First amendment rights

Dear Editor:

Contrary to some people’s opinion, President
Obama is a devout Christian. He certainly is not the inventor of the idea that the United States is a secular nation. That idea actually goes back to George Washington.

To quote Article XI of the Treaty of Tripoli, “The United States is in no sense founded upon the Christian doctrine.” This treaty was passed by Congress in 1797. This is in keeping with the First Amendment’s ban on government promotion of religion.

As for evolutionary theory, it certainly has not been disproved by real science. In fact, much of modern biological science is based on it. Despite religious fundamentalist objection, there is currently more evidence supporting evolutionary theory than there is for the theory of gravity.

Now of course, evidence has nothing to do with faith. If your faith does not include belief in evolutionary theory, that is your right under the First Amendment. You have the right to whatever faith you believe in, so long as you don’t try to dictate it to the rest of the nation.

Patricia Witt
Berkeley Springs