Letter: Country needs an independent, strong judiciary

Thursday, May 12, 2005 | 9:06 a.m.

Ken Lucas' April 27 letter, "Liberals get their way with judges," is long on emotion and short on logic, which is usual for those steeped in ideologies who think only in terms of black and white, good and evil, us and them. They refuse to acknowledge that morality cannot be legislated, that it is a choice one makes or doesn't make. Overturning Roe v. Wade, therefore, would not lessen abortions; it would only criminalize them.

Lucas wrote that liberals "seem to have no problem with judges foisting upon the American people things like abortion, gay marriage, busing, removing God from all vestiges of American life and, most recently, the execution of a helpless woman who was only guilty of being unable to feed herself."

Insofar as gay marriage goes, isn't it love, consideration, caring and mutual support that constitutes a good relationship, and not gender alone? Busing? This was one of the actions that had to be taken by our federal government to attempt to level the educational playing field years ago. Remove God from all vestiges of American life? Is that possible? I think not. It is possible, and necessary, that the U.S. preserve its unique, vital and valued separation of church and state system of governance -- it is what true liberty is all about. God is a personal, not a public, issue. The Founding Fathers understood that.

The Terri Schiavo comment -- that she was murdered because she could not feed herself -- does not deserve the dignity of a response.

What both liberals and conservatives need is a strong, intelligent and objective judiciary that helps us Americans work successfully through the challenges of the democratic system, recognizing that those who think differently from us are not necessarily our enemies.

JOHN H. ESPERIAN

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