Open Letter To Covington High

Dear Mr. Rowe,

I grew up in the church. Both of my parents went to Catholic school, my dad until 9^th grade and my mom all the way through grade 12. My cousin is Bishop William Winter of Pittsburgh, and my cousin married not only my parents, but all of my aunts and uncles, and at the age of 90 made a special appearance at my sister’s wedding on the alter. The priest who married my sister played high school football with my brother, and his parents, who are active in many Catholic causes, live next door to my parents in my hometown. My grandparents attended church two times a week and said the rosary daily until they passed away. Not only did I grow up respecting God and the church, but being Catholic was and still is very much a part of my fabric.

When I saw Mr. Nick Sandmann taunt Nathan Phillips I was horrified not only as a person, but as a Catholic. Nick Sandmann does not represent the Catholic Church I knew growing up. The church I grew up in prayed for the family of the fallen  Yitzhak Rabin, because despite having a different faith than us he still fought for peace in a war torn region. We prayed for the family of Matthew Shepherd, because the way he was murdered was ghastly, inhumane, and a hate crime. We also adopted a refugee family from Croatia, as the former Yugoslavia was at the time a battleground and many were dying. In taking in this family we did advocate "building a wall." In fact, our church was doing the opposite. 

 We were taught Catholic meant universal, and that the gift of being Catholic was you could go into a church anywhere and see Catholics of all shapes, sizes, and colors and have something in common. Ethnicity and color were no factor, and we were taught that it was acceptable for churches overseas to have Jesus's that were non-white, but also welcome. My elders in the Catholic Church emphasized treating all people with dignity regardless of whether they were like me or not. It was the Golden Rule, do onto others as they would do on to you. Both my grandfathers were not only good Catholics, but veterans who served their country in World War II in the South Pacific. I was taught to respect not only my elders, but all veterans as they sacrificed for our country. 

Sadly it appears this is not a part of the curriculum at Covington.  

Our priest did teach us about evil though. He sad it was afraid, egotistical, stupid and ultimately pathetic. The young man who got into the face of Nathan Phillips was all these things and so much more. I will not say his name as he does not deserve to be acknowledged let alone remembered, as his actions were the low road and Mr. Phillips took the high road in the face of true evil and hate. Actually, this tale reads like a Jesus parable. Ironically these kids were part of The March For Life effort, but these kids don't respect life at all, period. 

I am the oldest female cousin of 26 cousins and have worked as a teaching artist. When I see terrible behavior from young people, it doesn't speak so much about them but the adults that act as both parents and teachers. I shudder to think what the parents of these young men are like, and I think it's disgusting their chaperones did nothing to stop their vile behavior but instead stood back and did nothing. What turns my stomach most is these young men chanted "Build a wall" and blamed the start of the conflict on a group of black kids. Not only are these kids being taught intolerance, but part of being an adult is taking responsibility for ones own actions. They aren't being taught that either. Apparently the only value they are being taught at Covington is hate. 

While I could call your less than stellar scholar any set of names, it would do us no good. This young man is on a path that leads to no where positive. As Ghandi once said, "An eye for an eye leaves the world blind," and this kid is currently walking in a darkness that is only going to ultimately drag him down. My prayer is he will see the light and learn the error of his ways, as Saul did when he became Paul when God blinded him. They talk about these conversions and miracles in The Bible. You should read it. It's actually a good book when you don't pervert it to your own agenda that includes being a racist hate monger. 

Then again, you don’t seem to be big on reading at Covington. Because if you were, you would know that the white man was the invader and technically, if anyone should have a grievance about building a wall it should have been the indigenous peoples to keep our rape, slavery, and smallpox out. And you would also know the Catholic Church was the biggest presence in colonization, erasure of Native peoples, and the slave trade. But hey, why tell the truth? And why change? 

Just some food for thought.

April Brucker

The Importance of the Women's March to the Pro-Choice Movement

For the longest time, there has been March For Life. As a kid, the youth group of my church constantly went. We were beat over the head with the evils of abortion and how it destroyed the family. Priests preached at length about how the baby was killed during partial birth, and the Clinton's were monsters for supporting it. Abortion was murder, end of story.

At the age of 10, I gave out the white ribbons. I also helped design a cross in my Sunday School class as a monument to a soul killed to abortion. This whole debate was black and white. Abortionist doctors were bad. Women who got abortions were evil. The babies were angels. There was no talk of the father who flew the coup or the abusive husband who forced her into a pregnancy.

As I got older, I saw friends of mine get pregnant as teenagers. The Christian Right in my area pushed sex ed with religious speakers preaching for us to abstain from pre-marital sex. That was as effective as a band aid on a bullet wound. My high school had the highest pregnancy rate in the area as a matter of fact.

Some of these girls had support, but many struggled. The social stigma at school was horrendous. Some dropped out because they couldn't work, watch their kid, and go to school. The teen dad always cut and run, and he seldom had a job so garnishing the wages were out of the question. Most of the pro-life zealots were also white men who preached God, but wanted to cut the social programs to help these women.

The older I got, the more I realized it was a woman's body and it was her choice. She has to have the baby, and for the most part a man is just a sperm donor and jockey in the equation. There are men who do the right thing, but there are many who don't. Yet the world punishes the woman. Adoption should be an option and is a wonderful one. There are people willing to take kids as their own who aren't blessed with the ability, but you need the birth father's signature in some states and others make it difficult. And religious adoption agencies won't give to same sex couples who will gladly give that child a good, safe home.

For years, as I shed the conservative skin of my youth, I cringed when I saw March For Life. This wasn't a march for the unborn or the poor women in trouble. This was a march for the patriarchy to take control of my body. This was a march for bored white law makers who were obsessed with my uterus.

I realized if a woman had an abortion she always felt like she was the worst person ever. I realized if a woman gave her child up for adoption she always lost sleep wondering if the kid had a good life. I realized if a woman kept the kid she was forced on welfare most of the time and felt cheated out of what her life could have been. There are no winners here, and white male lawmakers fail to realize that.

That being said, for years Pro-Choice had no counter protest. Now we do. With every protest there is always a counter protest, or at least there should be. March For Life has their day, and we have ours. If anything, Trump made Pro-Choice activists mobilize in a way we never have before. Yes, one side believes my stance is morally wrong, and I believe their stance hurts women and children.

Despite my strong beliefs I have friends who are pro-life. We do not disagree on everything. For instance, we all agree most people overlook adoption and it should be easier for people who want to adopt to adopt. We also think there need to be social programs to help single mothers finish school so they aren't always dependent on welfare, and those programs shouldn't be cut. Because not only can they get educated, but their children don't continue the cycle by becoming teen parents themselves. Lastly, we all agree the court needs to come down harder on dead beat dads.

The March For Life and The Women's March are both important events. While I don't agree with pro-life completely, both need to continue to occur so the dialogue can happen. That way, women can make an informed decision as to what they want to do with their bodies without government interference. That the choice they make will be a safe one with the proper medical care.

And it will be the best one for the mother and child, whatever that choice might be.

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