Look deeper for cause of illness infecting nation

Why? That is the question being asked after the senseless murder of 26 people, 20 of them children, by a 20-year-old man. I do not think most of us can really understand the mental torture parents and other family members are experiencing after learning their innocent child or relative has been killed.

Gun control is already being promoted as the solution to the tragedy. Crack cocaine and heroin are illegal, but criminals still have access to these drugs in our nation. It is illegal to become intoxicated and drive, but it still continues to kill.

Some of those shouting the loudest for gun control are the same people who think it should be legal for doctors to perform late-term abortions. They believe a doctor has the right to destroy a child at a point when it could survive on its own outside of the mother’s womb. Some leaders of our nation even voted that it should be legal for a doctor to kill a child who survived an abortion attempt.

When will we admit the real cause? We have taught our young people that there is no God. Therefore, they are free to make their own decisions about what is right or wrong. We have taught them that they are the result of an evolutionary process which occurred with no direction from a higher power. As a result, some of our young people have decided that life has no real purpose. They decide to harm others and destroy themselves because they will not be accountable for their actions.

Some will say these young people are mentally ill. I would agree, but we must also understand the cause of the disease and hold accountable those who are infecting us with it.

Read “The Marketing of Evil” by David Kupelian.

— Joe D. Teeter
Gold Hill
Fixing the problem

Todd Paris has an excellent idea to train and arm school personnel (Dec. 17 letter). Cowards go where they expect no resistance. But his idea is a temporary fix. We can do more.

First, we need to stop allowing our children to play violent computer games. Adam Lanza shot children just like a video game scenario. These games dehumanize and turn real killing into a game.

Second, we need to identify profoundly disturbed children earlier and begin appropriate psychological intervention. Teachers can name the disturbed and isolated children in their classes right now. I don’t mean the learning disabled, but children who are obviously disturbed. Few turn out to be mass murders, but there should be early intervention.

Third, in the 1970s, to save money, states began closing mental institutions, gave the inmates drugs and told them to stay out of trouble. Coincidentally, the homeless population rapidly rose along with the closures. We need to have the public fortitude to commit seriously mentally ill people to locked institutions instead of letting them roam the streets, homeless and violent.

Fourth, the news media need to stop glorifying murderers. Lanza’s picture is on every computer screen and television all over the world. Celebrate the heroes, like Principal Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach. They died selflessly trying to save others. Let us commit as a nation to live selflessly in the same fashion. Finally, stop debating guns. That genie is out of the bottle and will never get back in. Concentrate on things we parents and grandparents can control, like how our children are raised; end their exposure to gratuitous violence and demand safe and humane treatment for the mentally ill.

This will cost money. But do we have a choice but to make these changes? Let’s at least start by arming school personnel.

— Tony Hilton
Landis
Another long-ago tragedy

The unspeakable horror of Newtown is reminiscent of a similar tragedy 2,000 years ago in another small town, Bethlehem, perpetrated by a despot named Herod (Matthew 2:16-18). Ironically, Herod’s real target was the One who is the only and ultimate cure for such sin, which lies in the heart of every one of us.

My fear is that as our society continues to evict Him, such despicable acts of evil will become more commonplace. My hope is that this manifestation of our sinfulness will drive us to our knees and to a relationship with the One who conquered sin and death, the only One who can forgive sin and remove the power of evil from us and our society.

— Stuart Smith
Salisbury
Stop siding with the wealthy

We all have personal budgets to balance. We know that if you take your family to the movies, you might not be going out to dinner as well. It’s about setting priorities.

The outcome of this past election clearly shows what voters believe our nation’s priorities should be — and it’s not tax cuts for millionaires. We said no to cutting veterans’ medical care so millionaires could buy and extra car or two. We told politicians that handing CEOs and hedge fund managers more money to build up their savings accounts and stock portfolios means we won’t have the money to rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges, to upgrade our energy grid and the rest of our infrastructure.

And we told them, enough is enough. After years of siding with the wealthy, are Rep. Howard Coble and his Republican colleagues in Congress ready to stand up for the middle class?

— Hal Rhoads
Salisbury
Just the facts

Blaine Gorney has lots of claims to make, with polls to back them up (Dec. 17 My Turn). Polls are flawed and inaccurate at best, and are useless when you ask pointed questions intended to derive a particular answer from people who share the point of view you wish to convey. And where are the facts? Omitted. Obama’s cheerleaders have no use for them.

— David Wilson
Salisbury
Tired of ‘atheists’ rights’

Im so sick and tired of so called atheists taking my rights away. I love to hear Christmas music. I look forward to hearing it in the stores when I go shopping. How come when these people speak up about not liking anything to do with Christ, they always get their way? Where are my rights? What’s wrong with our world?

There’s more evil happening, but it’s always someone else’s fault. Why don’t you atheists just move to another country? No, you won’t, not as long as you always get your way. Where are my rights? Why do you always get your way, while I’m supposed to sit back and not say anything?

These shootings and other evil are occurring because atheists have gotten their way, and there’s no organized prayer in school, there’s no Christ in Christmas, parents can’t correct their kids, and we can’t pray in public. Wake up, America, and open your eyes. I love my country. I love the people who give up their lives for us.

We need to go back to praying for America and our brothers and sisters. We need God back in our schools, in our world. Otherwise, it’s only going to get worse. I know those people who don’t believe in God will not like what I say, but too bad. I have my rights, too. So stop trying to interfere with my rights. I have a voice, too. God is so good. He doesn’t let this stuff happen to hurt us. It should open our eyes and make us see what we do have. So grow up and appreciate what you do have and stop trying to take what I have away from me.

— Bonnie Beaver
Salisbury