DEAR EDITOR:

These days, you cannot be a Democrat and claim you are a Christian … without being a hypocrite. These are strong words indeed, so let me explain.

A half century ago, our country of Democrats and Republicans had much “common ground.” At that point in time, we both agreed that illegal immigrants were illegal, that misbehavior was to be punished not rewarded and that depravity was condemned, not condoned.

We both believed that limitations were for our governments, limitations were for the laws our government made and limitations were for what our government could do to us; limitations were not meant for our freedoms, our liberties, our rights or our opportunities.

Welfare was a helping hand but never a career. “Choice” was used to decide which opportunity to pursue or which school to go to, not whether we’d marry a man or a woman, or terminate a pregnancy.

We believed that children were best raised by their two parents, together, in a stable family. We agreed that children were to be reared to be productive and to be responsible for them, guided by the high morals and standards of those Republicans and Democrats before them. Anyone that misguided our children was to be shamed, not celebrated. We agreed.

Political correctness was for cowards. “Spin” was nothing more than a lie. And truth wasn’t truth without the three ingredients that make up the truth — truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

If someone was lazy, you called them “lazy” and laziness was scorned. Hard work and ambition was nurtured and rewarded. Both parties believed in John Wayne justice, Sheriff Andy common sense and a work ethic handed down from generations of Americans before us.

Democrats and Republicans alike lived by this “code,” believed in this code and felt it was their duty to pass this code on to the next generation, intact and stronger than before. But not anymore. For Democrats these days, it’s anything goes, do it now if it feels good and to hell with the “Code.” Boo God if you want to, celebrate those that corrupt our kids with their depravity and punish hard work with laws, taxes and restrictions. That is today’s Democrat.

So indeed, you can easily see that one cannot be a Democrat and be a Christian, or if you’d like to take the religion out of it, one cannot be a Democrat and have any morals or standards, without being a hypocrite. Progressive, liberal Democrats will scream that it is time to change that old, Christian Code. True Republicans know that the Codes of ethics, standards and morality are timeless.

The Devil truly is in the details that describe today’s Democrats.

Steve Marcinko

Marietta