'God is pro-choice'

That was our Archdiocesan newspaper's title for a Sister's letter to the editor. In light of the election then just past, she had put it this way.

Obama may be pro-choice, but so is God.

While this might be equivocally true, by the second subsequent paragraph Sister was revealed to be a less-than-useful idiot.

Yes, abortion is the killing of an innocent human life. So is war and violent killing on the streets. I have often seen many starving babies in hospitals in Honduras and witnessed their pain. In these cases, abortion might have been the lesser of two evils, and even the most merciful alternative.

While on a parish mission trip to Guatemala, I did a rough calculation that abortion at U.S. rates there would have numerically offset the 200,000 orphans from Guatemala's civil war. And yet, somehow, that didn't lead me to Sister's conclusion that some of the kids would be better off dead.

Sister's letter drew plenty of unfavorable responses in the next issue's letters to the editor, including from her religious order's national "leadership team". The issue after that included more critical letters from readers, Sister's apology, and a mea culpa from editor Brian T. Olszewski. Referring to Church teaching on respect for human life, he said

you know that our publication adheres to and enthusiastically promotes that teaching. Through columns and stories, we re-enforce it. That's our job; more importantly, that's our mission.

Presumably that also applies to the rest of Church teaching, as well.

P.S. I've heard the paper has a website re-design in the works. Maybe it will start posting the letters feature online.

[Milwaukee Catholic Herald,
November 27, 2008,
December 4, 2008,
and December 11, 2008]