What ever happened to ‘Thou shall not kill’?

Christine Flowers’ editorial (“What does it even mean to be Catholic anymore?” on Nov. 3) took me back to May 1953, when I told my parish priest I wanted to marry my Baptist boyfriend. He spoke to me as if I had committed the unpardonable sin.

I left my home in Somerville, Massachusetts, and flew to Texas to meet my husband’s pastor in Carthage. We arranged our marriage which lasted until Jan. 31, 2016 when my dear husband went to be with our Savior Jesus.

I became a Baptist and taught children in the faith; 9 played the piano and sang in choirs and formed a new, loving church.

What happened to the commandment, “Thou shall not kill” in the Catholic church? Is it permissible if you are a leader of a country?

I taught children to sing, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world; red and yellow, black and white, they are precious as His sight.”

Planned Parenthood is “Planned Murder” in my book and deserves the same punishment of any murder.

Thank you for printing this topic. Maybe it will open the eyes of many Catholics.

Ann Mitchell

Tyler

Kindness is not dead in America

I recently experienced two acts of kindness and generosity from strangers. First was in Buffalo, New York, where I was working temporarily. I was eating alone and an woman picking up to-go food paid for my meal. Most recently was here in Tyler at Starbucks. When I got to the window, the server said the person in front of me had paid for my coffee. In neither case did I get to thank or even acknowledge these kind acts. In both cases, I just gave what I would have paid to the servers. This gives me great faith in my fellow Americans.

Bobby D. Howard, D.O

Tyler

What’s wrong with the Longhorns?

I have been a proud Texas Longhorn fan since I moved to Austin to join the UT faculty in 1978.

But I must be honest: Saturday’s loss to Iowa State was humiliating. Sadly, Texas may be one of the nation’s worst second-half teams, being outscored Saturday 27-0 in the second half.

The Longhorns have gone from having an average season to a disastrous one. A once national powerhouse has become a mediocre program. While I continue to believe that Steve Sarksian is a good coach, he has some explaining to do. Why is our performance so bad? Is it the fault of some assistant coaches? Are the players not sufficiently motivated? Have they not bought into the new system? Surely the problem can’t be just poor recruiting (UT continues to have a top 10 recruiting class)?

By way of comparison, the University of Iowa, my alma mater, does not get the kind of blue chip players that UT does. Yet in the last few years the Hawkeyes have consistently outperformed the Longhorns.

Perhaps there is a lesson here for UT: Rather than seeking just the top players nationally, many of whom come to Texas to increase their chances of going to the NFL, Texas should recruit less highly ranked players who will be excited and motivated to play and willing to be developed by an outstanding coaching staff.

Whatever the reason, I hope Sarkisian will do some reflecting and be accountable, giving alumni and fans an explanation. Hook ‘em Horns!

Richard Cherwitz

Austin