The Church of the Sacred Heart of Mary of Boulder is making headlines across the state and nation for recent vandalism. Your opinion ?

The vandalism of the Sacred Heart certainly proves that the political right does not have the monopoly of the madman.

There should be nothing wrong with a religious organization displaying its opinion on abortion. As a Catholic parish, Sacré-Cœur believes that conception creates souls and that ending their lives is wrong. So bad, in their eyes, that it overrides a woman’s right to autonomy over her own body. Disagreeing with this position does not give anyone the right to destroy property or intimidate the silent display of this opinion.

Crazy people like that don’t help their cause. They don’t engender sympathy, even when you agree with their position. Who wants to be associated with cowardly vandals working under the cover of darkness?

I understand the frustration of the potential for restricted access to abortion. It’s happened in Texas and other states before. The goal appears to be a re-judgment of the Roe v. Decision. Wade by the Supreme Court, now that pro-life advocates believe they could have a majority on the bench. I am not a lawyer, but the constitutional right to abortion, based on the 14th Amendment due process clause providing for a right to privacy, seems fragile.

The Supreme Court interprets our laws based on the constitution and it seems conceivable that a reinterpretation does not find the right to abortion. Yet the overwhelming majority of the country believes in at least some access to abortion. In the unlikely event of an overthrow, Congress is expected to pass legislation approximating the current state of the ruling under Roe v. Wade. A constitutional amendment explicitly enumerating the right to abortion (a huge lift) should not be necessary.

But we must behave within the legal framework which has allowed our country to evolve considerably over the past 250 years. We should allow all opinions to be heard and decide based on our reasoning and beliefs. Vandalism only diffuses an inability to reasonably argue your position.

Bill Wright, [email protected]

It’s completely outdated at this point to observe that our country is deeply polarized, but we are, and tensions seem to be increasing as the pandemic continues. It seems to me that we as a nation are grappling with the very meaning of freedom right now. On the one hand, people believe that freedom means the ability to refuse to work in unsafe conditions for unbearable pay, to live free from police harassment and brutality, and to grow their families according to their own needs. own conditions. On the other hand, people believe that freedom means the ability to infect others with a communicable disease and to carry deadly weapons wherever they see fit.

Snark aside, I think people on both sides really feel that some of their dearest freedoms are being attacked, and some people are expressing their frustrations in extreme ways. Some vandalize churches and public monuments; others storm school council meetings (or the Capitol). I distinguish between property damage and attempting to disrupt or overthrow a government agency using brute force. One is bad, but the other is a traitor. Yet we must examine the root causes of all these acts of protest. We have to consider why people feel so little heard that they resort to criminal acts to get their message across.

Most of these protests seem to be motivated by the feeling that our institutions (county clerks, school boards, churches) are abusing their powers. Church vandals likely believe the church is abusing its power by engaging in political discourse on the subject of abortion, which is illegal due to its tax-exempt status. I don’t agree with the vandalism, but I agree with the sentiment. Churches have a place in guiding the moral development of their members, but when the moral message goes beyond the words spoken in the pulpit and begins to take the form of a political discourse visible to the public, it crosses a line. . We need to make sure that all of our institutions respect the rules in a transparent manner.

Jane Hummer, [email protected]

I have already said it on these pages, but property damage and violence are the least effective ways of creating effective political power for your cause. In fact, it will likely do more harm than good and allow your opponents to use the almost infinite power of the state, and possibly state sanctioned violence, to delegitimize and quash your resistance. There are much better ways to protest anti-choice protests than vandalism, especially since nearly 80% of Americans (according to the latest Gallup poll) agree with you and support some form of access. to legal abortion. Clearly, the Catholic Church and other anti-choice / anti-healthcare groups are in the minority on this issue and wield far more political power than they rightly deserve.

Every human being has the right to seek safe and effective health care for himself; especially when this health care does not endanger the public. This includes the right of women to seek abortion whenever they want and the right of trans people to seek health care that confirms their gender (another right under attack by the political right). Everyone understands that a fetus is created during conception, but when you balance the rights of the woman against the rights of the fetus, the woman comes out on top.

It’s surprising to me that more people aren’t on the streets protesting the Texas abortion bill that takes sweeping action to ban 6 week abortions and allows individuals to sue anyone who helps an abortion. abortion for $ 10,000 in damages. The law was authorized by the United States Supreme Court and recently again by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and effectively ended abortions in the state of Texas – a state which has nearly 10% of the population. American population. If you are mad at this law, you might want to start talking about it.

This is what the Catholic Church and anti-choice / anti-health care groups understand; that getting things done in our government doesn’t end on election day, that is when it begins. We must constantly put pressure on our legislatures and our judges whom we oversee and whose actions have political and human consequences.

Doug Hamilton, [email protected]

Vandalism is not acceptable. Destruction of property is not acceptable. Criminal mischief, trespassing, bias-motivated crimes and property damage are not acceptable. Hate does not agree. So no, the graffiti and other damage to the Sacred Heart of Mary was not going well.

If this vandalism were perpetrated by Catholics during family planning, this vandalism would also be bad. Sadly, the acts at this particular church are part of a series of several other attacks involving graffiti and destruction of property that have been taking place since 2020 across the United States. What does this solve? How does this help? Do those who spray-painted the building and punctured the tires expect the congregation to suddenly become pro-choice? If anything, it probably reinforces their pro-life beliefs, doesn’t it?

Beyond all of this, this vandalism does not help combat the forces that actually work against the pro-choice side. Although there are Catholics in government, they are not the whole of government. There are many other Christian faiths and denominations that are staunchly pro-life. There are many other ways to protest organizations, views, and perspectives that you might disagree with. I feel like the vandals just found the easiest and most accessible target to express their anger and followed it. I wish they had funneled that energy into calling on their representatives to advocate for the pro-choice vote instead! This is the kind of action we need from passionate people.

Wouldn’t it be nice to read the headlines about people in our community making change rather than committing crimes? Having said that, there really is no other way to decide this. Vandalism, for whatever reason, is unproductive and harmful.

Emily Walsh, [email protected]