The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

To The Eagle:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . .” Therein is guaranteed religious tolerance in our open, secular society. Religion is to be tolerated, within limits. Those limits have been exceeded.

Religion’s “free exercise thereof” has abused the limits of reasonable people’s tolerance in this fraught era now endangered by a Supreme Court that factors religious dogma into its decisions. Once a legal system is subservient to such dogma, an open society faces extinction.

That court has interpreted the free exercise of religion to be a license for dogmatic, puritanical discrimination against targeted minorities and women. White Christian nationalists are devolving into Christian fascists and have metastasized into the judiciary. By deforming the law, including electoral law, to serve their ends, fascists acquire ‘lawful’ recognition of their selective discriminations and condemnations. Wrapped in the flag and brandishing their crucifix, religious fascists are organizing to extinguish our anemic democracy. This nation’s latter day puritans are praying and working to subvert our democracy and institute a shadow theocracy. Allahu Ahkbar! These American Taliban aren’t newly arrived. They’ve always been amongst us.

Religion has its protected place in civil society, but we shouldn’t tolerate the proselytizing of any gospel of hateful discrimination, bigotry and puritanical intolerance, from any temple precinct.

There must be a limit to tolerance. We must defend our society against the onslaught of the intolerant. Unlimited tolerance will lead to the disappearance of tolerance, and the tolerant.

JB Bouchard

Puget Island