LETTER — LaClair: What god does Steve Rogers think Americans are forsaking?

To the Editor:

Steven L. Rogers laments that our nation is in danger because we are “forsaking our God.” Which god, pray tell, is that?

Is it the god European settlers worshipped when they displaced the indigenous peoples from their land, murdering any who got in the way?

Is it the god the Confederate states put into their Constitution when they tried to keep slavery? Perhaps it was the god their forbears worshiped when they kidnapped people from Africa and brought them here on boats. That god?

Is it the god most of the country worshipped when we overthrew democracies to make sure we had plenty of cheap oil? Is that the same god who warned against selling ourselves for 30 pieces of silver; or the one who supposedly asked what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?

Fact is, our arms are too short to reach what Mr. Rogers calls God. Whether there is a god or there isn’t, no one is in a position to lecture others about it, or demand how others should see it. They can only do damage, and they have, and they do.

It is so simple, and yet so hard.

If we want to build a better world, then honor every person, treating everyone with respect and dignity. Lecturing people about something no one knows anything about can only make a tough situation worse.

Perhaps someday, we will admit this simple fact, and move into a truly brighter future.

Paul L. LaClair
Kearny