Letter: Before we punish kids, teach them

Tuesday, May 4, 1999 | 6:36 a.m.

This culture we are breeding in our public schools of moral relevance is playing itself out before our eyes. We teach our kids the following: It's OK to steal if you're starving or if it's from someone who can afford it; it's OK to lie (even under oath) to protect your family or job; and it's OK to kill, in fact it is a constitutional right, when something is considered an inconvenience.

Taking these kids to the woodshed for disobedience would be criminal. First let's be crisp, clear and not muddle up the rules with a bunch of nonsense. It's about time our kids learn: Thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shall not commit adultery, thou shall not bear false witness, thou shall not covet. Honor your mother and father.

This is the standard our kids need, God's standard. But we have forsaken God out of our public schools. The Bible says very clearly that if you are not for God you are against him. We are reopening the fruit of a godless system when our children kill each other. Guns do not kill, kids kill. Take away all the guns and they will just get knives.

The real solution would be to get on our knees and repent before God and turn back to his standard rules for living. It's not impossible, just a little humbling, to acknowledge our ways have failed. Let's teach our own children right from wrong.

KAREN FREHNER