A religion's views can't bind nation

Conservative rabbis plan to vote on a resolution criticizing Pope Benedict for revising a Good Friday prayer to ask God to enlighten the hearts of Jews "so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men."

This desire, openly shared by evangelical Christians, should come as no surprise to Jews, though they have every right to be angry about it.

Far more insidious, however, are the pope's efforts to impose the Catholic church's "morality" on all Americans by calling for a ban on a growing list of scientific practices he says "shatter" human dignity.

The list includes artificial insemination outside the body, which offers hope for infertile couples yearning for biological children; and embryonic stem cell research, which holds the promise of cures for progressive, debilitating diseases.

Practicing "selective morality," this church demanding respect for human beings "from conception until natural death," is the same church that looked the other way for a decade when thousands of defenseless altar boys needed protection from predatory pedophile priests.

If the pope gets his way, he will plunge our country back into the Dark Ages when the church ruled the world.

Americans who find this appealing, may prefer life in Iraq, where Sharia law is already in place.

Ours is a nation of religious diversity and freedom, leaving no room for the narrow beliefs of one religion to dictate what we as a nation can or cannot do.

Sheryl Jedlinski

Palatine