Letter to the Editor: Pre-eminent place

Religious freedom holds a preeminent place in our nation’s Bill of Rights.

Did the Founders of our Constitution intend for the free exercise of religion to be discouraged and the free expression of those viewpoints to be discounted and maligned? A study of their own writings and the history of our nation at that time will prove that this was not their intent.

Those of us with religious standards are often intimidated to keep our viewpoints to ourselves. We must remember and take courage that along with protecting the expressed secular viewpoint of others, our Constitution protects the right to practice religion without government interference and the right to express one’s moral standard.

It behooves each of us as Americans to make sure that these rights are protected: that each voice — whether secular in nature or religious — has equal opportunity to be expressed in the public square.

Katherine Arbon

The Dalles