Year: 2010

On
Fr. Don Lange

Appreciated article on importance of farm safety

To the editor:

Jim Massey’s article entitled “Take Extra Safety Precautions During Harvest” (Catholic Herald, September 23, 2010) was timely. I have never lived on a farm, and I don’t claim to be a farmer. However, the article touched me because I grew up in a rural area.

Farm children and adults were my friends, classmates, and neighbors. I vividly recall persons whom our family knew who were in farm accidents. My grandpa had missing fingers from a farm accident. My mother often described the pain he suffered during damp weather.

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On
Jerome Joyce

Deal with immigrants by enforcing labor laws

To the editor:

Tony Magliano’s column, “Immigration reform needed” (Catholic Herald, September 16, 2010), is correct on many points, but falls short on one of them. In his article he repeats the worn-out phrase that immigrants perform the work that Americans won’t. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There are thousands of jobs that are being performed by Americans on a daily basis that are not only undesirable but downright dangerous. Jobs, such as foundry work, powerhouses, shipyards, oil fields, etc. — most of which are covered by union contracts and state and federal health and safety regulations that make them attractive to an adventurous few.

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On
Mary C. Uhler, editor

Let’s form our own ‘humane society’ to protect babies

Editorial logo

When we think of respecting all human life, we usually start with pre-born life in the womb. Naturally that should be the beginning of our focus, since that’s where all human beings begin their existence.

Just ask expectant parents these days. They often talk about their unborn baby by name (for example, our son and his wife have chosen a name for their second daughter, who is due in December). Parents also see ultrasounds of their children in the womb and it’s obvious to them — as it should be to everybody — that this is a baby. Birth is just one stage in the development of that new little person.

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On
Deacon Jack Fernan

The last train to Dachau

In Your Name by Deacon Jack

Recently, the national head of a pro-life group spoke at a rally. He told of a woman sharing with him the story of the last train-load of prisoners arriving in Dachau after World War II had ended. The Jewish and other prisoners on this last train (and all who were in the neighborhood of the tracks of the concentrations camp) were filled with fear.

The soldiers were gone. The local police had run away. And the villagers, still affected by the horrors of recent years, were immobilized by fear.

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