I am 50 and from Rochester. I am also a Christian as well as a realist. Our city doesn't have the only claim on violence; it's cities worldwide. Brazil has 'hoods, only the military goes in; same with Haiti.

America is failing and becoming like past historical cities that turned from God. Churches and Catholic schools are closing due to membership drops. We are coddling criminals. Parents can't deal with kids. Music has deteriorated into hymns to violence, brainwashing youth with hypnotic beats and rhyming lyrics. I fear greatly how degenerate youth and cities will be in 10 to 20 years.

The new motto is, "We're a free country, so let's do what makes us feel good." Not what's proper, decent, and right. What happened to "God is watching; let's make him proud and do right"?

RICHARD GOODE, ROCHESTER