We think of our daughter, who died 3 years ago when she was just 2 days old, in much the same way. We are not Catholics, instead we are LDS (Mormon) but we agree on the value of human life. Since our daughter was known to have brittle bone disease several months before birth, the doctors asked if we wanted to abort and we said no, and to their credit, they accepted our decision and never tried to get us to change our mind. And we are very happy we got her for two days. We believe that she is part of our family forever, and she'll be with us in the resurrection.

I'm glad Ransom brought up all the people that cite Hurricane Sandy to "prove" mankind causes global warming. There have been a couple of letters to the editor of our local paper citing Sandy thus, and I sent in my own letter to refute that idea. Sandy was a category 1, and the only reason it was so bad was that it hit NYC. We've always had hurricanes, and they are not even becoming more frequent.

well said. I used to carry a pocketknife on airplanes all the time. Now, I have to pay an extra $25 just to check a bag just so I can take my knife with me. I use it daily - it has scissors, pliers, tweezers, etc. And I agree that no one can hijack a plane with a pocketknife.

If I were a 6th grader, I'd have on the flag a picture of the palace with the dictator sitting in luxury, and another picture of the masses starving in huts.

As a Christian, I agree that Handel's Messiah is the greatest religious music ever composed. I enjoyed the column, Merry Christmas Dennis! (and I know you will take that in the spirit in which it is given).

Two and a half year ago, about 3 months into the pregnancy of our 6th child, we learned she had brittle bone disease, and may or may not live to be born. We were told if she was born, she would be severely handicapped and probably wouldn't live long. But, our doctors were all wonderful people who asked us the abortion question in a very tactful way. We said, no, we won't abort, and they accepted that and never brought it up again. Julia was born with broken bones, and lived for two days. The chance to see our child alive, even for two days, meant a lot to us, and we wouldn't change our decision. We are LDS, and we believe that she is ours forever, even though we have to wait for a while to see her again.

I agree about the occupiers dissenting just because they were otherwise bored or wanted to do something different/radical even though they are clueless. But the Darwin thing? That's not how I understood Darwin's motives. In fact, he sat on his work for 20 years before publishing the Origin of Species because he didn't want to rock the boat. He didn't take his voyage on the Beagle looking for ways to exclude God. I am both a devout Christian, and a PhD college biology teacher, and before accepting this view of Darwin, I'd like some evidence.