To the editor:

It seems like a little thing. When I invite someone for a visit, I am uncomfortable saying, “Would you like to come to my house?” It’s not that I don’t want company; it’s just not my house. The house I live in with my wife belongs to the both of us. I feel uncomfortable giving off any impression I am the sole owner.

The suspect in the shooting at the bar and grill in Olathe is alleged to have said, “Get out of my country.” As citizens we owe allegiance to our country, and in that sense this is my country. But this language seems to have taken on a different meaning: If you do not conform to my views and dictates, get out, as in an expansion of “America: love it or leave it.”

Our country has two historic and foundational mottoes, and both need to be expressed and believed: “E pluribus unum” and “In God We Trust.” Some conservatives and liberals have expressed concern over one overshadowing the other, but both are essential for our country’s survival as a democracy. It is quite evident the founders believed the survival of a democracy was tied to a citizenry with faith in God, but just as important was the firm belief in the freedom not to believe, and yet unite and create “a more perfect union.” “United we stand, divided we fall” – another appropriate motto from our collective history.