Your letters: Capitalising on PM's pregnancy

Jacinda's baby

Ken Orr's hypocritical piece on the PM's pregnancy is a further exercise in subverting the well entrenched principle of separation of church and state.

His impertinence in playing priestly adviser to the prospective parents is appalling. So is his mix of near-factual description of embryonic development following the completely fallacious claim of human (soul) conception.

These "descriptive" elements deliberately evade the factual equivalence of all mammals in the evolutionary chain, an effect heightened by the religious burden of such phrases as "miracle ... of creation".

With a little humility, Mr Orr might recognise that neither he nor anybody else has the clairvoyance to anticipate the completion of any being in utero, nor what its potential of talents beyond birth might be.

Beyond that, suffice it to say that it is utterly misplaced to capitalise on Jacinda Ardern's pregnancy in order to preach a sermon derived from a particular church's doctrine on abortion, which is at odds with this country's existing law.

RUSS HAY
Whanganui

Paper bags

I am lucky to remember a world with virtually no plastic.

When shopping, fruit and vegetables were put into brown paper bags. Meat, fish and anything wet went into greaseproof paper and then into a paper bag.

I have watched supermarket packers put each individual item (already plastic-wrapped) into yet another plastic bag.

I take several cloth "carrier" bags, but grudgingly use plastic bags for the convenience of weighing my fruit and vegetables. I would much prefer paper bags.

I wonder how long it will be before our Friday night supper of fish and chips comes plastic-wrapped.

So where can we buy packs of brown (or white) paper bags in varying sizes and grades?
Please let me know, and I'll be first in the queue to buy them.

PAM NOYES
St John's Hill

Justice please

It was good to see justice being applied in America last week with the former US Olympic Team doctor Larry Nassar being sentenced to 175 years' prison for sexual abuse of athletes and patients. Such a sentence would surely be a deterrent to those who would crawl out from under their rocks with similar ideas.

Roll back a couple of weeks to good old New Zealand where former Shortland Street actor Rene Naufahu was convicted of the same offence and received a sentence of 12 months in the comfort of his own home. He must have been laughing all the way from the courthouse to his Lay-Z-Boy chair!

What message does this send to those other sex offenders out there? Certainly not the same one that has been sent out in America.

The new Labour government has done nothing but overturn policies implemented by the previous National government.

Can I suggest the newly appointed minister of justice implement a new policy that ensures judges in this country issue sentences that are (1) appropriate to the crime, irrespective of race or profession and (2) that give closure to the victims of these heinous crimes.

ROBERT ALLEN
Durie Hill