Letters to the Editor: ‘Bring God back?’ America is a secular country, no matter what Trump says

To the editor: German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer struggled to understand how German society could possibly support Nazism, which was so inimical to the values that country’s people had demonstrated in the arts, music and literature. (“Trump says at prayer breakfast he wants to root out ‘anti-Christian bias,’ urging: ‘Bring God back,’” Feb. 6)

He concluded it was because of stupidity, which he defined as the refusal to learn. This is separate from ignorance, or the lack of knowledge but a willingness to learn.

The loss of civics classes in public education fosters an ignorance of our country’s unique origin story and the extraordinary meaningfulness of our Constitution.

The indisputable fact is that the United States was founded solely as a secular nation. The unambiguous statements of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and John Adams, among others, support this fact.

A wall of separation must be kept between church and state. In fact, the best guarantee of the free practice of any religion is the assiduous support of secularism.

Those ignorant of this fact can learn from civics classes; those who persist in their refusal to learn support the destruction of our very foundational principles. Religion is a private matter and has no place in our government’s functioning.

Sheldon H. Kardener, Santa Monica

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To the editor: Trump wasn’t clear how he would “bring God back.” Is he going to accomplish this by inspiring us through personal example?

Because there’s nothing in Trump’s arsenal of hating the stranger, oppressing people because of the color of their skin and adjudicated sexual abusing that has anything to do with Jesus. This is simply Christian nationalism, making America white and right again.

President Trump, please leave Jesus out of it, like you’ve been doing all along.

Linda Falcao, North Wales, Pa.