To the editor:

Have there been bad things in our country’s past? Certainly. But shouldn’t we also remember things like the following?

Between 1560 and 1600 there were eight religious wars in France.

On Aug. 24, 1572, religiously motivated slaughter erupted in Paris and then spread to much of France, resulting in the death of thousands.

A third of a century of war in central Europe from 1618 to 1648, with its attendant waves of disease, destruction, and devastation, arose from religious differences. The English Civil War, too (1642-1651), was in large part caused by religious differences.

When Louis XIV of France (of “I am the state” fame) revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the ensuing persecution led to no end of misery and death, as well as the destruction of hundreds of churches and the emigration of hundreds of thousands of people.

Such is the tragic tale in the absence of a policy of religious liberty. Where did that way of reducing human conflict, not to mention respecting a basic right, finally take real root? In the United States of America. Wouldn’t we all agree that history like this should be diligently transmitted to the next generation – in our homes, and in our schools?

From New Ulm: Hope Friese, Kate Harris, Duane Hauser, Terry Turbes, R.E. Wehrwein, Erin Wiltscheck

Lisa Fischer, Courtland

Mary Fischer, Hanska

Julie Schumacher, Sleepy Eye