Catholics should not leave church over abuse charges

Catholics should not leave church over abuse charges

The recent revela- tions of the years of sexual abuse by clergy of the dioceses in Pennsylvania have shocked so many people. It’s a horrendous situation and reason for devout Catholics everywhere to feel shame.

However, I do not agree with those Catholics who leave their church and use this as their excuse. The devil is at work, and his biggest target is our Catholic clergy. Even the abused have succumbed to his wiles and fallen away from the church.

The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ and speaking of His church, he said “... and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

Let us stay strong and do His will. Our best defense is the power of prayer. With God, all things are possible.

Mary Ann Kobus, Hubbard

Youngstown safety forces serve, protect the city well

A heartfelt thanks and kudos to the Youngs-town Police Department and Youngstown Fire Department. I recently had an emergency with my elderly dog. None of my close neighbors was home to help, and I was at my wit’s end.

I called the dog warden after 6 p.m. and no one answered. I then called Youngstown police, explained the problem and the officer was so nice and understanding though he said he wasn’t sure they could help. But he said he’d try and would call me back.

Meantime, one of my neighbors came home. I ran to his house and he was able to rescue her and resolve the situation. Luckily, she wasn’t injured and I took her to the vet to have her checked.

Just when I brought my dog into the house, the Youngstown Police Department officer called back and said the Fire Department would come to help. I thanked him and told him a neighbor came home and safely rescued her.

Thank God for our Youngs-town Police and Fire departments. They serve and protect and put their lives on the line every day. They are human and caring and have a good heart for anyone in distress.

Terry Gallagher, Youngstown

Ohioans should oppose bailout of FirstEnergy

Independence comes at a heavy price. Since the nation’s founding, men and women in our armed forces have sacrificed much for our freedoms and quality of life.

Our appetite for energy makes us vulnerable nationally and in Ohio. Our dependence on foreign sources of energy keeps the threat of war on our doorstep.

We are threatened right here at home, as well. FirstEnergy continues to lobby Ohio legislators to pass legislation that would give FirstEnergy a massive bailout for their Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants in Ohio – even after its subsidiary and owner of the plants filed for bankruptcy. If the bailout is approved, First-Energy customers will have to pay for this massive bailout and will see their electric bills jump.

Additionally, the bailout could kill jobs, and drive investment and tax revenues out of Ohio. It threatens jobs and tax revenues from the new natural-gas fueled power plants. If the bailout drives away private investment in natural gas fueled power plants, it will also drive away the thousands of jobs required to build these plants, and millions in new tax revenues from these plants. A bailout of FirstEnergy is a threat to Ohio’s energy security.

We must elect candidates who support energy policies that will lead us to self-sufficiency and by doing so free ourselves from importing energy from countries that don’t share our values or best interests.

As a veteran I know energy independence plays a huge role in our national security. It will keep our sons and daughters in uniform off foreign soil.

John Williams, Youngstown

Good reasons to vote Dem: evangelicals and NAFTA

How about these evangelicals! Did you happen to see where an evangelical minister told his flock that God told him to get a jet plane worth $25 million? Do you think his flock will chip in and get it for him? Oh, yeah! They’ll get out their checkbooks and send him their Social Security checks, too. Do you remember Jim and Tammy Baker with their pure gold faucets and their limousines? You would think that people would say to themselves, “What in the heck am I doing? These people are crooks.”

Evangelicals control the Republican Party and played a huge role in electing Donald Trump as president. What- ever happened to separation of church and state? When will Americans wake up to the fact that Christian leaders embrace a man who pays off porn stars and brags about how he grabs women “by the -----”!

On to another subject: The North American Free Trade Agreement negotiators were making progress on major changes that labor wanted and corporate America opposed. That was enough for Speaker Paul Ryan and the House Republican leadership. Ryan (thank God he’s getting out) abruptly announced that there would be a deadline or a final deal, May 17. He picked that date because he knew that it could not be met. Nice guy that Paul Ryan! What he did was guarantee another year of NAFTA’s job outsourcing for corporate America.

Once again Ryan and his corporate-owned Republicans buddies would stick it to working Americans to protect their big corporate donors. I have opposed NAFTA since its inception because of what it would do to American manufacturing and what it has done is cause the shutting down or moving offshore of over 50,000 American factories and close to 2 million good paying jobs were lost.

I think it should be repealed but if it is changed in the United States’ favor that would be good. That’s why we need to take back the house and senate. “Vote Democrat.”

Bud McKelvey, Hermitage, Pa.

Bullying kids, fawning over Putin unpresidential

We all know some ersion of the schoolyard bully who picks on the weakest kid but runs away when challenged.

Last month, we witnessed a president intimidating 5-year-old Guatemalan refugees, then cowering like a whipped puppy in front of Vladimir Putin.

Our nation deserves a leader who shows compassion to children and strength to dictators, and not the other way around.

Bill Kock, Austintown

Diplomacy needed to avoid nuclear disaster

If it happens, World War III will obviously leave our future generations dumbfounded at the horrible destruction and after-effects of nuclear energy. But they’ll be just as awe-struck at the foolishness of our leaders to let something of that magnitude to occur. The foolishness of a few to sink all of mankind in an inescapable destruction.

This scene is dreadful and dark – and very possible. But a society that continues to be so caught in the moment tends to ignore the consequences of our choices today. So much so that it breeds leaders who are willing to threaten nuclear war publicly and confrontationally.

Threats of this nature make a mockery of all the past and potential victims of nuclear warfare. Really, it’s an affront to human dignity and the sanctity of human life (where are all the anti-abortion evangelicals now?)

Instead of escalating tensions, our leaders should sensibly tread the paths of diplomacy and resolution.

Labeeb Ahmad, North Canton

Labeeb Ahmad is vice chairman of the Muslim Writers Guild of America.