Richard Hundahl’s August 11 letter titled “Country needs to turn back to God” demonstrates the too-common problem of offering simplistic platitudes as solutions to the complex problems tht our diverse and free society faces. He states that “our nation needed to return to the Biblical principles of right and wrong based on the sovereignty of God.” Sounds good, doesn’t it? But dig a little deeper.
Our country was founded on several living documents, including the Magna Carta (1215) and the British Constitution – not the Bible. The Magna Carta was originally developed to limit a king’s power in the wake of his disastrous foreign wars – perhaps a cautionary tale for today’s volatile political climate.
The “founding principles” Mr. Hundahl refers to as “right and wrong” are not moral codes from the Bible or the Koran or the Talmud, but rather the principles of liberty. The concept that we need rules for a civil society go back as far as Plato and Socrates.
Some of us do indeed believe that these founding principles are divinely inspired. However, how one chooses to worship such a divinity, or whether one doesn’t worship at all, must remain a sacred freedom. Such a marvelous process even allows individuals to express opinions, even when they are uncluttered by fact.
Arlington
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