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statistics of abortion
performed worldwide clearly
point out that we definitely
havc a problem.
1
generally
agreed with the writer, Ronald
S.
Toth and his anti-abortion
position, but he failed to
present both sides of the issue.
True, abortion
is
cruel and
inhumane, but who are we
(human beings) to condemn
other human beings? A case
in point: a 13-year-old girl,
unwed, and impregnated by a
rapist or by incest. Would
abortion be appropriate in
such a case? Whether we
would answer "yes" or "no,''
it's
not
for us to decide. l t
should be
a
decision solely
between her and God. l'm 19,
and if
1
was in that position,
1
think 1
would
choose abortion.
Condemn me for it if you will,
but at least
1
would know it
was a decision based on
personal choice and hopefully,
l'd hope God 's choice, too.
Helen J. Lee
Huntington Beach, California
•
May we suggest you reread
what we said near the
beginning of the artic/e:
"And wornen need to
protect thernselves against
rape. Local po/ice or reference
librarians can provide rnuch
needed information about
rape. Any woman who
becomes victimized by a
rapist should seek
professional help
immediately.
Don't de/ay. Don't wait three
rnonths or three weeks or even
three days. Seek medica/
advice
immediately."
1 was reading the article in
your May, 1985 issue on
abortion. As the article stated,
"Humans have chosen to defy
the higher law. They have
been allowed to do so for
ncarly 6,000 years. Without
fully realizing it, human
beings have taken it upon
themselves to decide right and
wrong. That is the sole
preserve of a much higher
authority who has established
a great law to govern
mankind." But all sins and
crimes start with that little
bending of God's law.
lt
(today's abort ion) started with
the "little bending" where
incest , rape, and the mother's
health were an exception to
God's law of killing the
September 1985
unborn livcs and has gone
down hill since thcn.
Eugene L Osina
Houston, Texas
1 am responding to the
article "The Plain Truth about
Abortion" by Ronald
S.
Toth
in the May lssue.
The paragraph which read
as follows: "Today, within a
growing number of historically
predominantly Catholic
nations Jegalized abortion has
become a major form of birth
control" could be interprete<!
by non-Catholics as inferring
the church sanctions abortion.
Not so. In fact the Catholic
church was among the first of
churches, if not the first, to
denounce abort ion.
Thc predominately Catholic
nations where abortion is
practiced are under Russia's
governing rule.
Ethel Paz
Fresno, California
•
The sentence irnmediately
fol/owing should have made
this c/ear. "In Comrnunist-led
Poland ... "
Turkey
Your article ''Turkey" is
replete with downright
callousness in dealing with
oppressed peoples, tbe
systematic gcnocide of half a
dozen minorities, and above all
the brutal destruction of
Cyprus by the Turks whom
you find it expedient to vest
with qualitics and attributes
that simply are not there. A
qualified researcher would
have painted quite another
picture. To just dwell on
Cyprus, he would have said
something like this: "To
understand what happened to
poor Cyprus, one would have
to contemplate the US being
invaded by a foreign power,
occupying 40 percent of its
land, evicting 50 percent of its
people from their bornes, and
threatening what is still
unoccupied by the invader."
You chose, how sad, to call
this Turkish action
"interventton in Northern
Cyprus."
George James Gianakos
Washington, D.C.
1 would like to thank you
for publishing sorne significan!
facts about Turkey. As you
expressed, Turkey finds itself
in a unique position to serve
as a bridge between the
Muslim East and the Christian
West. Despite the fact that
the Western world has
discriminated against Turkey
because of its Muslim
heritage,
1
believe Turkey is
sure to find its identity in the
Western world. The thing to
do here is by all means to try
to enlighten the Western
public about who we Turks
are or aren 't. The wrong
image of the past that we are
eastern pcasants, barbarous
and responsible for the fall of
Christianity must have a
stop.
Cemal Karahan
Kahraman-Maras, Turkey
1n your recent article
entitled "Turkey: About to
Erupt in the News"
1
am very
disappointed to find that no
mention was made at all about
the Armenian Church wbich
is one of the oldest branches
of Christianity, older than the
Church of Rome or that of
Byzantium. Armenia was the
first nation to officially accept
Christianity as its official
religion in
A.D.
314. One of
the first monasteries ever
founded was by the Armenian
Church in
A.D.
350 after the
translation of the Bible into
Armenian.
Even though Armenia is no
longer recognized as a nation
because of the conquest of the
Turks and the large scale
massacres during World War
1 of the Armenians, it does
not mean that the Armenian
Church is no longer active. On
the contrary, you will find
branches of the Church in the
U.S., Europe and even in
exotic places like Brazil and
Australia. All these branches
stemmed from the original
monastery of Echmiadzin
where the head of the
Armenian Church, the
Catholicos, resides.
V. Asdourian
San Francisco, California
Asan Armenian, 1 read Mr.
K.W. Stump's article
"Turkey, About to Erupt in
the News!" Like many other
authors on Turkey, Mr.
Stump seems to, consciously
or not, sweep the whole of the
Armenian Question under the
carpet of history wishing it to
go away. Naturally, it has not
and will not go away unless
the nation of Turkey comes to
terms with its undeniable
bloody past with regard to the
Armenian nation. 1 would
have thought it highly topical
under the circumstances. Also
what about the ethnically very
distinct Kurds? 1 consider
both the Armenian and
Kurdish Questions to be very
much alive and the West can
ignore these two potential
time-bombs at its peril.
This [last] April Armenians
all over the world
[commemorated] the 70th
annivcrsary of the Armenian
Genocide. Both survivors of
our holocaust and the new
generations [repeated] their
peaceful calls to Turkey to
recognize that a previous
Turkish government was
guilty of genocidal crimes
against our people at the turn
of this century.
Finally. it may be of
interest for you to know that
while Armenians were being
slaughtered and forcibly
removed from their homeland
of two millenia, the survivors
who fled to neighbouring Arab
countries found safe refuge
amongst Arab muslims. For
this Armenians will be
eternally grateful.
Dr. R.B. Baghdjian
Manchester
General Comments
1 was born in Portugal but
was raised and educated in
Canada and have been away
overseas from my family and
native country quite often and
over long stretches in the past.
This experience, 1 feel, has
helped me to get acquainted
with life and the world abroad
to sorne degree.
Ever since 1 first picked up
and read a copy of your
magazine in an optometrist's
waiting room in Toronto, l've
found it to be illuminating,
smooth to read and
understand, and a solace in the
thick of the diverse anxieties
and troubles each of us faces
in this ever more complicated
world.
Daniel Rodrigues
Mon~ao,
Portugal
45