LETTERS: FIRST AMENDMENT BLAMED FOR TOO MUCH

To the editor:

A truckload of words has been spoken and written about the historic cross in Cape Girardeau. There are a few hecklers who, in their opinion, claim this violates the First Amendment. There has been no state-supported church like England had at the time this amendment was written. To claim the cross violates the First Amendment is reading something into it which is not there.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation jammers over incorporating the Ten Commandments into federal buildings. The Ten Commandments are the basis of law in every country of the world. Ask any competent lawyer this question: Who is the greatest lawgiver? The answer would not be Lycurgus of old Sparta or Solon of Athens or Blackwell of England or John Marshall of the United States. It is Moses, of course.

The manger scene on state or city property, the imprint on our coins, "under God" in the pledge of allegiance, the cross at Cape LaCroix Creek -- all these are not verboten by the First Amendment as some claim who try to be atheists. To make such arbitrary demands is a hard slap in the face of sound reasoning.

THE REV. WALTER J. KEISKER

Cape Girardeau