Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
February 28, 2001
Letters
Saving the unborn
I read recently about the success of Cardinal Winning's initiative in offering financial assistance to mothers-to-be to help them keep their babies — 200 so far have been saved I understand. Although the church in Scotland has come under a little criticism for "buying babies," I found it interesting to reflect on a similar incident portrayed in the film "Schindler's List."
The film tells the story of Oscar Schindler, a German industrialist who rescued more than 1,000 Jews from the death camps in Poland by buying them from the camp commandant, supposedly to work in his factory.
Of the many thought provoking scenes, there is one where Schindler is compiling the list of people and continually asking the Jewish prisoner who is typing it, "How many so far?" Curiosity causes the typist to inquire why and he half-jokingly asks, "You're not buying them, are you?" After an extended silence, the typist lifts the list, looks at it as if it were a sacred object and declares that the list is an "absolute good."
[About] 10,000 descendants of those saved are alive today, qualifying [the typist's] next statement that "Whoever saves one life — saves all."
Surely the activities of the Church in Scotland (and more recently New Zealand) are a modern day equivalent in combating the `silent' holocaust of abortion. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if this were extended to the Church in other nations, perhaps in partnership with other Christian churches, and Moslems and the Jewish community, as we all share belief in the sanctity of human life.
Of note is another scene at the end of "Schindler's List:" The war is over and those rescued thank Schindler for helping them, but instead of sharing their joy, he weeps as he looks at the few possessions he has left and remembers the money he wasted on useless things — "I could have saved more," he says. He looks at his car and says, "10 more Jews," as he looks at a gold pin in his lapel, he says, "another two."
Perhaps we will all weep, too, in time, but with the surgical abortion toll at 50 million world-wide, could we save more?
Stephen Clark
Old Trafford, Manchester
United Kingdom
School choice
I am writing about a school choice bill that was recently defeated in the Senate Education Committee. It was sponsored by Sen. Bruce Cairns of Aurora.
I attended the hearing on this bill and was disgusted to see that legislators were putting concerns about "systems" and preserving the status quo over the needs of students. Apparently, our legislators do not believe that parents should have the right to decide for themselves what is best for their children.
School choice has worked successfully for many years in cities such as Milwaukee. It could work in Colorado, too. All families who want a choice lost out due to the defeat of this bill, but low-income families are the ones who have lost the most. Our legislators are denying families the freedom to choose good education. It is ironic that in a "free" society, families do not have educational freedom. Parents, not the state, know what is best for their child.
Sarah Goving Parker
Unborn are individuals
For those Catholics who may have any doubts about the evil of abortion, for those women who might say, "It's my body and why shouldn't I have the right to choose," please think, really think, about that statement. The word "choose" here really means choosing life or death for someone else. The life being aborted is a completely separate entity. You may be going out to a movie or back to work a few days after the procedure, but the tiny human being that was [aborted]will never be doing those things. He or she will never have the chance to experience childhood, friendship, love, or parenthood. Who knows what unexpected potential may have been fulfilled in that life? We don't have the right to dispose of the unwanted, whether they be unborn infants, the aged or chronically ill, or anyone else we consider to be an unacceptable burden, an obstacle standing in the way of our own well-being or happiness. As Catholics [we] believe that God instills an immortal soul into each life He creates, and in the sanctity of that life. You already know the truth in your heart.
Joan C. Kelly
North Providence, RI
