We read in the same papers of a man in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, observed by a witness tossing his four young children, ranging in age from a few months to 3 years, off a coastal bridge to their deaths a day after reporting them missing and claiming a woman had taken them.
All three of the above cases are instances of premeditated, cold-blooded murder. Our American system of jurisprudence is the best in the world. We preserve the right of trial by jury and even after a jury conviction the public is learning from reading about the Morris case that a separate hearing is then held in which either the jury or the judge (the convicted murderer gets to choose which) decides whether or not to impose the death penalty, which in truth should be renamed the "Sanctity of Life Guarantee."
When someone kills another in cold-blooded, premeditated murder, that individual is not only breaking the commandment: "Thou Shalt Not Kill" but is also striking at the giver of the commandment, God himself, both by violating the commandment and murdering another individual created in the image of God.
God instructed Noah: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."
Capital punishment is respecting and upholding and honoring the commandment not to murder another made in the image of God. It is not running afoul of it.
Man's law is working in conjunction with God's law and upholding the sanctity and dignity of human life.
R. Martin Palmer
Hagerstown
Help fight heart defects in children
To the editor:
This month of February, Jimmy and I will be spreading awareness about children's heart defects. We had Heart Sunday at Shiloh United Methodist Church Feb. 10. Feb. 10-15 I will be having a display at the Waynesboro Day Care Center, along with parent information.
Feb. 14 we will be at Liberty Mountain for Children's Heart Defect Day. Liberty Mountain is doing activities all month to raise money for the American Heart Association. I will also be doing a presentation at MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) Feb. 20.
This is one way Jimmy and I feel we can give back and make the most out of the life and everyday challenges we have with our daughter.
Facts:
· About 40,000 children are born with a heart defect each year.
· At least eight of every 1,000 infants born each year have a heart defect.
· About 1 million Americans with cardiovascular defects are alive today.
· Congenital heart defects are a common birth defect and the No. 1 cause of birth defect related deaths
· The cause of most heart defects is unknown.
· Anyone can have a child born with a heart defect.
Angela Koontz
Hagerstown
Smoking isn't our only worry
To the editor:
Here is some things to think about, although they probably will not change your mind: Chemicals in the air you breathe from cars, trucks, factories, even your home. Chemicals in the food you eat. Chemicals in the water you drink. Lead in your childrens toys.
People who have a few drinks and get behind the wheel of a car. People who shoot innocent people just because they are there. People selling drugs to our children. Guns in the hands of children. People driving and using their cell phones. Road rage. Speeding.
All these can change a person's life forever. But let's run the smokers out of Maryland and all will be well. As you can see, second-hand smoke should be the least of your worries. We all know smoking is a bad habit, but think about all these things - people will still die from one thing or the other.
Lisa Cosens
Smithsburg
