Sounding off: Can't be 'pro-life' and not oppose execution

As an ordained Roman Catholic deacon, serving as a chaplain to our incarcerated sisters and brothers in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, I most strongly urge Attorney General William Barr to immediately halt plans for the federal executions of Daniel Lee (July 13), Wesley Purkey (July 15), Dustin Honken (July 17) and Keith Nelson (Aug. 28).

St. John Paul II clearly stated in Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life): “The dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform.”

On a daily basis, within my ministry, I witness God’s powerful graces redeem the lives of men and women whom society judges as unredeemable; even individuals who have committed the most heinous crimes. A church, a society, cannot claim to be “pro-life” and rail against the “culture of death” while at the same time sanctioning the killing of four of God’s children.

Keith G. Kondrich, Swisshelm Park

Looting, defunding, protesting, dividing

Why we should not loot, burn and vandalize businesses: I have owned and operated a small business for 40 years. I have invested many long hours and years of hard work to provide for my family and employees. It matters because small business is the backbone of our economy.

Why we should not defund our police departments: The police put their lives on the line every day for our safety. Who went into burning buildings on 9/11 and patrolled the streets throughout the covid-19 crisis? It matters because you want someone to respond when you call 911.

Why we should have the right to peacefully protest: The First Amendment gives everyone the right to freedom of speech. It matters that black lives are protected and their voices are heard. We need to listen and try to understand other people’s points of view even if they differ from our own.

Why we should end divisiveness in this country immediately: We are all brothers and sisters created equally in God’s image. It matters to be loving, kind and forgiving toward each other. We are all Americans and are blessed to live in the USA, the greatest country on earth.

William Porter, Harrison

Effectiveness of cloth masks

Coronavirus particles are spheres with diameters of approximately 0.125 microns. The smallest are about 0.06 microns and the largest are 0.14 microns. Tobacco smoke as it comes from a cigarette is a concentrated aerosol with a size distribution ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 microns, peaking between 0.2 and 0.25 microns. Thus, tobacco smoke particles, on average, are larger than coronavirus particles.

For those of you who smoke, inhale, put on your cloth mask and exhale. For those of you who do not smoke, ask a friend of yours if you can observe them when they perform this experiment.

Now ask yourself, if the cloth mask is ineffective at preventing the exhalation of smoke particles, which are twice the size of coronavirus particles, are they effective from preventing the inhalation of coronavirus particles?

Some of you may say that the virus particles attach themselves to droplets of moisture when someone who is infected exhales, coughs or sneezes, and that cloth masks are effective against droplets. OK, so you are wearing a mask and as you inhale, any droplets are trapped in the mask. But as the droplets evaporate, are you inhaling a concentration of virus particles? And if you already have the coronavirus, you are exhaling contaminated droplets into the mask, where they evaporate, allowing you to re-inhale the virus particles.

I do not feel that the common cloth mask serves any medical purpose.

George Silowash, Penn Township, Westmoreland County

Black Lives Matter vs. all lives matter

With humility I will explain the difference between Black Lives Matter and “all lives matter” as I understand it. It goes without saying that “all lives matter.” Black lives, Mexican lives, white lives and of course police lives all matter. BLM does not deny this or minimize the value of any person or group.

Here is why people sound naïve and a little foolish when they retort to “Black Lives Matter” with “all lives matter.” Let’s say your house is on fire and you call the fire department. The firefighters arrive and they go to the house across the street. You would hastily redirect them to your home, would you not? Suppose the fireman says “all homes matter” … get it?

BLM is the red flag exclaiming distress — distress related to a specific set of behaviors victimizing African Americans, which began before America was even a country.

Nobody needs a reminder that my Italian life matters. There have not been behaviors and attitudes systemically targeting Italians in this country for over 50 years. Also, it is difficult to disseminate the difference between Italians and other nationalities. Because of this, I and most Italians are not being victimized based on any physical features or skin tones. If you are Italian, Irish, German or French, you probably aren’t either.

Having never lived with the “distress,” this explanation is based on my understanding of BLM. With a little empathy, perhaps others may try to understand.

Thomas C. Spallone, Hempfield

Total racial peace is a mirage

I respect all races and have Black friends and close friends in the Asian community. I am baffled by the current attitude that everything related to the Black race must change to reach peace. Tearing down Confederate statues, banning the Confederate flag and changing the names of military bases is absurd. Would you change history? What names would you substitute? Knee-jerk reaction never goes well.

The killing of George Floyd was disgusting and certainly not warranted. All four officers should get life in prison without parole. That unfortunate situation should bring about drastic changes in how police are trained. The majority of police are good people and serve with courage. However, new police candidates should be vetted to the maximum.

In my opinion, the current racial tension is comparable to that of the Middle East, i.e., two races that don’t like or trust each other. Some 80 years ago, when I was a child, the same situation existed. Some good people made an excellent effort to calm things down, and there was a temporary pause, but both situations still exist today. Again, good people will cause a temporary pause.

You cannot control how people think. There will always be people with racist views. Total racial peace, candidly, will always be a mirage.

Archie Atkinson, Lower Burrell

I trust the doctors who saved my life

I was born with a rare congenital heart defect that has required multiple open-heart surgeries. I wear a mask because I trust the doctors and experts who saved my life.

It was inevitable, I suppose, that wearing masks has become a uniquely partisan issue in America. This, in my opinion, is because the Republican Party has chosen to disregard science if it doesn’t fit its narrative. The Republican Party is all for the kind of science that helps them drill for oil, go into space or blow things up. But public health experts? Climatologists? Well, the Republican Party seems to know more than them. And what do the experts know, anyway?

The Pennsylvania Republican Party in the state Legislature knew that one of its members tested positive for coronavirus and chose to keep it a secret as they were lying to the American people and making us choose between human lives and the economy. When the Democrats expressed outrage, they were “overreacting.” And yet here, some members of the Pennsylvania Republican Party are so outraged that they are trying to impeach a Democratic governor, even though the restrictions the governor mandated helped to decrease coronavirus cases.

If only Americans would wake up to the realization that the Republican Party does not seem to care if they live or die. I don’t think they even care about the economy, just about keeping their power.

Lynne Hughes, Baldwin

Bar owners must protect workers, patrons

Several things became clear to me while reading social media posts about bar closures in Allegheny County.

First, many servers and bartenders continue to feel unsafe due to covid-19 and patrons’ lack of standards for themselves inside of establishments. In addition, servers overwhelmingly have had experiences where if they tried to enforce green-phase standards, they received lower tips. This should not be the responsibility of servers who are already struggling, but that of bar management, who have the higher authority to establish and enforce standards.

While I think it is an extreme step to close all on-site alcohol sales across the county (because I know many establishments are working to meet the standards), I hope bar owners take a moment to realize the reason that they were shut down was because contact tracing continued to point to the spread of covid-19 in their industry. I hope they take additional steps to protect their employees and hold patrons who are violating standards set in place to protect everyone more accountable.

I hope they look to:

• Establish physical barriers such as Plexiglas between patrons and bartenders.

• Create a system of accountability of green-phase standards that is enforced by bar management.

• Establish physical barriers between groups of patrons as additional protection.

I hope this is not a long stop in sales for these establishments. But I truly hope it it is a positive one. I am sorry this hurts bar owners who have followed green phase standards.

Servers, please stay safe and set boundaries.

Joe McAndrew, Oakmont