Punishment has biblical precedent

I would like to respond to two recent articles in "Speak Out." The one, titled "Psychological defense," seems to defend the wicked deeds of such people as Hitler, Osama bin Laden and the Nebraska bank robbers. I would like to ask the writer of the above-mentioned article where his or her sense of right and wrong is.

The Holy Scriptures state: "The wicked shall die in their sin." Let's keep our thinking straight; where there's no repentance, there's no forgiveness. One of the purposes of civil government is to punish the evildoer.

The other article, titled "Turn the other cheek," misrepresents Christ. Yes, Christ said to "turn the other cheek." By this, he did not condone wickedness. Christ said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's." St. Paul, a great apostle of Christ, wrote: "She (the civil government) bears not the sword in vain, she is God's minister to execute judgment upon those that do evil."

What would have happened if the United States had not defended itself after being attacked at Pearl Harbor? We would have been overrun by a pagan nation and possibly would have lost our religious freedom.LEONARD A. KUEHNERT

Altenburg, Mo.