Letters

A Watched Pot Never Boils In “Curbing Medical Costs” (3/10), Daniel Callahan starts a necessary discussion about health care. Unlike the proverbial frog in the pot of water, which did not detect the rising temperature until it was too late to jump out, the American people are becoming aw

National Heresy As I read Of Many Things on March 31, by James T. Keane, S.J., and his reflections on Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the nation’s capital, I was jarred by his unnecessary putdown of the Washington Nationals’ lineup as one that would not “ever be worth rememberin

Good Shepherds Regarding your editorial “Lost Sheep” (3/17): How do we find those lost sheep? And how many more sheep do we lose before we figure out what to do and how to do it? A de-Christianized culture drives us to be even more effective than we have been in the past. We cannot pres

Values and Priorities Regarding Curbing Medical Costs, by Daniel Callahan (3/10): We already have medical care rationing, and it is determined by who has the money. Countries that have a universal health care system address the rationing issue in a basically ethical way. They do not let market force

Through Their Eyes If he could see things from the perspective of the Middle East, Gerard F. Powers (Our Moral Duty in Iraq, 2/18), might conclude that we have a moral obligation to leave Iraq now. In the view from afar, were not the solution for Iraq, but part of the problem. Consider that while we

Further Questions Thank you for Gerard F. Powerss Our Moral Duty in Iraq (2/18). It would be worthwhile for leaders of our country and our military first to reconcile with those people whose loved ones we violated. This would, Ihope, lead to some real discussion about Iraqi autonomy over its resourc

Called to Compassion Regarding At the End of Life, by Thomas A. Shannon (2/18): Although not a theologian, doctor or hospice caregiver, I have been a primary decision maker for my mother, father and mother-in-law for end-of-life medical issues. In all three cases we came to a unanimous family decisi

Messy but Responsible Gerald F. Powers makes a strong argument in Our Moral Duty in Iraq (2/18) in defense of the responsible transition position of the U.S. bishops toward withdrawal from Iraq, though the exit end of the transition process gets lost along the way. His article argues that in the abs

Structures of Sin The Current Comment item on “Big Pharma and the Poor” (2/11) did not convey a proper understanding of the situation. The problem of access to health care for the poor seems to grow faster than we can find solutions. But blaming the pharmaceutical industry is not a solut