Open letter to Jerry Falwell on his despicable comments

Meant to post this earlier, but I'm backlogged. Originally sent to him 11/23/2004:

I hope that this message may get you to think twice from displaying your vile, anti-christian vitriol such as calling, "Americans United for Separation of Church and State" an "anti-Christ" group. Secularizing _government_ should not be ignorantly equated with secularizing _society_, although that appears to be the way you spin it. There are very pragmatic reasons to not have our country be a theocracy, and many of those reasons date back to America's desire for independence from the religious tyranny of England at the dawn of our independence. Of course, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it and you seem to be leading the charge in that regard.

You might want to take heed of the concerns of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State that they believe even undermine the very religion that you seek to bolster with your apparent pro church+state stance: "Government should refrain from endorsing religion even in a supposedly neutral manner. The state�s use of religion for ceremonial purposes often has the effect of draining religion of its meaning and power. This is not a healthy development for religion."

Your freedom to freely express your own brand of religion is threatened by the notion of a government that is not religion-neutral. You should reflect clearly on that.

What if the government were advocating Judaism? Or Islam? Would that be okay? If it is only okay because it is a Christian brand of religion, why would that make it okay? Do you think that the Islamic states in the Middle East are healthier and that the world is healthier for them being Islamic states? It is not just the brand of religion that makes the arrangement dangerous.

Regards,

-Jason