JD Vance has repeatedly told interviewers that he doesn’t care what happens to Ukraine. This belies Vance’s claims to Catholic virtue.
In 2023, Christianity Today reported findings by the Kyiv-based Institute for Religious Freedom, an independent research institute: Russian forces had “destroyed, damaged or looted” 500 churches and religious sites since their full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That number has grown to over 600 ruined churches, according to more recent reports from human rights monitors.
In April, former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who served as Donald Trump’s Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom, warned that religious liberty is under attack in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. “Russian forces are destroying religious buildings and torturing faith leaders who refuse to collaborate,” he said.
In cities like Melitopol and Kherson, Russian forces have confiscated church property, shut down evangelical and Baptist churches, and abducted and tortured clergy. According to Bishop Oleksandr Babiychuk, “Arbitrary detentions of religious leaders is a standard practice of the Russian military.”
This summer, thanks to the intercession of Pope Francis, the Russians released two Ukrainian Catholic priests, Father Ivan Levytsky and Father Bohdan Geleta, who had endured 19 months of interrogation and near-starvation.
The treatment of evangelical and Baptist believers has been equally horrendous, including beatings, harassment, “disappearances” and summary executions. These abuses have been fully documented in Congressional hearings before the U.S. Helsinki Commission.
Vance should be the first to condemn these atrocities, especially now that he has admitted that his bizarre allegations about Haitian immigrants eating cats were fabrications. For all of Vance’s manufactured outrage over fictitious crimes, we have yet to hear a single word of condemnation from either Vance or Donald Trump against the massive war crimes that Putin’s armies have committed: The massacres in Bucha and Irpin, the leveling of entire cities, the terrorist bombings and missile strikes that have taken thousands of civilian lives.
Under Vance’s plan, Ukraine would be forced to surrender territories now under Russian control. Thousands of Christians would be trapped in another “Gulag Archipelago” of Stalinist hellholes and forced labor camps. Vance’s utter lack of compassion notwithstanding, Americans must support Ukraine’s heroic struggle for freedom and religious liberty.
Alexander Kuzma, chief development officer, Ukrainian Catholic University Foundation, Chicago
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Vance wants a dictatorship of ‘political religion’
This will make the third election in a row to seriously test our democracy, our very existence as a republic. And the electorate is being exposed to ever more radical ideas by people campaigning for the highest offices in the land.
Vice presidential nominee JD Vance, a senator from Ohio, has appeared on at least one podcast where he seemed to be flirting, at the very least, with the ideas of someone so far right they could be called the fringe of the fringe.
This person espouses the idea that the country needs a CEO and that a CEO is really a dictator. And our current leadership structure? A direct quote from Vance: “Step one in the process is to totally replace, like, rip out, like a tumor, the current American leadership class and then reinstall some sense of American political religion.”
The topic is often avoided, but it is inescapable. Religion is a driving force in the arguments put forth by the most conservative voices.
One party separated a sizeable portion of the electorate from the rest by convincing them to fear change and difference, and convincing them that they were being discriminated against.
Most Americans are open-minded enough that they do not feel threatened by the beliefs and lifestyles of others. But among this conservative cohort, intolerance would be codified and religion — someone’s beliefs, not necessarily yours — woven into the structure of our laws and government.
Vance, if elected vice president, would bring these regressive and anti-American policies into the White House and government. And he would be within the proverbial heartbeat from the presidency. Alternatively, he might achieve the presidency through the process spelled out in the 25th Amendment.
People following these lines of reasoning — minority rule at a minimum, dictatorship at worst — are giving up on democracy, unwilling to continue working toward the goals set after we gained independence. No single individual ever has all the answers. Democracy is not an endpoint but a process. Dictatorship never works out.
We got this far with tolerance and by working together. Let’s continue to do the work.
Michael Hart, West Ridge
Greed at charter schools
Why are members of the Chicago Teachers Union considered by some to be “greedy?” CTU members are the people who actually do the work of teaching the children of Chicago. They earn their pay every school year.
The real greed is shown by the owners and controllers of the charter schools. Whether they are privately held and move taxpayer money into their pockets as profit, or “not for profit” organizations designed to funnel money to administrators, in both cases the people farthest away from the students are the ones making the most money.
If that isn’t greed, I don’t know what is.
Don Anderson, Oak Park
Can CTU convince taxpayers to pay more?
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding the CTU, Pedro Martinez and their impending contract that, of course, involves money.
The CTU wants CPS to take out a short-term high-interest loan. They also want Gov. JB Pritzker and the General Assembly to come up with cash for the schools and their new contract.
Everyone involved has said no to the CTU’s demands. Why don’t CTU President Stacy Davis Gates and the leadership of the CTU plead their case directly to taxpayers?
If homeowners and others agree to the hefty tax hike for the new contract, the CTU has nothing to worry about.
Tony LaMantia, Logan Square
Don’t let 16-year-olds vote
The Sun-Times prominently displayed the letter “Let 16-year-olds vote in local elections” Sept. 29.
There’s one slight problem with letting 16-year-olds vote. Our society keeps raising the age for the right to do a lot of other things, like smoking, drinking, drugs, owning guns, getting a tattoo, gambling, renting a car. The rationale is that younger people don’t have either the knowledge, the wisdom, the experience or the responsibility to do these things safely.
Voting is often dumbed down to single issues that are often controversial. But politicians will either vote on or simply enact hundreds of things in their time in office. Many of them a person will not even understand until they have full-time jobs or families, or are just living on their own.
How can you judge inflation if you are not responsible for paying your own bills?
Personally, I would be fine with restricting voting rights further for people who are not yet in some way “on their own.” We lowered the voting age to 18 because we were in a war and drafting people at that age to fight in it. Those days are long gone.
I think we should rescind the 26th Amendment that lowered the voting age to 18, and we make an exception for anybody in the military, married, a parent or someone working full-time and living on their own.
Larry Craig, Wilmette
Support DuPage County forest preserves
DuPage County is blessed with a rich tapestry of forest preserves that encompass more than 25,000 acres. These public lands enrich our quality of life and provide outdoor recreation areas for citizens to relax, unplug and enjoy the mental and physical health benefits of nature.
On Nov. 5, voters will be asked to support forest preserves in DuPage County. The forest preserve district is asking for a small levy increase to preserve more land, maintain and restore existing forest preserves, add recreational amenities such as trails and improve public access. Since the pandemic, many forest preserves have nearly doubled their attendance as people continue to discover the many benefits forest preserves provide.
If approved by the voters, the forest preserves will be better able to improve air and water quality, purchase land and restore and create more wildlife habitat, improve flood control, expand public safety, and create more places where children can experience and enjoy with wonders of nature. With land prices skyrocketing and the amount of natural lands dwindling, we must act now to preserve our last remaining open spaces for our children and grandchildren before they are lost to development.
The cost for the average homeowner in DuPage County will be approximately $3 to $4 a month. That’s a small price to pay to keep our forest preserves green and healthy, and our air and water clean. The forest preserve district is less than 2% of our taxes.
The Conservation Foundation fully endorses this referendum and we ask that you support our forest preserves with a “yes” vote.
Brook McDonald, president/CEO, The Conservation Foundation, Naperville
Don’t sensationalize shootings
On Thursday, a shooting occurred involving a person and a Chicago police officer. Police Supt. Larry Snelling said at a news conference that police made an investigatory stop. During the stop, police noticed the person was armed. The police attempted to disarm the person. During the attempt to disarm the person, the firearm discharged, wounding the person and an officer.
Within minutes after the news conference, a local news station headlined the event as a “shootout.” Why did they have to sensationalize the situation?
Why can’t they simply report the news and not try to create it?
Warren Rodgers Jr., Orland Park
Missing old weather page
Oh, no … where’s the weather page? Never mind. I see that I could follow a QR code to get the information that was so readily available only days ago in a full-page spread.
It may seem old-fashioned, but the weather page is actually an integral part of our family’s daily Sun-Times reading experience. We are longtime readers of the print edition and get the paper delivered daily. We are a family with two grammar-school-aged kids and checking the weather page is part of everyone’s daily routine.
From noticing weather patterns across the country to checking the water temperature before a trip over to the beach, to just figuring out what outfits to wear each day, the full weather page was a great source of consistent, accessible, screen-free data that we could all study and use in our daily lives.
The fact that the weather page is now truncated in favor of making space for more “local” news is ironic considering that weather is about as local and universally relevant as a topic can get. Please reconsider this decision and bring back the weather map and data!
Adrienne Handelman, Evanston
Sour caramel apples … yuck
I would like to know who had the bright idea to put caramel on the sour Granny Smith apples?
Virginia Dare McGraw, Naperville