Nation needs moral values, now more than ever before

Nation needs moral values, now more than ever before
EDITOR:
I heard a newsman on TV say that the election seemed to be influenced by those who want moral values. Then he asked, "What are moral values?" Another man standing there said, "Killing in war ought to be against moral values. Isn't killing wrong?"
I couldn't believe that in this enlightened U.S.A., someone would ask what moral values are, or that someone would not realize that killing in war is not pre-meditated murder. Though everyone hates war, it has been necessary down through the years to bring freedom. Among many causes are greed, lust for power, and man's inhumanity toward man.
Our Judeo-Christian heritage taught moral values. The 10 Commandments -- which so many want banned from public places -- teach moral values. How could anyone rationalize that teaching morality in school is harmful? Do they want children to disobey parents, kill, be sexually active (which so often results in disease and unwanted pregnancies), steal, lie, or covet other's possessions to the extent that they would steal or cheat? When we keep the first four commandments, (which deal with our relationship to God), He helps us to keep the last six (which deal with our relationships with others).
When I was a child, our school day began with the salute to the flag, verses from Psalms or Proverbs, and the Lord's Prayer. We were taught the Golden Rule and the virtues of loving and forgiving. We were also taught the real meaning of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.
Today, children in America are denied the right to pray and express their faith in school while at the same time they are allowed to talk openly of sexual deviations and things they don't need to know about until they are old enough to handle them. Is it any wonder that we have fights, killings, drugs, rape and other crimes in our schools and streets?
Yes, we need high moral values. We need to value human life, marriage and family, and common-sense laws. It has been proved that babies in the womb can feel pain. Partial birth abortion is the most cruel thing that can happen to a little baby. Doctors have said that this form of abortion is never necessary to save a mother's life. Other forms can be used. Yet, some leaders of our country approve of them.
DOROTHY THOMAS
Youngstown
Some questions about values
EDITOR:
According to the Nov. 7 Vindicator, 22 percent of voters' main concern in this past election was morals and of those, 80 percent to 85 percent voted for George W Bush. Fifty-four percent of those voting in the country professed to be Protestant/other Christian and of those 56 percent to 59 percent voted for Bush.
Christian voters should be following the teachings of Christ. Jesus does not say in the Bible that pre-emptive strikes on the enemy are an option. He talks about being humble, not arrogant.
So if our country's morals are based on the following policies, we need to do some serious Bible study about what our Christian morals should be.
1. Lying to the American people or misleading us about chemical weapons, nuclear weapons, and Al-Qaida in Iraq.
2. Having an arrogant foreign policy that says to the rest of the world our way is the only way.
3. We will kill you before you kill us based on our intelligence (which may be distorted or inaccurate).
4. If we don't like your leader we will "take him out."
5. We will distort the facts about a person's positive attributes by using sound- bites out of context and outright lies until the public believes in those lies.
6. We will talk about being pro-life, but our policies will actually cause the abortion rate to increase.
We need leaders who will walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
PHIL WILHELM
Hartford