Readers Write (Sept. 26): Twitter, campaigns, Vikings stadium, Nienstedt, Community Action, corporal punishment, Mideast

"Twitter is a waste of time" and "You're spending too much time on your phone" are the wise adages of my generation, thanks to parents and teachers alike. But why is it assumed that time spent on social media is wasted? As someone who aspires to go into comedy, Twitter is an incredible creative outlet. Through it, my words can reach thousands of people across the globe in a matter of hours, something that I can't do by just word of mouth. And sure, my tweets aren't particularly essential to the success of mankind, but I do like to think that they bring people momentary joy. So, before you decide that someone is throwing away time on a seemingly unimportant, 140-character quip, you should try to understand why it may not be such a waste.

As a conservative Republican voter, I was disappointed to read that U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden has "much in common" with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. ("Franken, McFadden chase student votes," Sept. 24). We do not have a true Republican Senate candidate to vote for.

McFadden said at a University of Minnesota event that he supports refinancing student loans at a $60 billion cost to taxpayers (taxpayers are the current and former students who are paying on those loans) by simply cutting costs elsewhere, but where? If we have $60 billion in fat in the budget, Congress is not doing its job. McFadden says he believes in climate change — a position that would have severe consequences for business and the U.S. budget.

It is frightening for a Republican candidate to be perceived as even moderately acceptable by our progressive public university student body.

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Let me get this straight: Minnesota GOP congressional candidate Stewart Mills is being described as a wealthy man who inherited his wealth, and that is somehow a bad thing. But DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's inherited wealth is a nonissue. Just wondering.

Mortenson Construction, the general contractor for the new Vikings stadium, put the size of this glass monstrosity in perspective during a recent orientation meeting that my husband attended. The Twins stadium would fit inside the new stadium without touching a bleacher, and it will be higher than the Statue of Liberty.

Audubon members and other concerned citizens will protest the decision to not use bird safe glass at 1 p.m. Sept. 27 near the Downtown East light-rail platform. Any Minnesotan who supports common sense should attend.

This week Archbishop Nienstedt again stirred up media controversy and parishioner dismay by calling for the resignation of a popular music director at St. Victoria Catholic Church in Victoria. The director, who served his parish well for 17 years and was respected and loved by many parishioners, violated church law by marrying a longtime same-sex partner.

While I agree with the church's definition of marriage and agree that the music director's decision to marry a same-sex partner should prompt his resignation, there's a glaring contrast between this archbishop's prompt action in this case and his dilatory conduct in the prosecution of priestly sex abuse.

Based on his own stated criteria, Archbishop Nienstedt has failed his flock. He shows great zeal in removing homosexual music directors, Catholic school faculty members and administrators who chose to marry their domestic partners, but great reluctance to punish or embarrass priestly child abusers and sex offenders. To most Catholics, Protestants, and non-Christians alike, child abuse is a far more serious offense than forming a domestic union.

The archbishop's inconsistent pastoral actions and inactions have scandalized many, undermined the faith of some who have left the church in disgust, and dismayed many of us who have remained. Let us hope that the Holy See, which gave us Archbishop Nienstedt, will redeem itself by removing this inept churchman and replacing him with a capable shepherd who more resembles our beloved Pope Francis.

My five brothers and sisters and I grew up in a household where, if we misbehaved and got caught, we actually wanted to be physically disciplined by our parents. But we never were. Instead, we got "the lecture."

It was horrible — something we all dreaded. That heartfelt lecture about the error of our ways, what it must have been like to walk in the shoes of someone we offended, or learning about the psychological harm we had inflicted, and how we could have handled the situation more effectively was much worse than any switch or adult hand.

All six of us agreed that physical punishment would have been a much better consequence. The pain of a bruise, welt, or swelling would go away soon enough, but the influence of a lecture lingered, left us ruminating, and became part of our conscience. Ugh!

Whenever America gets involved militarily in the Middle East, it will be perceived as America vs. Muslims. It is an unwinnable war, somewhat like that pop-up game where every time we strike down a peg with our hammer, another one pops up. We need a strong Arab leader to support. He may be ruthless, even barbaric, but he will keep the peace. We need someone like … Saddam Hussein.