LETTER TO THE EDITOR: America can be great again

Was America ever great? That’s quite a question! Only those who are 70 or 80 years old can answer this question accurately. Being over 80 years old now, I can look back and recall when America was great, compared to now, when it is in great disarray. Actually, I was born in the early ’30s when America was, with the help of Franklin Roosevelt, slowly recovering from the great stock market crash occurring in the year 1929. Employment was so terrible that many had to stand in line to get bread and soup kitchens in order to stay alive. By the ’40s, unemployment was reduced. Then, on Dec. 7, 1941, President Roosevelt declared war against Germany, Italy and Japan, who practically bombed and sank our entire fleet of ships at Pearl Harbor. Nonetheless, Americans all worked together, prayed together and believed in God, Jesus Christ and the Ten Commandments. This included all Protestants, Catholics and Jews joining together to fight the war for our nation, America. What happened? With God’s help and all our country working together, continually teaching our children the bible morality, praying together and honoring God, good things happened. Americans were victorious! We won the war; our nation was greatly blessed. Our returning soldiers received free businesses and trade education, and many large businesses and manufacturing companies sprang up. A man could provide for his family with only one job. I was one of them. This time period was from the ’40s to the ’60s. America was great and at is very best ever, and then, something happened. In the late ’60s, one lone woman went to Washington, D.C., and had the government pass a law forbidding the Holy Bible that was read to children in school, as well as prayer and the Ten Commandments to be completely stopped. This was only the beginning approximately 56 years ago. Now, myself looking back at our public schools that then had discipline, morality, peace and a sense of knowing God, to now comparing the past to the present times and situations. Now, our children’s schools are in such disarray with bullying situations and numerous shootings and violence, where mothers are continually fearful for possible harm coming to their children. These things should not be occurring in our country. You can clearly understand how quickly our nation can decay and come to ruin when we shut God out of our lives. Moral law is basically the Ten Commandments, and God gave them to us for our protection. We can keep them all by living daily in Christ’s Law of Live (John 13:34 and Romans 13:8-10). When you can love God and your neighbor, you can live in peace and prosperity. If we mess up and sin, Jesus still forgives and loves you. Think about it. So, let’s vote for a New Great America once again.

Your neighbor and friend, James K. “Jim” Taylor Lincoln

EDITOR’S NOTE: It was not legislation, but a series of U.S. Supreme Court decision, notably Engel v. Vitale, 1962, and Abington School District v. Schempp, 1963, which, respectively, banned school-sponsored prayer recitation, and Bible-reading as a devotional exercise, in (government-funded) public schools. These decisions, however, did not affect private schools, either religiously affiliated or independent, nor did they prohibit the study of religion, including reading of passages from various religions’ sacred texts, as part of the curriculum in social sciences, literature, etc., in public schools.