Turning blind eye to crime
GUN VIOLENCE Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers continue to let the guilty walk free rather than giving them up
Re My church, the crime scene Column, Nov. 19.
I want to thank Royson James for his article. It is really unfortunate that violence has entered into our churches when they are places of refuge and serenity; where families meet to bring our children up to worship and praise God and learn his commandments and treat each other with respect and love. Somewhere along the line, youth have lost their respect for God, themselves and each other and have made choices to associate with gangs and behave in a manner which goes against the laws of society and God. Who will save this generation? How will they learn to respect themselves, get an education and be productive members of society? My heart breaks when I hear that another youngster has been shot. The enemy is not from the outside, the enemy is within, where blind eyes are being turned to youngsters who are in gangs; where mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and friends continue to let the guilty walk free rather than having the guts to give them up. In giving the guilty up you just might save their lives and allow them to become productive members of society.
I am proud to be a Seventh Day Adventist, where many of our young people are in colleges and universities and making positive choices for their lives. For those young people who never knew God or knew God and have walked away from him Deuteronomy 30: 15 reminds us, “ Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster.” Nadine Brown, Ajax Re Sinners face all sorts of hellish ends Nov. 19. As William Bedford notes, fear of eternal punishment no longer affects the behaviour of most Canadians. Concurrently, many of the stories and columns in your Saturday Star commented on the increase of crude or barbaric acts in the streets, subways and schoolyards of Canada. Can you imagine, a murder being committed at a funeral? When there was some fear of eternal punishment, there was less fear of our neighbours; it was still safe to walk the streets, ride the subways and go to funerals. Ironically, now that we have no fear of eternal punishment, we have fear of our neighbours. Which is better, to fear God and feel safe around our neighbours or to ignore God and fear our neighbours? Bob Moore, Principal, John Calvin Christian School, Guelph, Ont.