ACLU is becoming far too anti-religious

The American Civil Liberties Union has brought about many beneficial changes in this country over the past 40 years. I applaud their efforts to ensure everyone has the right to vote, to obtain an education and to earn wages commensurate with workers' skills, regardless of race or gender. ...

However, I am concerned the ACLU may be drifting away from its original purpose and is being influenced by ultraliberal thinking unsupportive of traditional spiritual values and practices. This may ultimately harm the nation that owes its success in large part to its identity as a country composed of a diverse population that tolerates all faiths, but springs from a strong Christian base.

The ACLU appears to be attempting to eradicate all evidence of spirituality from official and public activities, and insists it is a mere exercising of the Constitution's First Amendment to do so. I challenge this. ...

I agree with treating all citizens equally, but I cannot agree that means a minority can demand acquiescence to its whims and call it equal. The First Amendment protects free speech, not freedom to prohibit another group from speaking because you disagree with them. ...

No voice should be silenced, and all other faiths should be free to add their presence to Congress, courthouses and all public squares - but none should be eliminated to placate any faction. This drive by the ACLU must be curtailed by whatever legal and legislative means is required.

At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, a stone marks the resting place of heroic servicemen "known but to God." If the present trend continues, I fear that someday we will have to borrow a phrase from Harry Potter that states, "Known but to Him Who Must Not Be Named." That would be the ultimate tragedy.

Herbert D. Smith, Evans