Commentaries

May 21, 2009

 Commentaries is where Minnesota Public Radio welcomes your thoughtful opinion about current events and issues. Commentaries are like letters to the editor. To be considered for publication, your commentary should be issue-related, clearly written, and follow our Terms of Use. New insights into ongoing topics are especially welcome. Not all commentaries received are published. For topical interaction with others, visit the discussion groups.

Submit your commentary!


I support Colleen Hauser

If Colleen needs a place to go I will help her. [MPR News: Judge orders 13-year-old to undergo cancer treatments] I totally support her right as a parent to not poison her child and make the rest of his life a living hell because the government believes they have that right.

God decides our future. Not the court. I know how horrible chemo is and I'm not sure if I could poison my child either and watch him vomit, and heave, losing his hair and the pain that comes with it. How can a parent do that without feeling guilt? They can't. And if they decided to opt out of it, that is their right.

Shari Penrod
Butler, Pa.


Consider all kinds of cancer treatments

I am 85 years old and being treated for cancer not through chemotherapy. [Responding to MPR News: Boy's disappearance shakes up Sleepy Eye]

Four have died in my family from cancer. Some had chemotherapy and others did not. The ones who had it suffered far more than the ones who didn't. Some of the ones who didn't lived for 15 years with a good life. They were under doctor supervision all the time.

I think families should be able to make their own decisions in cases such as this. Many onocologists believe in treatment that is not chemotherapy. On the Internet I have read that chemo is definitely a financial boost for the drug companies.

Ann Bloyd
San Jose, Calif.


God and Science are not incompatable

I reject Dawkins' premise that evolution is evidence that there is no God. [MPR Midmorning: Dawkins seeks more converts to atheism]

To believe in God one does not have to be a fundamentalist. Evolution v. Creationism is a false dichotomy that perpetutuates the perception that one has to believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible or reject it entirely.

I believe that a creative God guides evolution, and the wonders that science has reveals simply makes me believe even more strongly that such a complex world could not be happenstance. All Christians are not fundamentalists or people who blindly accept what Dawkins calls an "infantile" faith. In the media the non-fundamentalist Christians are often forgotten.

Laura Bolstad
Minneapolis, Minn.


Commentaries home  :  Submit a commentary

MPR News
Radio

Listen Now

Schedule

Shortcuts
Hosts
Station Map

Other Radio Streams from MPR

Classical MPR
Radio Heartland

Services

Become a sponsor

In The Spotlight