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Letters from 6 to 12 February 2006

Like all letters to the editor everywhere, these letters are the opinions of the writers and not Anglicans Online. We publish letters that we think will be of interest to our readers, whether we agree with them or not. If you'd like to write a letter of your own, click here.

Help for Type 2s

Thank you for your editorial about blood giving/transfusion. I only wish that I could join the ranks of blood donors, but alas I am not allowed to — I am type 2, adult onset, diabetic, and giving blood (in the UK at least) is not permitted for such people. I confess to being not clear why this is the case.

Can you, or any of your readers, suggest a way in which I might help other people in a way similar to way in which blood donors can?

Canon Ralph Mallinson
St. George, Unsworth, Bury
Bury, Lancs, ENGLAND
ralphandhelen@rmallinson.fsnet.co.uk
6 February 2006

Note: If you can assist Canon Mallinson, email him directly at ralphandhelen@rmallinson.fsnet.co.uk.

The two cultures

Regarding James Blake Thomas' letter of February 5, what he says is beautifully true. My father is a nuclear physicist and has often said to folks who asked him what he thought about the big bang and faith versus science, "Let's see, God said 'Let there be light, and there was light.' How much bigger of a bang could you have?" He has also observed that the tools of science and the tools of faith are very different things. Working on one with the tools of the other makes about as much sense as tuning an automobile engine with a carpenter's saw.

Bill Curnutte
All Saints' Church
Portsmouth, Ohio, USA
bill@prodigalson.us
6 February 2006

Dividing lines

Congratulations for supporting blood donation, adiaphora or not. Sadly, the Red Cross will not allow me to donate, also because of another adiaphora that troubles the church too much — the fact that I am gay.

Brian McKinlay
St. Philip's Anglican, O'Connor
Canberra, AUSTRALIA
6 February 2006

'Incarnational meaning'

Thanks for donating blood. Three years ago I had a "routine" women's operation and bled out after popping a stitch. Five units of someone else's life force assisted my recovery. I am still pondering the incarnational meaning of it, and am awed and grateful for those who "laid down their life" that way for me.

Lisa Bentz
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
lbentz@usa.net
7 February 200

A Good Friday tradition

A further thought to add to your blood donation meditation: I have a parisioner, a woman in her early seventies, who makes a point of donating blood every year on Good Friday. She says that Jesus gave his blood for her, so why shouldn't she give her blood to honor him and and help someone else. The first time she told me this it quite took my breath away!

The Rev. Victoria Geer McGrath
All Saints', Millington, New Jersey
Chatham, New Jersey, USA
allstsmill@hotmail.com
7 February 2006

We launched our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All of our letters are in our archives.