Stephen Chapman’s column “From Religious peace to religious war” (Op-Ed, Dec. 3) complemented very well the excellent Nov. 26 editorial titled “The establishment of religion.” Both of these commentaries note that two drafts currently being offered as amendments to the Constitution seek to ensure the right of Americans to freely express and affirm their religious convictions, surely a laudable aim.
Unfortunately, as the pieces show, the amendments would have just the opposite effect by allowing (or requiring) the government to intrude in spheres reserved by the Constitution to individual conscience and belief. Because of the diversity of beliefs–a large part of our country’s strength–the Constitution was wisely crafted to erect “a wall of separation between Church and State.”
To infringe this wall would seriously threaten the foundations that have served our state so well and would threaten the freedom and tolerance of the very beliefs the authors of these drafts are trying to strengthen.
Some 50 years ago, a group of Americans formed an organization, known today as Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which aimed exactly to preserve this Constitutional precept by recalling it to public view when situations arose which encroached on it. The Tribune editorial and Chapman’s column perform just this educational mission. I applaud your service to preservation of our freedoms. It is, I think, in the best tradition of journalism.
