Letter - What are the writers suggesting

To the editor:

I am always perplexed when people write letters to the editor or post on Facebook that the answer to gun violence in America is to put God back in school. I was raised to believe that God was omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient, or everywhere, all ruling, and all knowing.

I watched the public services as they were broadcast after the Newtown, CT shootings. They showed me that Newtown is a strong community grounded in religion, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim. There is no doubt in my mind that people of faith raised the children in these schools and this community.

Are the writers suggesting that God is not omnipresent? Are the writers suggesting that these children were not raised by people of faith? Are the writers suggesting that there are no places of worship in the community and the school must serve as such? Or perhaps the writers are telling us that his/her religion does not believe in the omnipresence of God.

The gun violence problem is complex. More than 30,000 people were murdered in the USA in 2012 by firearms and 65,000 more were injured.

We print “In God We Trust” on our money. And yet, that does not deter the cash sales of illegal weapons, drugs, money laundering, prostitution, or any other illegal transaction.

Nor does having “In God We Trust” on the money from gun sales make the sale endorsed by God. Perhaps God has been shut out from the hearts of those who prefer profits from the sale of assault weapons and multiple ammunition clips. Perhaps we need to turn those swords (weapons of violence) into plowshares (turn to peaceful solutions). Perhaps…

Esther Mehrer

Alexandria, MN

Tags: opinion, letters