Cal Thomas on Forsaking God

In response to “What Happens When America Forsakes God,” Column Right, Dec. 14:

Cal Thomas, citing several horrible crimes, blames moral decay in our country which he equates with “forsaking God.” Even without considering historical events, such as the Inquisition, the Crusades, the witch trials in New England and the Holocaust--all heinous, all involving hordes of people, and all done in the name of God--he might have checked some of the present-day problems caused by organized religion. He could have considered troubles from Yugoslavia to Ireland, from Iran to Israel or he might have looked at the articles in The Times regarding Russia’s recent election. It seems that these God-fearing people are veering dangerously toward neo-Nazism. We need moral education, yes, but that does not necessarily mean an a priori belief in God. We could look to ourselves first.

EDYTHE M. McGOVERN

Los Angeles

Thomas’ Column Right was very timely for me. I want God back in my life and for the life of my country.

JACQUELINE DORFMAN

Encino

No, Cal Thomas, America does not need more God. What America needs is less guns. What America needs is perhaps more compassion, more tolerance and more respect for fellow human beings--and the recognition that more God is not going to prevent the Long Island railroad massacre or the tragic death of a Polly Klaas or hundreds of other children who are treated with cruelty and even killed every year.

We have “God” stamped on our coins; millions of schoolchildren recite every day that we are supposedly “One nation under God” (unless their religious or moral convictions prevent such rote recitation). We have “God bless America” and “So help me God” in our oaths (again, unless one’s religious or moral convictions prevent such recitations). We don’t need more “God”--in fact, the last time I read the Bible there was more violence and sex than we would ever allow young children to read or learn about. Nor do we need the moral lectures from a person such as Charles Colson, whose own moral failings led to a conviction and jail time.

What America needs to recognize is that there comes a time when human beings are not allowed back on the street. There comes a time when youngsters don’t need guns, and are treated like adults when they commit adult crimes. There comes a time when a jail is the only place to house those who repeatedly hurt and kill. And, there comes a time when virtue, morals and respect for law know no “God,” but are universal principles that every individual should have irrespective of a compelled sectarian or religious structure.

JAMES GRAFTON RANDALL

Anaheim Hills

Thomas once again proves to be his own worst enemy as he laments America’s moral decline. He pays Norman Lear a backhanded compliment in Lear’s listing of materialism as one of the reasons for our moral crisis and, in his next breath, praises the former Soviet Union for its march toward capitalism and God--in that order!

Mr. Thomas, the chief fruit of capitalism is materialism. It amazes many of us that you find compatibility between that philosophy of life and the worship of a homeless carpenter who owned one set of clothes and proclaimed that you cannot serve both God and mammon.

RICK DUNKERLY

Whittier