Letters to the editor for April 7

The Pope has got it wrong

I had to chuckle when Pope Francis recently said the Catholic Church will not bless LGBTQ marriages because the Big Guy upstairs cannot condone sin. Talk about passing the buck. How about you tell us what you actually think instead of hiding in the shadow of God?

And here’s the thing: How does a supposedly celibate guy get off saying that other people’s sexual yearnings are not normal or natural? I would argue that true abstinence is in itself an abnormal, unnatural sexual behavior that could easily lead to unhealthy mental or physical outcomes, especially in otherwise healthy young adults.

Queer people are born that way, but religious celibacy is a self-induced mental behavior. And how is having no sex life at all better than actually having one, no matter who it is with, as long as there is love? If celibacy equates to spiritual fulfillment, I would rather die soulless.

The Pope really needs to consider that we are all just human beings who have no control over how our DNA gets put together at birth. And just like we shouldn’t discriminate against people born with physical or cognitive variants from the norm, we also should not discriminate against people born with different gender wiring.

Punishing people such as hermaphrodites with scorn for the way they were born is what evil people or religious zealots do, not caring human beings. Saying that individuals who are somehow different from you are automatically bad is the ultimate human sin.

Steve Shanewise, Olympia

Thank you, Senator Murray

Last week Sen. Patty Murray publicly stated that she would not let the filibuster rules get in the way of passing SB1, the For the People Act. This bill would end dark money in politics, gerrymandering, and most importantly, protect voter’s rights to fair and easy access to voting.

We are witnessing a staggering attack on voters’ rights across our country. It will take courage and reforming the filibuster rules to protect voters. Why hasn’t Sen. Maria Cantwell spoken out as well?

Stephen Cifka, Olympia

Shoreline development at any cost?

The Olympia City Council just froze shoreline regulation for 15 years at the Hardel Plywood site on West Bay to support a massive private luxury housing complex pushed up against our ailing South Puget Sound.

In Washington state, shorelines and their fisheries are a 10,000-year-old public trust resource. Coastlines are so valuable and irreplaceable, we don’t leave them to the whims of private land speculators. Under the Shoreline Management Act, the city council has the power and responsibility to constrain private interests.

The Hardel development agreement is a culmination. Our Shoreline Master Program doesn’t protect ecological functions. Our shoreline restoration plans have no guts or teeth. City Council was poorly prepared to play hardball with a predatory industry. Only council member Clark Gilman sounded the alarm. It was a well-laid trap.

Our local government is persistently groomed by a cabal of land speculators. Our citizens need housing, and that makes us vulnerable to manipulation. Not all deals are good. It is important for citizens and their officials to aggressively protect the public trust. Hardel demonstrates our weakness and passivity.

The council has the power and responsibility to demand stewardship. South Puget Sound is bleeding to death and just took another cut. Leaders cannot hide behind staff or procedure or ignorance or hollow words. You preside over the system, you set the rules, you sign the papers. Stewardship of the commons is a fundamental purpose of local government. We will judge the tree by its fruit.

Paul Cereghino, Olympia