Letters: Teaching kids religion, respect will make all the difference

Shortly after the tragic shootings in Charleston, I heard a black female leader saying that instead of teaching our young people readin’, ’ritin’ and ’rithmetic, we should teach them religion, respect and race. I certainly agree on the first two, but I think one reason for our cultural divide is that we have been teaching race.

Many whites have been taught to distrust blacks, and many blacks have been taught to distrust whites. And many of our youth have been taught disregard for themselves and each other. If they are taught religion by exemplary leaders, they will realize that we all have been created by a loving God who values each of us equally.

Self-respect and respect for others surely will follow, and this will breed other positive “r” results such as reason, reverence, responsibility, reliability, reconciliation and rebirth.

These “r” words can replace such negatives as rage, rancor, retaliation, revenge and rivalry that these years of our having taught race have fostered.

When I learned that Dylann Roof had lived in and around Columbia, I was saddened to think of the literally hundreds of churches that missed an opportunity to impact his life in a positive way. We must do better, not just here but worldwide.

It is time for all Christians, and all religions, to unite and imbue all of our children with the knowledge that no matter our race or nationality, all of us are important and have a positive role to play in God’s world.

We must reclaim our lost youth and prevent others from being lost.

This story was originally published August 4, 2015 at 7:15 PM with the headline "Letters: Teaching kids religion, respect will make all the difference."