Comments on: Disenfranchisement comes for the archbishop

By: Brigette_Russell

Brigette_Russell — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:10:28 +0000

Any of us are free to sit in on committee meetings and stare pointedly at legislators. It's up to the legislators how they respond. If the Archbishop has sufficient moral authority to make legislators rethink their positions, that doesn't mean he's using tax-exempt Church funds to lobby unconstitutionally, it just means he has a lot of moral authority. You may wish he didn't, but you can't stop him from exercising his civil rights just because he does.

By: Brigette_Russell

Brigette_Russell — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:07:46 +0000

Thanks for the kind words. As the the Church lobbying out of its 501(c)(3), it's not as if the Church was spending money taking out ads and so forth against the death penalty. Archbishop Sheehan and other members of the clergy went to the statehouse to lobby personally, wrote letters and made phone calls — much as you or I or any other citizen is free to do, no matter what church or organization they may belong to.

By: Brigette_Russell

Brigette_Russell — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:03:01 +0000

I'm actually in favor of capital punishment, as you will see if you look at the archive of my past columns.

By: Brigette_Russell

Brigette_Russell — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:10:28 +0000

By: Brigette_Russell

Brigette_Russell — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:07:46 +0000

By: Brigette_Russell

Brigette_Russell — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:03:01 +0000

I'm actually in favor of capital punishment, as you will see if you look at the archive of my past columns.

By: Brigette_Russell

Brigette_Russell — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:10:28 +0000

By: Brigette_Russell

Brigette_Russell — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:07:46 +0000

By: Brigette_Russell

Brigette_Russell — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:03:01 +0000

I'm actually in favor of capital punishment, as you will see if you look at the archive of my past columns.

By: emaetm

emaetm — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 03:22:55 +0000

I applaud Ms. Russell on being one of the few correctly informed persons nowadays who actually knows what the Constitution says and means. She is absolutely correct in her interpretation when she states that the Constitution gives Bishop Sheehan the right to an opinion just like any other U.S. citizen, whether they be Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, atheist, or whatever. As an independent voter AND a Christian, I consider myself an independent thinker and if her fellow Republican (who, it appears, is sadly ignorant of the true meaning of the First Amendment) believes that we “religious-right types” are doing damage to the Republican party, then anyone who believes that had better take a good hard look within themselves because it is THAT attitude that is doing more harm than anything to BOTH parties. It is because of that that I refuse to join any party in which its members are always ready to launch vicious and unfounded attacks on anyone who does not further their agenda (i.e., Sarah Palin). As Americans, especially the younger generations, we need to go back to our history's early original documents and find out what our nation was founded upon and why. Shame on our President, who for one, doesn't seem to know the meaning of Patriotism or love of country, as evidenced in his recent trip abroad. I'm thoroughly disgusted at Democratic voters (many of them Catholics) who only play the religious card when it suits them. They consider themselves “Christians” (as Obama did just to win an election), yet they violate their most sacred principles that they profess to believe when they forget that “Thou shall not kill.” includes helpless unborn babies. So in the name of “change” they go ahead and vote for a President who is actively promoting the cause of Planned Parenthood with its money-grubbing murderous agenda. Furthermore, one who is systematically destroying everything this nation stands for and pushing it toward liberal socialism, while going on the air and convincing the gullible ones that everything he is promoting is what our country needs in order to survive. Don't even let me get started on the Congress! Now, on the subject of gay marriage I happen to agree with Ms. Russell, however on capital punishment I disagree. I don't believe as taxpayers we should support murderers indefinitely or that they be let out to murder again. I'm sure many would think “hypocrite”, but it's not hypocritical when you truly believe in the Word of God in which He Himself instituted capital punishment to be dealt by man, yet forgiveness of sin, when repented of, is His and His alone. As Christians we are taught to love the sinner, but hate the SIN, and we are to forgive our fellow man when he has wronged us. However, as the Bible states, “the soul who sins shall die” (Eze.18:4) and unrepentant sinners shall reap their reward. Now print this, if you DARE.
E. Telles-Martinez