To the editor:

Upon seeing Peter Kinder's picture in the Missourian May 4, I felt an overwhelming urge to slap his self-righteous face. The urge quickly passed, but the image still remains: the belligerent stance, hand on hips, face a mask of furious indignation. Our noble senator had just finished telling a group of abortion-rights supporters to "take your bloody business out of the Capitol." I truly wish I'd been there to see him screaming like a fishwife about "bloody business."Some questions arise. Senator Kinder, so you own the Capitol? Call me crazy, but I thought it belonged to all the citizens of Missouri, even ones who are pro-choice. I believe Kinder would make a poor gatekeeper.

The larger questions is this: Why don't the so-called Christians in the right-to-life movement act more like Christ? If Jesus walked on the earth today, would he be bombing clinics? Would he be shooting doctors or terrorizing their children.

Of course not. I believe Jesus would be reaching out to the unwanted children who are already born. He would try to comfort the pregnant woman who is considering abortion because she thinks she has no other options.

I doubt Jesus would have much use for public servants who rant and rave about "bloody business." Neither do I.MICHAEL SHEA

Cape Girardeau