Put yourself in others' shoes

To the editor:

I love my county. I love my church. I love my family. When I attended public schools in the 1960s and 1970s (including college), I prayed often, and nobody knew I was doing it. I have prayed in school and in public all my life, but I never caused a fuss, because I didn't need official sanction, a loudly announced time at the school's flagpole or on national TV. I did not need a mandated moment of silence in order to accomplish this task, just a few words between God and me.

I also said the Pledge of Allegiance without irony or coercion, and I do not drop the "under God." But I did wonder how I would have felt about the whole exercise if I didn't believe in God and was being made to recite the pledge. When I wonder how other people who do not believe 100 percent of what I believe would feel, does this mean I'm an immoral, heathen, non-patriot, non-Christlike Democrat who people like Limbaugh, Rove, FOX News, O'Reilly, Hannity and other Republicans have described me?

My mom and dad had always taught my sisters, brother and me: "Before you start criticizing (or name calling) someone, put yourself in their shoes and wonder how they would have felt." That is the Christlike thing to do.

NANCY AYERS, Cape Girardeau