Where is nation that pulls together?

To the editor:

Watching the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I was appalled at the moral devastation on display. It's becoming clearer that our removal of God and anything that pertains to him from our schools, courthouses and lives isn't working. We're better fed, better paid and more educated than ever, yet we continue a downward spiral of self-control, responsibility and accountability. Forty years ago during a blackout in New York, order prevailed and citizens went out in the streets to direct traffic. People helped each other. When it was over, many were left with an upbeat spirit. Fast forward to New Orleans where tourists were beaten and robbed, women raped, rescuers in helicopters were fired upon, looters broke into a hospital and nursing-home patients were left to die as staff abandoned them. How did we digress to a country where disaster brings out human nature at its worst?

We can only wonder if this disaster had occurred in a society that practiced the Golden Rule and followed the Ten Commandments if we'd have seen more scenes of neighbors helping each other instead of preying upon another. We should be more concerned about making sure our nation's moral levees are rebuilt, rather than the levees in Louisiana. Americans should hold each other accountable for the despicable acts demonstrated in Louisiana. It would be great not to be black, white, liberal, conservative, Republican and Democrat but Americans eager to help fellow Americans again, Americans who call wrong behavior wrong, regardless of color, religion or family.

LANCE HAHN, Millersville