THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 23, 1995 TAG: 9508220011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
Our government - local to national - has had much to do on the whole student's preparedness for a meaningful life. Our government replaced the Christian heritage of our country in the atmosphere of our public school with secular humanism, the anti-god approach to life's direction.
I have talked with a number of school principals, a superintendent and school boards about having an elective on character-building. The response has been silence or excuses.
Think of the consequences we have seen in many students during the past several decades because of schools turning away from God. We have had a horrible increase in crime plus dropouts, teen pregnancies, AIDS, abortions, suicides, rapes, lives damaged from alcohol and drugs, etc. Our public schools are permitted to, and do, hand out condoms to the students, but not a word on the love, guidance and abundant life Jesus Christ offers all.
Presently our national government is attempting to deal with the many moral problems by way of the crime bill - more police, more prisons, longer sentences, etc. We do need to punish the wrongdoers, but no mention is made of character-building in our public schools or the change of heart that comes only by turning to God's values.
JAMES M. LEGO
Chesapeake, July 31, 1995 by CNB