Letters to the Editor | June 26, 2023

Wait, at Philadelphia High School for Girls, dancing across the stage denies you a diploma? That’s ridiculous. My nephew just graduated from Temple Law School, and a third of the graduates danced, got silly, and were just ecstatic and happy across the stage as they received their law degrees. When my son graduated from Springfield Township High School, one of his classmates did a backflip off the stage. The audience loved it and roared with laughter and applause. Graduation is a time of celebration, laughter, and yes — dancing! If it were my daughter, I’d be furious. It’s an outrageous and unnecessary squelching of happiness, which is just what young people need right now.

Claire Gawinowicz, Oreland

I recently traveled to Normandy for the commemoration of D-Day. In my experience, Americans are sometimes viewed in Europe as materialistic, crass, brash, and unlovable. But today’s citizens of Normandy — most of whom were not alive during the Nazi occupation — were aware of and grateful for the role played by the U.S. in saving the world from the scourge of fascism and Nazism. American flags flew proudly alongside French ones, and today’s soldiers in uniform were honored everywhere as successors to the brave World War II liberators.

While extremely proud of the courage and determination of fellow Americans to sacrifice for the cause of democracy back then, I could not help but dwell on the dangers we face now. That some promote the rule of one man, rather than the rule of law. That book burning, intolerance, and punishment of political enemies are welcomed by a large segment of our population. Democracy demands respectful and informed participation from the people. We must all work together to ensure that the values for which our brave soldiers fought and died for overseas triumph over the threats we face here at home.

Meg Berlin, Philadelphia, megberlin271@gmail.com

So Philly schools plan to consider mandatory lessons about Juneteenth? What’s to consider? Before I retired, I taught a college course on the struggle for civil rights. Juneteenth was part of the curriculum. I looked back at my notes and found this about the day in 1865, when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free: “For generations, Black Americans have recognized the end of one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history with joy, in the form of parades, street festivals, musical performances, cookouts.” It took the government 156 years to embrace this historic event and to declare Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021. It’s about time for Philly schools.

Marie Conn, Hatboro

It does no good to talk about how an overwhelming number of people favor commonsense gun legislation, or the power of the gun lobby, or so-called “cowardly” politicians who are “afraid to stand up to the gun lobby.” Those same politicians know that voting for commonsense gun legislation will only ensure that they have both a primary and a general election opponent wetting his or her whistle. So before you blame the politicians, ask yourself this: Are you willing to go to work tomorrow and do something that you know will get you fired?

There is only one way to get the kind of gun legislation needed, and that will require leadership and courage. A presidential candidate must make gun reform the issue in the campaign and endorse candidates who stand with him or her, be they Republican or Democrat. That candidate must put it to the American people bluntly: “I know that in the past, gun reform legislation was not at the top of your list when looking at candidates, but it must be now. You are probably not going to get another chance. Maybe you vote on privacy rights, taxes, inflation, or any of a host of other issues. I’m asking you to put them aside this one time and let’s have a show of hands to get meaningful gun legislation accomplished. If you can’t or won’t do that, then well, my friends, thoughts and prayers, thoughts and prayers.”

Fred Dugan, Plymouth Meeting

The Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council was honored to have been chosen by Gov. Josh Shapiro and Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll to lead the critically important rebuild of the collapsed section of I-95 caused by the catastrophic gasoline truck crash and fire of June 11 that cost the driver, Nathan Moody, his life. We mourn his loss and send sincerest condolences to his grieving family. As the governor said at our joint news conference on June 14, this rebuild was an “all hands on deck” crisis, which is why the Philadelphia building trades unions literally worked around the clock to repair the damaged sections of I-95.

We guarantee it because our members are the best-trained, most skilled craftsmen and craftswomen in the entire construction industry. In selecting Buckley & Co. as the project’s general contractor, PennDot chose a trusted, longtime partner of the building trades that has a proven track record of expertise and success. We Philadelphians are the toughest, most resilient people anywhere. Working together, we got the job done as quickly and safely as possible.

Ryan N. Boyer, business manager, Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council

. . .

My son and his partner have lived in Pittsburgh since 2020, so I have been most interested in all things Pennsylvania since that time. I was completely heartened to hear that I-95 was going to be available so soon after the damage on June 11. How is this possible? I want to acknowledge the amazing effort of the workers who made this happen. These are workers Pennsylvania can be justly proud of.

Gail Robillard, San Pedro, Calif.

. . .

Reopening I-95 in only two weeks is an incredible accomplishment. The plan required designing both the temporary and permanent bridges; manufacturing and procuring all the necessary materials; hiring and coordinating construction contractors and a crew of hard hat workers; obtaining all the necessary permits, government permissions, and financing, and on and on. The people involved certainly had a “can-do” attitude. What they did is not only a fantastic feat but also a worthy example for others to follow. Every day we are swamped with plenty of negative, headshaking news. This story should make every American proud and optimistic. Thank you to the I-95 reconstruction team.

Paul Gallo, Barre, Mass.

Both Hunter Biden and Donald Trump have benefited from their families’ money, stature, and influence. While their cushy backgrounds may be similar, their legal woes are like apples and oranges — different not just in the nature of the transgressions, but in how each has responded. Biden is a recovering substance abuser, pulling himself out of a cycle of addiction and who, as part of his recovery, has admitted to his actions and is taking responsibility. Trump is addicted to himself. He is not in recovery and refuses to admit culpability.

Worse are the Republicans who show the depth of their heartlessness, showing no empathy or understanding of the struggles of a recovering substance abuser while mindlessly and wholeheartedly supporting an unrepentant sexual abuser. Biden pleads guilty, owns up, and pays up. Trump doubles down and denies while choosing to attack the integrity of our political and justice systems to escape any accountability. One response speaks of planting new seeds and reaching for new growth, the other to rotting orange fruit.

Deborah DiMicco, Newtown

I don’t understand why there is any commotion in the Vatican concerning LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic Church, as reported in The Inquirer story, “Vatican document highlights need for inclusion.” The catechism lays out the framework for their embracement: They are welcome to the life of the Catholic Church, but the homosexual lifestyle cannot be made manifest in Catholic life. Those who have same-sex attraction are called to be chaste, and the LGBTQ community has to respect the church’s unchanging doctrines. As followers of Christ, the LGBTQ community has the church’s respect. But the Catholic Church cannot rewrite Catholic theology to suit today’s culture, and no pope has the authority to do so. The church cannot dispense any group from adherence to the doctrine of Scripture.

Dan Arthur Pryor, Belvidere

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