Ky. clerk, the pope and confessions
Kim Davis’ official responsibility dynamic has now reached a papal level. She was jailed for refusing to accept the responsibilities of her office — to issue marriage licenses to all who qualify. No one disputes her personal right to object to same-sex persons seeking a license. But most cannot condone retaining a public position supported by taxpayers when avoiding duties to which she swore or agreed to perform. So the salvation she seeks is because she had personal contact with Pope Francis. Obviously, it was not a confession, since she made it public.
What was not revealed until recently was the pope’s meeting with his former student Yayo Grassi. What is significant is, that get-together was arranged before the pope came to the U.S. — and he was aware his former pupil was gay. It is obvious that encounter, which included Mr. Grassi’s partner, was more convivial than the meeting with Ms. Davis. It is to the pope’s credit that he demonstrates attention to persons of differing orientations as well as ex-prisoners.
STANLEY HARRIS JR., SAVANNAH
Gun restrictions won’t deter killers
The current outcry for additional limits on firearm sales purports guns as an explanation for the propensity to murder. However, unjustified homicide is a wanton act; it has no inherent intelligibility. The evilness of the callous murderer is always marked by detachment from the reasonableness of self-conscious intellect, the sanctions of the justice system, the social ethic of the common good, and the religious principle of charity. Certainly, the horror of hideous murders stirs misgivings and inflames passions.
Cobbling another gun control regulation may assuage the pang to aberrant violence, but its practical application affects those already disposed to lawful action; it is not an antidote to the underlying disorder of malevolence that chortles at such efforts.
CLIFFORD P. WILSON, CUMMING
Obama should stop EITC tax fraud
According to a recent Government Accountability Office report, “In fiscal year 2014, the Internal Revenue Service reported program payments of $65.2 billion for the Earned Income Tax Credit. IRS estimated that 27.2 percent, or $17.7 billion, of these program payments were improper.” Most of the Earned Income Tax Credit fraud would disappear if before the payment was issued, the IRS was required to match the W-2 income claimed on returns to the amounts filed by the companies that issued the W-2s. That is not currently the case, and all it requires is an executive order. Where is Mr. Obama’s famous pen?
THOMAS E. DANNEMILLER JR., ALPHARETTA
