LETTERS: U.S. WON'T BE UNDULY INFLUENCED BY EUROPEANS

To the editor:

I would like to respond to an article regarding the death penalty, "Europeans hold U.S. to higher standards than China."

The article said Western Europe has long outlawed capital punishment. The article as much as indicated that Americans are barbaric in such practice. How humane is it when murderers brutally take the life of a fellow human being? What Europeans choose to do in this respect is their business. However, Americans will not be influenced nor intimidated by what others think or do.

Can those who are against capital punishment tell me the difference between capital punishment and war? Most of the wars in which the United States was involved were either started or reinforced by European countries. We were forced by circumstances to defend ourselves as a nation.

When it comes to capital punishment, there is a divine directive. Even Christ, the Prince of Peace, declared in no uncertain terms: "Whoso takes the sword shall perish by the sword." And St. Paul wrote by inspiration of God: The civil government "bears not the sword in vain, she is God's minister to execute judgment on those that do evil." The sword in this passage is a symbol of capital punishment.

Let Europeans and others chafe about capital punishment. We will stand firm and do the things we see as right and proper and in harmony with divine law and order.

LEONARD A. KUEHNERT

Altenburg, Mo.