I am a Christian, writing to applaud Staff Writer Megan Gray’s Dec. 31 article “Newspapers can challenge anonymity of plaintiffs in vaccine suit” (Page B1).

What seems to be missing in the thinking of some Christian medical staff is an understanding of Scripture’s command to love one’s neighbor as oneself. Is killing others, even if indirectly, something condoned by God?

God punished King David for orchestrating the indirect killing of a soldier so he could be free to marry the dead soldier’s wife. What will He do with “Christians” who want to do as they please even though this may put countless “neighbors” in a position to die? Aren’t such Christians potentially guilty of the murderous behavior they accuse abortion providers of?

What’s curious is part of the reported reasoning behind Liberty Counsel’s advocacy on behalf of the nine “religious” plaintiffs. “Shielding Plaintiffs’ identities from the public is necessary to protect their safety and the personal nature of their medical and religious decisions,” their motion states. Is it just me thinking this when I suggest they are making what could be interpreted as similar to an argument for abortion? If so, it reveals 1) the way liberalism’s individual freedom ideal can be twisted to mean anything one wants and 2) the way the Christian right has embraced that “ideal” when it suits their ends.

Could it be that such self-serving inconsistencies deserve to come back to them echoing comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s famous punch line: “I don’t get no respect”?

Alan Toth
Rockland