assistance for the purchase of the readily available non-G.M.O. maize offered to Zambia by several countries, such as Kenya and India. A more honest analysis would ask whether the United States is so adamantly pushing genetically modified crops on humanitarian grounds to feed the hungry or on economic grounds to support its own heavily subsidized agricultural sector. If there is truly a humanitarian interest as the primary concern, why did the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See reject participation on the panel of its September 2004 conference by any representative of those national bishops’ conferences such as the Philippines, Brazil and South Africa that have cautioned against use of G.M.O. crops, or by any scientific voice critical of this approach? Surely such censorship of divergent opinions is another moral disgrace.

For those who have questions about whether G.M.O. crops are necessary to feed the poor who are hungry, let them leave libraries and laboratories and come to the fields and tables of a country like Zambia to see how local farmers can feed and are feeding people without genetic engineering being introduced.

Peter J. Henriot, S.J.

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A Fifth Conclusion

Bishop Emil A. Wcela is right, in A Dangerous Common Enemy (2/21), that consumerism and its accompanying expressive individualism are at the core of many affluent Catholics’ decision to stay away from most forms of community. He mentions four conclusions about the practice of the faith todayparish involvement, a strong family, greater emphasis on spiritual education of the laity and the need to be part of a larger Catholic communitythat are all very important to maintain a sense of the common good.

I would add the preferential option for the poor that is central to Catholic living. The Faith in Focus article Looking Into the Heart, by Peter A. Clark, S.J., illustrates this. A relatively affluent family spends a week on a Navajo reservation and are transformed in the processespecially the children, who realize that poor families in the canyons are truly wonderful Christians even without all the trappings of modern living.

This idea of volunteer vacations makes sense. Maybe affluent Catholic families from Long Island could spend some time with poor families to see how the other half lives. We even have some of these poor communities here!

Edward J. Thompson

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On the Reservations

The article Looking Into the Heart, by Peter A. Clark, S.J. (2/21), is a joy. It is another expression of seeing God in all things that was exemplified in his article and one more clear example of the gift of America. There continue to be innumerable articles, stories, reflections that give more and more expressions of lives lived in the midst of seeing God in all things. Thank you.

The article again evidences the power of the written word to draw us ever nearer to the God who loves us so and the power of action in the name of the Lord to remember that God is with us. Perhaps more important, from my own experience it seems ever clear that the action and events described are evidence of a God who is merciful to the Navajos, their guests and all of us.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all seized this moment to experience the mercy of God and reach out to freely grant this mercy to others we meet on the reservations we have created in our lives?

Thomas Ludlum

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The Anguish of Annulment

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I had been a widower for almost two years when I met Beth. I had anticipated staying single for the rest of my life. Sharon had been a wonderful wife and mother; when she died of cancer in her early 50’s, I grieved deeply. The Lord, however, blessed me with the opportunity to find a transcende

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Message Getting Through

This letter has been a long time coming. I’ve often wanted to write to you, having read America for over 40 years. The Word column has been an integral part of my preparation for Sunday Mass. At times I’ve known the authors personally. Of all the authors in the intervening years, Sister Dianne Bergant’s words have most resonated with me. My wife, Louise, and I appreciate her work more than words can convey. I’ve read every word since the first installment; they have been an inspiration for my desire to learn how to pray.

The culminating incentive to write is to share with you a story that any writer would like to hear. We are cafeteria Catholics who seek out the best liturgy and preaching. Our favorite homilist on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time began his sermon with a question: Can you hear me now? (1/17). He began with the advertisement and proceeded to make the sermon his own. The other church we attend is staffed by Dominican priests. A prayer group I’m in at that church closed the meeting on the following Wednesday with the leader quoting the beginning of that pastor’s sermon for the previous Sunday: Can you hear me now? Sister Dianne, regrettably, may not be allowed to preach officially in a Catholic church, but her message is sure getting through in other ways.

Ray Terry

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Medieval Practice

Thank you for your well-reasoned editorial about the number of innocent people condemned to death in America, and the public’s growing distrust of a flawed death penalty system (2/7). Wrongful convictions, however, are not the only problems evident with this medieval practice. The system is arbitrary, unjust and riddled with inconsistencies. Death sentences are doled out overwhelmingly to poor defendants and racial minorities who kill whites. More than 90 percent of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977 have taken place in states of the former Confederacywhat’s called the Death Belt. While proponents claim that the death penalty deters crime, no study has ever demonstrated this. State killing is revenge, pure and simple. As you pointed out, a sentence of life without possibility of parole protects society and stops the cycle of violence. We commend the Catholic Church for its leadership on this issue, and look forward to the day when the government no longer stoops to the crime for which it punishes the perpetrator. To quote Bishop Gabino Zavala, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, The power to take a life is God’s.

Jeff Gillenkirk

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Homiletic Material

As a baby priest, age 58 and three-and-a-half years ordained, I am constantly on the lookout for homiletic material. Frequently a Faith in Focus or Of Many Things column fits the bill. As a case in point, the neighborly exchange of keys related by James Martin, S.J., in the latter on Jan. 17 struck a familiar chord. Last summer, after locking myself out of the old family house, I was rescued by such a key, which my mother, deceased over six years, had entrusted many, many years ago to a neighbor. After Mom’s death, I had thought about retrieving the key but never followed through. Good thing I didn’t! Of course, much more than keys are involved. I sense a future Christmas homily in the works here. Perhaps theosis in the exchange of house keys between neighbors?

(Rev.) Edward Kolla

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Continue to Inspire

On behalf of the National Religious Vocation Conference, I want to congratulate and to thank you for the positive portrayal of women religious you have featured in recent issues of America (e.g., 11/15/04, 1/3/05, 1/17/05). The American church owes tremendous gratitude to our religious sisters, who with profound faith, hard work, little money and great ingenuity substantially contributed to the Catholic institutions and ministries we proudly celebrate today.

Although they are now fewer in number, they continue to inspire us with their stories of love, fidelity and sacrifice in the service of God’s people. In a culture that promotes a distorted value system of sex, greed and power, may the stories of these generous, faith-filled women encourage others to consider religious life as an alternative life option that, when lived with joy and integrity, can be both exciting and fulfilling.

Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C.

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Government and Religion

Edward F. Harrington, in The Metaphorical Wall (1/17), effectively debunks the prevailing mythology about government and religion. The framers of the Constitution quite clearly sought to insulate religion from the reach of government; they did not seek to inoculate society from religious expression. But as Terry Golway points out in the same issue, Matters of Which We Dare Not Speak, the invocation of separation of church and state may be the preferred legal strategy, but it is fear and outright loathing of public expressions of religion and faith that is really at work. In short, there is more than flawed jurisprudential reasoning that is driving this issue.

William Donohue

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Adopted Sons

Adoption: A Life-Giving Choice, by Thomas P. Muldoon (11/29), recalled to me a poignant personal experience. Several weeks ago I attended by accident (I had wandered into the wrong room) a session on adoption at the Lesbian and Gay Center in lower Manhattan. The principal speakers were a gay couple who had arranged to adopt a baby from the woman who was carrying it. The couple would pay all the mother’s expenses, and considerably more to the adoption agency, but there was no guarantee that the mother would give the baby up for adoption in the end. As I listened to the partners speak, I was struck more and more by how much over the period of the pregnancy they had bonded with the mother in ways that probably transformed their lives as well as hers. The men are relatively well-off urban professionals; she is poor, rural, and something of a substance-abuser.

One incident in their relationship remains in my mind. She already had a 2-year-old boy, whom she feared officials might take from her. One day she called the men in desperation. The 2-year-old was sick and had been crying for four days. She was afraid to take him to an emergency room lest her own noncompliance with drug rules be discovered, but she was even more afraid that she might hit the child in desperation. She had no one else to turn to. One of the men immediately got on a plane and flew across the country to stay with the woman and care for the child until the crisis was over.

Of course it was in his self-interest to do so, but what came through so strongly during the hourlong presentation and discussion was how two gay men and a straight, single mother of totally dissimilar social, economic and cultural backgrounds broke barriers to work together in the best interests of a child. Their now-adopted son is 2 years old and looks exactly like his 4-year-old brother had looked two years previously. Undoubtedly, some gay couples should not adopt children, but on the whole, can one think of an act that is more generous, loving and, in the end, Christ-like?

Frank Oveis

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