Published Friday, September 19, 2008 6:05 AM

Letters for September 19

America needs leaders willing to call on God

Corbet Perkins' letter (Eagle, Sept. 17) is another example how people are grabbing at anything to smear Sarah Palin. He took a statement and twisted it to make the talking points of the liberals.

He wrote, "According to the Associated Press, Palin said the Iraq was is 'a task that is from God.'" What Sarah Palin said was "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."

Twisted people making twisted statements need to be questioned and not accepted as face value.

Our country needs leaders like Sarah Palin who are not ashamed to call on guidance from the Almighty.

JOHNNIE GRIFFIN

Bryan

Clarifying Catholics' belief in life's beginning

Carol Biggs (Eagle, Sept. 11) stated that St. Augustine did not say anything supporting delayed vivification. She accused Marcel LeJeune (Eagle, Sept. 7) of mixing up saints and being a casual reader of history.

Augustine wrote in his Enchiridion that he did not know when a human being begins to live in the womb. But in his On Marriage and Concupiscence, he followed Aristotle's idea of life beginning sometime after conception. Augustine was not a scientist, and he did not have the understanding of genetics that we do today. Today we know that a genetically distinct human is formed at conception.

The Catholic Church has always taught, and the paragraphs of St. Augustine cited above readily agree, that it is wrong to interrupt the generation of human life, from the sexual act until birth, whether by sterilization, contraception or abortion.

It is easy to be confused about what the Catholic Church teaches when notable Catholics such as Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden publicly misrepresent these teachings. Thankfully, U.S. bishops have recently issued a statement of the church's constant teaching of respect for unborn human life. It can be found online at http://www.usccb.org/prolife/constantchurchteaching.shtml. This fact sheet succinctly clarifies the ideas many have stumbled over.

JOSEPH TREMBLAY, '93

College Station

Check out Obama's record in the Senate

Clay Grenwelge (Eagle, Sept. 13) falsely claimed that Obama is "a first-term senator from Illinois who has done nothing while in that position." In fact, Obama has sponsored more successful legislation than McCain during the period when both have been in the U.S. Senate (109th and 110th Congresses).

Obama's success is noteworthy because McCain has much greater seniority in the Senate than Obama.

Also, McCain's party was in the majority for the 109th Congress.

Here are some of the successful bills and amendments Obama sponsored:

* Require a comprehensive nuclear threat reduction and security plan (S.AMDT.2692 to H.R.2764).

* Provide for transparency and accountability in military and security contracting (S.AMDT.3073 to H.R.1585).

* Prohibit deceptive practices in federal elections (S. 453).

* Add $200 million for Function 270 (energy) for the demonstration and monitoring of carbon capture and sequestration technology by the Department of Energy (S.AMDT.599 to S.CON.RES.21).

* Expand the pipeline of individuals entering the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields to support United States innovation and competitiveness (S.AMDT.923 to S.761).

For a list of the successful bills and amendments sponsored by Obama and McCain, see http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014705.php

JULIANNE GARRARD

College Station

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