Starlight, star bright

Re: Forgiveness is the greatest miracle (July 22-29):

Fr. Rolheiser states that “the miracle” of a starlit night sky “goes mostly unnoticed; we watch television instead.”

Deeper reasons for this may be involved. Humans spill so much light into the sky that few of our present generation have ever experienced what the natural night sky looks like. Most of the lighting industry displays a stunning indifference to this issue. And the amount of  “light-pollution” continues to increase by about six per cent annually in most places.

Sleeping in insufficient darkness suppresses our immune systems. Artificial light disrupts the life-cycles of insects, birds, amphibians and other animals. Many people think responsibility for our environment is a religious issue and light-pollution is certainly included in this. Does your porchlight shine upward?

James LaFramboise,

Thornhill, Ont.

One of my favourite bloopers from a church bulletin reads like this: “Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.” 

After Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trials and convictions, Canada’s great comedian Norm Macdonald delivered a piercing bit about public refusal to acknowledge the heinousness of the crimes.

By categorically rejecting the death penalty, the Church has finally removed an unsettling contradiction to its teaching that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death. 

It was a made-in-Ontario experiment based on a concept put forth by such thinkers as Conservative Canadian Hugh Segal and American free-market advocate Milton Friedman: a basic income guarantee, something like Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement. 

Like too many baby boomers, I probably spend too much time on Facebook. The other day, a friend posted a short video from a Lutheran pastor in the United States with this simple note: “This makes a lot of sense.”

Awful, disgusting, horrifying, sickening — one runs out of adjectives in describing the actions of abusive priests chronicled in the just-released Pennsylvania grand jury report.

Setting record straight

Re: Standing on guard for life (July 22-29):

Your recent story about Fr. Tony Van Hee’s long vigil on Parliament Hill made reference to an incident during which I, then a Member of Parliament, attempted to remove a sign he was holding. I want to clarify what led to that exchange.   

As he confirmed, I always supported Fr. Van Hee’s right to speak out on the abortion issue, including defending him when efforts were made to remove him from the Hill. The sign he was holding that day, however, did not refer to abortion. It attacked gay people, equating us with pedophiles. 

I had told him I found that sign deeply offensive, and asked him to remove it. I had every right not to be confronted by such abusive words as I entered Parliament.

Despite our deep differences, I have always believed passionately in our constitutionally protected rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and I always treated Fr. Van Hee with dignity and respect, which was always reciprocated. His incredible commitment to his beliefs over more than 30 years is to be applauded, and I was pleased to read the article in The Catholic Register telling his remarkable story.

Svend Robinson (MP 1979-2004),

Limassol,  Cyprus

By the time this scribbling reaches publication online and in print, our long summer journey will be more than half completed.

Jesus told His apostles who had just returned from a missionary trip, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while” (Mark 6:31).