Better uses for money

More than $54,000 has been raised to erect a new Ten Commandments monument in front of the Arkansas state Capitol. Meanwhile, more than 2.5 million children under the age of 5 die every year due to conditions that could have been prevented or treated with access to simple, affordable interventions.

With $54,000, these Christians could have administered 20,255 vaccines, protected 32,400 children from malaria by supplying 10,800 mosquito nets, or drilled two deepwater wells in central Kenya providing 6,000 people with fresh drinking water.

Perhaps Jesus prefers his people spend money on a stone monument, but it is my understanding that his priorities lie elsewhere.

NATALIE GRAUMANN

Little Rock