To the editor:

We cannot turn on any source of news without a report of the Alabama ruling on IFV, abortions, or the constant violence and criminal activity in our metropolitan area and how it bleeds over into our rural and suburban areas.

Our founding fathers enshrined in our constitution the freedom of religion. By doing so they were telling us of the importance of the moral principles taught and learned through religion. We may disagree on how to worship God, but we agree on the valuable lessons taught in the “Ten Commandments” and the basic principle of “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All religions Judaism, Christianity, Islam or even the Oriental religions of India and Asia have one thing in common: guidance like the commandments and loving your neighbor.

Today we find ourselves in a moral crisis. We ask how we got here and what can be done to correct the situation. The deterioration of traditional morality didn’t happen overnight but evolved. If we lay two lines on a graph showing the decline in membership of organized religion and the declining morality, we would soon see a correlation. In the 1950s we removed Bibles and prayer from our schools in the name of the government not imposing religion in the school. Then we were told it was wrong for adults to impose their moral concepts on the next generation and that they should learn what is right or wrong by experience and not be taught our beliefs.

To turn the present moral decline around we must change our entire way of life. First commercial businesses and nonessential activity must be required to shut down their operation one day a week. This will allow the individual to worship as they please. Attending worship at church or what is the appropriate way to honor and worship their concept of deity should be a way of life. The next step is passing national laws determining what is a living being when human life starts, and what may be done about inconvenient untimely pregnancy. More than just teaching children our correct moral standards we must ensure they learn them by attending regular worship as a family. Our religion must be a way of life, not just a dream concept of a perfect life. We must show our children examples of our love of all people as our neighbors.

William Gerhard, Scipio