LETTERS: FIRST RULE: TREAT EACH OTHER EQUALLY

To the editor:

Your paper seems to carry a considerable number of opinions addressing Christianity, asking what it means to be Christian and how important it is to pass on the Christian word of God. There has been debate over whether God wants us to smoke or not, whether God wants us to look at people who smoke, whether a boy should be allowed to attend school with long hair, whether God says we should listen to rock music or not. The list is long with strong opinions. I assure you I enjoy reading and considering each and every one.

I know many people feel that these are important issues, and they are certainly issues worth discussing. With all due respect, I ask these people and other community members to consider some larger issues. These are problems that are carried in our very same community paper. On Oct. 2, a small article was written about a "mob of people" burning crosses and chanting "white power." Recently, another article was carried outlining the gruesome details of a black man burned to death by a man who thought himself better. Other articles describe instances of child abuse, spousal abuse, drug abuse. All around us, people are hurting others in an effort to prove they are better than somebody else. The syndicated columnist, Mona Charen, calls women "ignorant" and "uninformed" and expresses the opinion that women do not deserve to vote. Claims also have been made in the past that wife assault and abuse are barely social issues worth addressing. One couldn't help but feel from these articles that women are not equal members of society. It's as if we have some innate need to feel bigger and better than the person next to us. I hope this isn't so. Without continuing the list of articles in our local paper that show hatred of one sort or another, I implore Christians and otherwise to take a good look at what is going on around us.

We are all human beings. We all have the right to life, liberty and dignity. Just as our university officials are addressing the inequities at SEMO, we need to look at the inequities we see every day. We need to look at our neighbor and assess whether we are regarding him or her as equal. Whether they are Christian or not, black or white, men or women, child or adult, able-bodied or disabled, affluent or poor, small or large, healthy or ill, we are all human. We all bleed when we are cut, and we all hurt when there is hatred.

Please acknowledge your neighbor as equal and threat him as such. Whether you are Christian or not, I am sure you will agree that respect for others is something we all need to champion. Perhaps if we address the very core issues of bigotry, prejudice and hatred and practice as well as teach respect for fellow human beings, then the other issues might fall into place themselves. We must first take responsibility for our own actions and attempt to help ourselves before we ask for divine intervention. I'm sure God would want that too.

KIM JOHNS

Cape Girardeau