Return of family values needed

Another viewpoint is a column The News-Herald makes available so all sides of an issue may be aired. Robert L. Ryan lives in Chardon.

What can we do about violence in our society, especially gun violence?

Many reply, exasperated, that Washington should do something, ban all guns, take them away from us, provide more education for our people, provide mental health counseling, make more and more laws to address this problem.

Does anyone really believe that the lawmakers can actually do anything about it?

I believe the answer to that is YES.

They could do something to put God back into public places. They could allow the name of God to return to the classroom, promote, rather than dismiss, the respect we should all have for all. They could call on the American people as a whole to promote the family.

We have read about it, and heard it said, that what we need is better understanding of others and communications within our lives.

Some in the media show us to be isolated, or unmindful, or ignorant and antagonistic of our fellow citizens.

This may be true in some cases.

We are told to become more tolerant and compassionate toward our neighbors. If only we would have meaningful discourse with others, our understanding would be increased and there would be more harmony in our lives.

The center of our country is punctuated by a few large metropolitan cities, while the overwhelming majority of our land is liberally sprinkled with smaller cities, towns and villages, with several hundreds to several thousand of citizens.

When, and if, in traveling, one exits the interstates and traverses the “back roads,” one can check the number of schools, meeting halls, and churches compared to the populations.

We lived for a time in a small town in southern Ohio, population approximately 1,200, with 21 churches and several meeting halls.

Although one can say that this is not significant, all these places are where the people get together and talk. Is this not communication, and on a very personal level?

The majority of the smalltown folk are the very backbone of the American population, with the mores and feelings, and yes, the Christian values, of those who founded our country in it, the cradle of freedom for all.

In the small towns are families who want to be there, for the familiarity, friendliness, quietude and sense of community, not often found in bigger cities. One finds larger families in these areas and larger families appear to be open to the ease of communication which so many decry is lacking in our society.

Is it truly lacking or merely unreported, not being exciting enough to report?

Conflicts, especially, deadly conflicts, are a serious interruption of life no matter where it occurs.

On TV were found several sitcoms featuring the family and exhibiting the high moral standards of the day. The mid 1950s saw the introduction of no-fault divorce and the destruction of the family and its moral code began to deteriorate. The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision brought us not only the destruction of unborn children, but also the funding of this outrage by our own federal government. God was next in line to be eliminated from public areas.

Slowly at first, American history was being transformed and eliminated and replaced by the idea that we were living in a corrupt society and our country doesn’t deserve to continue.

Leftist propaganda has replaced what had been history, taught by newly minted teachers and professors, who were, and still are being fed, the leftist, socialist views

The decline of our moral and family heritage has been a creeping and slow movement.

One can see the often small steps which have led us to our current situation, where we’re being told now that the only course left is to completely scrap the country and rebuild, perhaps, in a socialistic manner where everyone is equal. From Orson Wells book “Animal Farm”: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Robert L. Ryan