Mother Teresa on values and violence

To the editor:

People throughout the world hold deep respect for Mother Teresa, noted for her life-long selfless service to India’s poorest untouchables and her willingness to live among them in squalid slums — conditions so terrible we can’t imagine without being there. Shortly before her death, she was guest speaker at a Presidential Prayer Breakfast in our nation’s capital, where she made challenging comments about America’s families, about values and about violence.

First, her speech indicated that, “The future of humanity passes through the family. We are talking of love of the child, which is where peace begins.”

Her comments pointed to the health of a nation’s families as being predictive of the strength of that nation. Is there any link between the peace and wellbeing of our families to the peace and wellbeing of our nation?

Second, her comments about values included, “By abortion, a mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems,” and “if we accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?”

Plus, “By abortion, the father is told he does not have to take responsibility at all for a child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble.”

Have values shifted since Roe v. Wade?

Third, she said that, “Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.”

Is violence increasing?

We mourn violence and loss of life at Fort Hood, Sandy Hook and Boston’s Marathon, but who mourns the 54 million mothers who demanded their “right to choose?” Is Mother Teresa right about a link between the silent, unnoticed deaths of unborn children and a rise in violent behavior across America?

Ken Allen

Palmer