‘I swear there ain’t no heaven, but I pray there ain’t no hell’

To the editor:

Tom Anderson’s treatise on forgiveness and Nelson Mandela (Frontiersman, July 14) deserves congratulations. It was accurate, positive and important. Thank you, sir.

I would add that as exemplary as it is to meet the injustice of apartheid and the danger of ignorance with non-violence and dignity, it is more important to render those reactions unnecessary.

Quotations like “the strong shall not oppress the weak,” “treat others as we would like to be treated,” and “strive to become like our children, not to raise them to become like ourselves” are all good efforts at teaching us moral evolution. Unfortunately, the world is too much controlled by those who function under “there is none so blind as he who will not see.”

To me it’s simple: Despite the plethora of religious institutions, groups, leaders, texts, etc., the percentage of true believers in a just and loving God is far less than righteous political badinage would have us believe, because the selfish, the evil, the cruel and dishonest would be scared feces-less to behave as they do!

Perhaps they operate under a philosophy inspired by the lyrics of Blood, Sweat and Tears: “I swear there ain’t no heaven, but I pray there ain’t no hell.”

Carol Neuerman

Palmer