LTTE
Why is it so difficult for many Americans to understand that although they have freedom of religion the government does not?
I live in Elizabeth, but I want to tell everyone how much I appreciate Mayor Colombo. He is standing up for 99 percent of the people in the United States who are tired of one percent telling us how to live our lives. Who is the Freedom From Religion Foundation? They are a few people who have some money. They think they can push the rest of the country around anytime they want.
If the people in Parkersburg, Ripley and Wood County stand up against them and fight them in court, they will not have enough money to go to court. We all need to say enough is enough. I plan to take a check to Parkersburg for the legal defense fund against unfair lawsuits, and I challenge everyone else who reads this to do the same.
It’s time to stand up for our right to believe in a power higher than the Freedom From Religion Fund. May God bless the United States of America.
Rev. Charles Leisure
Elizabeth
We want to wholeheartedly support Mayor Colombo, Councilman Rockhold, and council members for their comments and convictions in the article on July 7 about the removal of prayer from the council meetings. While we are supportive of the right to participate in public prayer, it seems to us that the current situation is the best opportunity for those who don’t hold Christian values or belief in prayer. Elliot was quoted in the article as stating that the current arrangement “requires residents ‘to either make a public show of their nonbelief or show deference to a religious sentiment that they do not believe in.” It seems to me that if someone held strong convictions that they would seize the opportunity to display that belief rather than cower, defer, or rely on an outsider to voice his nonbelief.
If you look at great nations throughout history, you will see that most followed a cycle from bondage to spiritual faith to great courage to liberty to abundance to selfishness to complacency to apathy to moral decay to dependence and a return to bondage. It is easy to line up America’s history with this cycle. What one generation fought for, another is willingly surrendering.
We live in a religious country. Rubbing shoulders every day with those who practice religions such as Christianity, Islam, etc. We are all guilty of worshiping our own gods of power, materialism, etc. We are indeed a very religious melting pot.
There was another culture who displayed this religious fervor. Not wanting to overlook anyone, offend anyone, or ignore anyone unintentionally, they erected a monument to an “unknown god” to cover all bases. If the Apostle Paul were here today, we believe he, the self-proclaimed chief of all sinners, would repeat his words verbatim.
Most of history’s great nations fell from powers from within, not from outside attacks. It rests on the shoulders of those who believe to stand firm and turn the hearts of the children back to their Father. This starts with individuals, then spreads to our families, to churches, through neighborhoods, across cities, permeating states, and directing this country to a place of power and faith.
Thank you Mayor and council members. We pray you continue to hold fast to your beliefs and that you are joined by a multitude of like-minded people as we strive to protect and champion our freedoms and faith.
The Leadership of the First Baptist Church of Williamstown
One would think that pastors and such folk would understand that if they can impose their religion on others, it’s not out of the question that someday they may be the ones imposed upon. The Danbury Baptists understood this more than 200 years ago.