Religious reasoning

Re “The Catholic choice,” Opinion, Aug. 27

It would seem logical to say that any Catholic -- Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Tim Rutten -- who “is prepared to accept” the Catholic Church’s teaching that life begins at conception while supporting Roe vs. Wade because for now it “ ‘is as close as we’re going to be able to get as a society’ to accommodating all religious views” -- is really saying something else.

That something else is: I believe life begins at conception, but it’s OK to continue the killing of unborn children to accommodate everyone.

Abortion is murder. No amount of spin can change the fact that Catholic teaching is precise and clear on the subject.

We can accept or reject this fact through our free will. We can continue to kill innocent human life because we refuse to accept moral clarity.

Angelo P. Calfo

Thousand Oaks

Supposedly the Catholic position on abortion is but part of a seamless garment of life that also includes general opposition to the death penalty.

Prelates such as Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput should be as ready to deny communion to pro-death-penalty Catholic politicians as they are to deny it to the pro-choice. But in practice, the seamless garment is held together by the Velcro of political convenience.

I experienced this reality a few months ago at my niece’s graduation from a Catholic high school. When the invited speaker, Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco, included death penalty convictions in his list of accomplishments, not a whiff of condemnation was heard from either the leadership of the school or from the bishop of San Bernardino.

What I witnessed was the reality of American Catholicism in its modern independence and diversity. It isn’t buying into the politicized manipulations of Pat Buchanan and Archbishop Chaput.

Larry Hernandez

Upland