Thank you for the recent editorial on the importance of the separation of church and state (“Religious freedom at core of Constitution,” The Columbian, April 27). I appreciated that The Columbian turned the tables in the first sentence to help people understand what it would feel like if non-Christians were trying to improperly impose their religions on the public the way the Bremerton coach has done.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State has a lot of good educational material on this topic. Author Frank Breslin wrote this insightful paragraph in AU’s magazine on the history of the First Amendment:
“It was imperative that government stay out of religion, neither encouraging nor impeding its practice. It makes admirable sense since every religion or even non-religion is thereby protected; every faith is of equal value since government plays a neutral role — plays a neutral role, that is, except when one religion or denomination harasses or persecutes another faith’s members … Government then intervenes to protect the innocent.” (Americans United, March 1)
If that doesn’t explain it well enough, watch “Reign” on Netflix, which illustrates the bloodshed that resulted in Europe for hundreds of years because of the interference of religion in government.
