To the Editor:
In the last 24 hours, almost 30 people have lost their lives to the madness that has overcome our country. White supremacists and religious bigots have decided that life is a zero-sum game, where any openness displayed to one person is assumed to be at the cost of another. However, an immigrant who believes in the words of Emma Lazarus, “Give me your tired, your poor...” does not diminish the blessings that all of us in this country enjoy. In an economy with record low unemployment, a woman or African-American who finds profitable employment does not do so at a cost to anyone else in this society. A person who worships in a temple or mosque does nothing to hinder those who worship in a cathedral or ashram. As our very articulate pastor at Putnam Presbyterian observes, God’s love extends equally to each and every one of his children.
I don’t know how much worse our gun violence in this country must become before all of us decide that there must be an end to it, but inaction at this point only invites mass killing into every state and town in the country. Ticonderoga, Moriah, Putnam, Dresden and other communities in the reach of this paper will not be exempt. Is it enough when you come to bury one of your own family members? Can you believe that God’s mercy extends to all of your neighbors without regard to nationality, race, gender or political persuasion? When have you had enough?
- Richard Barney, Ticonderoga
