Religion part of national identity
In his half-page anti-religion screed (“Let’s affirm secular governance,” Opinion, May 30), retired professor Lucas Carpenter wrongly asserts that the United States has an “unabashedly secular foundation” and “secular identity.” Actually our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, refers to Nature’s God and the Creator who endows all men “with certain unalienable Rights.” The Declaration is part of America’s “organic law,” the legal foundation for our government. According to President Barack Obama, a former Constitutional professor, “Our law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in Judeo-Christian tradition.” Our money displays our national motto, “In God We Trust.” Our Pledge of Allegiance affirms we’re “one nation, under God.” Almost every state constitution acknowledges God. Georgia’s preamble says, “we the people of Georgia, relying upon the protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution.” To deny the historical importance of religion in American governance is to deny our national identity.
CHARLES D. EDEN, ATLANTA
Beliefs are bedrock of secular state
Plaudits to Professor Carpenter.He has put the religious convictions of each of us in the proper context as they relate to our government. He provides what many of us believe to be the consensus American view as our society matures into the 21st century. I do wish, however, that he had gone a bit further. He could have and should have added that the amalgamation of the varying religious beliefs among Americans plays a critical role in shaping the very secular state that he advocates. It is in the legislative process that our secular state finds its form, and that form is a consolidation of the most generally accepted religious and cultural beliefs that are brought to bear as the legislature hammers out our political structure. Religious beliefs play a far more significant role than merely to enrich one’s spiritual life. Those that survive are the very foundation blocks of our secular state.
WILLIAM O. MILLER, ATLANTA
Bigotry holding back human race
As I see it, our species has evolved in such a way that we have learned how important education is. With education there also comes a huge responsibility. Accepting each other is part of that responsibility. Bigotry has no place except in our history books. Those of us who hold on to practices that harm others, whether they be people of color, caucasians, the LGBT community, etc., are ignoring facts that have been proven beyond any doubt through scientific and historical research. To ignore these facts only slows the evolution of humans to become spiritually higher individuals. For the sake of the human race, we must continue to evolve in an upward trajectory or face the consequences.
MICHAEL DE GIVE, DECATUR
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