Your view: A response

I feel compelled to answer two recent opinion items in yournewspaper, as they both seem to be responding to a quotation I cited from an 1802 letter to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptist Association where Thomas Jefferson wrote about, "building a wall of separation between church and state."

A "Speakout" piece from January 8th titled "Quote accurately" implied that I praised Jefferson as a Socialist and that I claimed, "that Jefferson did not want 'Christian Principles' interring (sic) into the thoughts and affairs of American Government office holders, and public servants". I made no such claims. Indeed, it is my opinion that Jesus' overarching message of love, caring and concern for our fellow man should always be foremost in the minds of our public servants, as well as the citizenry, in creating and maintaining a good society, although these principles are not strictly Christian in nature.

In a "Your View" piece from January 16th titled "A new morning", a Mr. or Ms. "Name Withheld" accused me of being "academically dishonest"when I quoted the Danbury letter. "Name Withheld" said that I cited it as evidence that Jefferson agreed with a current liberal interpretation of the Establishment clause. I did no such thing. I cannot claim to know the difference between a "liberal" or "conservative" view of the Establishment clause, except to say that for some conservatives it appears to have been somehow completely omitted from their copies of the Constitution.

Although, from a literal point of view, The Bill Of Rights prescribes only how Congress can behave in restricting certain freedoms, Constitution protections of fundamental liberties would be effectively meaningless if the Judiciary did not interpret the protections broadly to apply to all levels of government, including the executive, through our Federalist system. What good is a liberty protected at the Federal level which is only then taken away at the whim of state or local jurisdictions?

"Name Withheld" mentioned several historical 18th and 19th century quotations from prominent jurists and politicians of the time as evidence that the United States was intended to be a "Christian" nation. Views in those times could be as divergent as they are now on the subject and I am unmoved by any of these quotations which, to my mind, the presumptions and prejudices of the individuals and the age. " Withheld" could just have easily quoted voluminous historical arguing the necessity and righteousness of the institution of slavery . Yet, no rational individual today calls the reinstatement of that shameful practice.

The Speakout caller went on to quote a rather confusing and obscure passage from an 1823 letter from Jefferson to John Adams which concluded with "...restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of the most venerated Reformer of human errors, Jesus Christ."

I went back and read this letter in it's entirety and the passage quoted did not seem as interesting or as relevant as the sentence that immediately preceded it where Jefferson wrote: "The truth is that the greatest enemies to the doctrines of Jesus are those calling themselves the expositors of them, who have perverted them for the structure of a system of fancy absolutely incomprehensible, and without any foundation in his genuine words."

Jefferson must have been thinking about the words of Jesus Christ who said, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." (Matthew 7, verse15, KJV)

I fear that false prophets are very much still amongst us...fermenting fear over hope, condemnation over understanding, hate overlove and scorn over forgiveness.

Gregory Sander

Springfield, IL (former Sikestonian)