Dear Editor:

The letter “Christian patriots” asserts that “this nation is and always will be a christian nation.” This is not what our constitution says nor the preponderance of judicial precedent. But we are a nation of Christians Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindu and capitalists each worshiping our gods in our own way and each bringing our world views and values to our cultural melting pot.

What is critical, and the “Christian patriot” seems to dismiss, is that religion is not in the constitutional purview of our government. With a few minor exceptions Christian nationalists have had some incursions over the wall separating religion and state as listed by “Christian patriot.” The Project 2025 agenda makes it very clear that it is the government that will be the arbiter of what constitutes the proper religion for the people of our nation.

Christian nationalism is a crisis of faith precisely because those who wish to wield the bludgeon of government to judge and punish people who do not conform to their interpretation of religious practice, have not put their faith in God, but in government.

Religious instruction is best left to parents and theologians, not the heavy hand of government or corrupt politicians. If we wish others to adopt Christian values, let’s start by practicing the core Christian values of love, tolerance, patience, humility and generosity.

If one truly trusts in God, as our national motto suggests, then let us trust in God and leave the judging and punishing to God. James 4:12 tells us “There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”

Yet judging and punishing is what the Project 2025 agenda is about. It is a radical blueprint to curtail religious freedom and end the rule of law that protects those freedoms. It is our patriotic duty to oppose it as if our freedoms depended upon it. A true patriot may wish to consider supporting “Democracy 2025,”  a coalition of organizations working to protect our freedoms from this very real threat to our traditions, civil society and culture.

Fred W. Nehring

Boothbay