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Letters from 11 to 17 September 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.

Dear Sir: You may be right.*

As a regular reader, and a Christian who has (unofficially) leapt the Tiber for the Thames, I too was disturbed by the use of "hatemongers" in a recent frontpage piece. A disclaimer here: the Ahmanson/Scaife right-wing crowd find no favor with me, and I am in the great moderate middle ground. I thought your response to one critical letter was a bit smug.

In a world beset with war, suffering, famine and disease, our focus in North America seems lost, beset with sexuality issues at the expense, it seems, of the larger reality. The words of Rowan Williams were a most eloquent retort to such navel gazing and shoddy (absent?) theology. Perhaps, as much as I like AO, the editors ought to rethink their own views, when a primate of great faith, intellectual depth and integrity urges North America to slow down and reflect.

John F. Morrison
Babylon, New York, USA
11 September 2006

*Text on a postal card printed by George Bernard Shaw and sent to those who criticized some aspect of his writings.

We will be visiting our first Episcopal Church on September 17. We're considering leaving the Lutheran Church. We were wondering: What position does the Anglican Church take with respect to the issue of abortion? Thanks!

Suzie and Frank
Currently attending a Lutheran Church
Schaumburg, Illinois (near Chicago) USA
17 September 2006

(Ed. note: From the official Episcopal Church site: 'In 1994, the 71st General Convention of the Episcopal Church reaffirmed that all human life is sacred from its inception until death and that all abortion is regarded as having a tragic dimension. "While we acknowledge that in this country it is the legal right of every woman to have a medically safe abortion," the resolution stated, "as Christians we believe strongly that if this right is exercised, it should be used only in extreme situations. We emphatically oppose abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection, or any reason of mere convenience."')

Earlier letters

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