Continuing the debate on religion, secularism and neutrality
OPINION — In his response to my earlier letter, the original writer defends himself by saying that he wrote “Not a theocracy. Not an established church.” However, he conveniently ignores the exact words he wrote in an even earlier letter to this paper: “America is a Christian Nation.” More importantly, he misrepresents how I used the phrase “public life.”
He wrote that I “imply that Christian convictions belong in private while secular convictions remain free to shape public life.” I don’t merely imply that, I believe it – but only when the phrase “public life” is properly understood.
When I say “public life,” I mean the public life administered by the government that we all pay for. That administration must remain completely neutral and free of any hint of religious coercion.
As the Supreme Court held in Lynch v Donnelly, 465 US 668, “The principle that government may accommodate the free exercise of religion does not supersede the fundamental limitations imposed by the Establishment Clause, which guarantees at a minimum that a government may not coerce anyone to support or participate in religion or its exercise, or otherwise act in a way which "establishes a religion or religious faith, or tends to do so." The original writer would seemingly reverse this important guidance, which suggests we can be an officially Christian nation that tolerates other religions. Both the Constitution and the Supreme Court say otherwise.
He also sets up a straw man when he closes his letter with, “Religious liberty means that Americans have the right to pray in public,” implying that I somehow disagree. That would be comical if it weren’t so misleading. Every American's free exercise of religion is welcome and encouraged but, like the right to swing your fist, it ends at the “tip of my nose.”
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