I always laugh when I remember one of my father-in-law’s favorite quips: “Everyone is entitled to their own wrong opinion.” Dare I write a letter to the editor expressing my wrong opinion? Or dare I write a letter seeking answers based on truth? What would possess a man, Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, to take the life of another man, George Floyd?
Thou shall not kill, steal or bear false witness. Whatever his sufferings in life, Chauvin’s sin and feelings of hopelessness and despair caused him to sell his soul to the devil.
I am a child of God, and whoever believes in Jesus is my brother and sister. I stand united with those who protest for an end to the problems of social and economic injustice. Why haven’t government leaders kept their promises for economic investments to revitalize our poor communities? The investment is an investment in the family, the core of our society. A strong family builds a strong community, a strong community builds a strong state and a strong state builds a strong nation.
The truth is plain and simple. We can choose life or death, love or hatred, good or evil. What possesses a man to take the life of another man? The devil. God offered the first man and woman the choice between obedient love and self-seeking death. The choice remains ours to make each day and starts in the heart of every person. There is a mystery to our human existence that we must seek to understand, and this is the truth.
Annette O’Donnell
Hempfield