Since when do voting parishioners become the "lees and dregs" of society, and pastors mere doltish knaves, while the scorn-filled local editor sits high atop his ivory tower, hoarding the 1st Amendment pie, imagining himself more worthy of a larger piece of freedom? Wouldst that all the area's citizens to find themselves worthy of such participatory ire, but since over 70 percent chose not to vote in the last election, Mr. Patrick feels it incumbent upon himself to fling indignation (from such said tower) down onto the surly serfs below who did make the effort to vote! Claiming, in the process, along with Mr. Morse, a possible breach of one of the most irresponsibly passed pieces of legislation, the 1954 Johnson Amendment, which is no less than IRS "hush" money gifted to churches in the original version of the "Silence of the Lambs" (and their shepherds).

The amendment's repeal is long overdue, noting that two diametric laws cannot occupy the same legal territory in Constitutional Americana. Judicial schizophrenia aside, either United States citizens have a right to expression or they do not, and the First Amendment says that we do! And contrary to David Adler's Machiavelli quote, Christians are not all about the hear-after. If professor Adler wants to know what the Christian religion is all about he should make the effort to research the words of its founder (historically attributed to Jesus), who exhorted his followers to "feed the hungry, take in strangers, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and visit the imprisoned." Isn't that exactly what local nonprofit ministries such as St. Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army, and the Union Gospel Mission do, along with scores of churches?

Mr. Adler may be a Constitutional scholar, but his historicity is somewhat incomplete, declaring at the end of his May library lecture that "many" of the Founders were Deist. Not true. As a matter of historical record, at the most, only four among the 55 delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention were deists, but believers nonetheless, including: Ben Franklin, Cornelius Harnett, Hugh Williamson, and James Wilson. And in response to the Press Editor's final question (at the same lecture) about America being a Christian nation, the professor claimed "No!" citing only one reference, viz. Article 11 of the Tripoli Treaty (1796), but without explaining the extenuating circumstances of the situation, which would have provided essential context. Without context we are left with a mere pretext, wherein erroneous conclusions are easily drawn.

The rest of the story is: America was under great pressure from Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis due to (their) marauding pirates who were confiscating both U.S. ships and sailors off the Barbary Coast (Northern Africa). In the Tripoli Treaty the U.S. declared itself "a non-Christian nation" for the sake of the treaty itself because the Muslims would not enter into a lasting agreement with "Christian infidels." Consequently, an angry Thomas Jefferson and a reinvigorated U.S. Navy (along with the Marine Corps) soon rectified the situation, wherein the Marines now proudly include "to the shores of Tripoli" in their official hymn.

Why didn't Mr. Adler quote the Treaty of Paris in the "Christian nation" question? That treaty, which ended eight years of Revolutionary War, opens with, "In the name of the holy and undivided trinity," and is signed at its conclusion, "In the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three," endorsed by J. Adams, B. Franklin, J. Jay, and British diplomat, David Hartley the younger.

Neither did Mr. Adler quote President Wilson's 1913 remarks, ". . . we were born a Christian nation. . ." Or President Truman's 1947 letter to Pope Pius XII, saying of America, "This is a Christian nation." Or, one of many outspoken "religious" comments from Roger Sherman, who was the only Founding Father to sign all four of our major founding documents: The Articles of Association, The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, and The Constitution of the United States. One such comment from Mr. Sherman, an objection, while in Congress, hearing that the War Committee was going to allow 500 hundred lashes at a soldier's court-martial, wherein Mr. Sherman successfully opposed the proposal, basing his arguments on Deuteronomy 25:3, "You must not exceed forty stripes, lest the offended seem contemptible to thee." But what about violating that sacred "wall" thing? Ironically, Roger Sherman, a lawyer and judge, was on the very committee which decided the actual wording of the First Amendment, which was ratified long before Thomas Jefferson's infamous Danbury Baptist letter "separation" quote of Jan. 1, 1802.

For a more balanced approach to our religious freedoms than those of David Adler, next time invite chief counsel Jay Sekulow of the A.C.L.J. (American Center for Law and Justice) to speak; a lawyer who actually defends religious rights before the Supreme Court of the United States. And to those who are hostile to the religiosity of our Founders (1607 -1787), don't be so quick to spurn their ecclesiastical treasures! Faith can be an incredible asset!

Dan Cooper is a Post Falls resident.