Dear Sir,

Is it true that black lives matter? What a rhetorical and mischievous query this is. Of course black lives matter, given the sanctity of all human life.

Life is a gift bestowed by God on all mankind and as such should be hallowed as precious in the universe. Alas, life is cheap everywhere, as evidenced by the murder rate in every corner of this troubled planet:

• Innocent people gunned down in a nightclub by crazed fanatics that promote world acceptance of their religion by lethal force

• A public celebration invaded by a huge truck where a huge crowd is gathered to enjoy a time of fellowship for Bastille Day in France; 84 killed after being run with depraved indifference

Every day people are stabbed and shot or bombed by those willing to commit suicidal martyrdom to advance an extremist agenda and to promote terrorism around the world by any means necessary. All lives matter for a peaceful and harmonious world that is now a dangerous place wherever you go.

Just perform an historical scan of man’s debauchery and you will see, regardless of skin hue, the cruelty of man’s inhumanity to man. No single group by geography can claim moral superiority and point fingers at others — we have all fallen short most miserably in the divine injunction “Thou shalt not kill”.

This world is in need of redemption and divine renewal, which are provided in the change that is provided by God in the sacrificial death of his son 2,000 years ago. All lives matter to God and He loves us all without distinction or preference to skin hue or culture. As a matter of fact, He wants us to experience the real fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

In conclusion, it is my desire to show that what really matters is God’s love for mankind and His eventual intervention in the affairs of man by the return of Christ to a fallen world and putting an end to hate, division and wholesale murder of all lives by any and all racial groups.

Let’s be clear, no member of the law-abiding public should be shot in the back by those entrusted to provide enforcement of the same laws for a civilised society, especially when unarmed, no matter what colour the victim or the shooter happen to be. Because all lives matter.

The old Sunday school chorus says it best: “yellow, black or white, we are precious in His sight”.

It is most regrettable that old wounds are being opened and given the black and white division with a 21st-century application, as if this is the only and most important division in a world beset with acrimony and strife of every description, irrespective of skin colour with hatred and bloodshed everywhere, But notwithstanding that, all lives matter to God without preference to any single group.

For God so loved the world that He gave his only son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. All lives matter.

WAYNE B SCOTT