Letter to the editor: Don’t judge that your faith is greater than your neigbor’s

The March 19 letter to the editor by Bob Tatum closed with Psalm 33:12a, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” That verse is one of great value today.

This verse does have great value, and as you will note, it does not name any religious group by name but is inclusive of all believers.

Our community is blessed in the service of more than a dozen churches, our Bible college, and those who may not attend or be members of any of these congregations are a part of God’s family and join in serving him in many ways. Loving God is not meant to be a competition between people, congregations or nations. However, through the ages, religion has been the center of horrible events in our world, nation, community and families. We all have the right to our opinions, religious political, and personal beliefs. How can we truly judge whether our faith is more pure than our neighbors?

Another verse Tatum shared was Psalm 111:10 “… the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Our community is blessed with people, from all walks of life and corners of our world, who come for employment, education, to visit or retire. May we respect our Lord’s family and open our arms, minds, and hearts to our differences as well as rejoicing in our likeness. May we use the wisdom that we are blessed with to build positive respectful relationships without using “religion” to divide our friendships, communities, state and nation.

Our nation is “One Nation Under God.” We can use our religious and political voices to divide or we can use our wisdom to bring respect for our neighbors and leaders and build upon our differences to help find solutions. We do face difficult times. It is time we join with one voice and lift our prayers to our Lord. I believe his arms are open.

May we reflect upon the words of that special song “Bind Us Together.”

Joan Hoffman

Ellendale, N.D.

Tags: opinion, letters, religion