To the Editor:

Questions have been asked about the serious issue of shootings that have occurred in the United States. Why have they happened? Some response has been given to those questions. Most of the answers relate to actions that should be taken by government. That usually means new laws. The normal expected response to a law is that it is to be obeyed.

The violence that we are experiencing in our country is perpetrated by people who have no regard for law. That is a matter that cannot be resolved by more laws.

The root issue is the decline of morality in our country. That decline has been accelerating since the proclamation of a desire for freedom form laws and morality in the 1960s. Those of us who have lived through that period have observed it and bemoaned the trend. The decline in morality has been accompanied by a lack of respect for elders, lack of respect for law and an attitude of “I am free and I can do whatever I want to.”

The decline in morality and the resulting increase in violence has tracked the decline in church attendance. Theologians acknowledge that Europe is in the post-Christian era. Also, only about 21 percent of Americans acknowledge that they have any regular association with a church.

Our cultural value system has been derived from Judeo-Christian religion and values. AS we have denied those values and excluded them from our culture, our sense of morality has continued to decline. Unfortunately, the practice of those values is prohibited by law in many instances. It should be obvious that laws not only cannot foster morality, but they, in many cases, actually oppose it.

Our return to a safe and sane society can occur only when we, as parents and responsible citizens, begin to teach our children the difference between right and wrong, and again insist on behaving according to natural laws and direction that our ancestors took through teachings from Judeo-Christian religion and values.

Gil Alligood
Washington