Letters to the Editor | Oct. 31, 2024

Our parish priest reminded us this weekend that we will continue to be spiritually blind until we see “the other” as our sister and brother. This helped me to see that many Jewish and Palestinian people do not see each other as a brother or sister and that many Russian and Ukrainian people are not now able to see each other as brother or sister. And on our own soil, many Americans for centuries did not or do not see Native Americans, African Americans, and others as our sisters and brothers. And now we are being encouraged to be blind to seeing our immigrant communities as our sisters and brothers. We humans seem to allow our fears, our past grievances and prejudices, and lies told to us to perpetuate our spiritual blindness. Lord, help us to see.

William Mattia, Pennsauken

I recently watched the movie Cabrini and was struck by the relevance of a story set in the early 19th century to our world today. Having been raised Catholic, I was most struck by St. Frances Xavier Cabrini’s words to the powerful senator: “At the hour of our death, we will be asked one question: What did we do for the sick, for the homeless, for those stripped of dignity?”

That powerful call to put our faith into action is as relevant today as it ever was. Will those of us who claim to be people of faith, through our actions, strip the dignity from our fellow human beings? Will we traumatize children, will we support the spread of hate and division? Or, as our faith compels us to do, will we speak out against bigotry and fearmongering, will we stand in solidarity with those who are being attacked and marginalized?

There was another poignant moment in the movie when Mother Cabrini met with previous immigrants whose ancestors had faced the same type of dehumanizing attacks on their dignity and worth and called upon them to respond. They rose to that challenge and provided support to those in need at the time. The question for all of us in 2024 is, what will we do?

Joan McConnon, Springfield, joandmcconnon@gmail.com

The Inquirer’s presidential endorsement describes many crucial tasks for the next president. The long list must be extended to include the need for the president to prevent nuclear war, the most immediate existential threat facing humanity. The nuclear threat is increasing rapidly. The Ukraine and Middle East wars may lead to nuclear use, the last U.S.-Russia arms treaty will soon expire, nuke arsenals are increasing, and more nations seek to develop nukes.

In addition, the job of president requires daily management of approximately 1,000 nukes on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched within an hour to counter an attempted disarming first strike. This decision to launch is worsened by a history of multiple false alerts of incoming missiles, false alarms that will grow with the increasing military use of artificial intelligence. As part of the first-use policy of the United States, the president has independent authority to initiate a nuclear war. Voters — and the news media — must question the candidates on their plans to prevent nuclear war and identify the leader more likely to manage the nuclear threat effect, while moving the world toward abolition of these most dangerous weapons.

James Muller and John Pastore, Boston

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