Hail
Columbia

Take action! Send a copy of this letter to any and all of your elected representatives – the President, members of Congress, governors, state representatives, and even candidates.

You can find email addresses and other contact information for elected officials at usa.gov.

Please feel free to personalize this message.

Dear Elected Official,

As your constituent, I urge you to protect freedom of religion by not allying yourself with religious groups openly seeking to undermine the Constitutional separation of church and state.

Some conservative Christian groups are explicitly dedicated to gaining political power and influence. They seek to institute public policy based on their own, narrowly sectarian interpretation of Christian doctrine. Their goals are explicitly religious, with no secular rationale or justification.

Sadly, many candidates or elected officials accept or even seek support from these groups. Doing so amounts to an endorsement of attitudes that blatantly contradict the values in our Constitution.

The separation of church and state is vital to protecting freedom of religion for all religions. When the government supports a single religious perspective or tradition, the result is inevitable conflict over sectarian issues within that religion. Definitions of “acceptable” religion become ever narrower, and free exercise of religion becomes nonexistent.

As a voter, I urge you to:

• Thoroughly investigate the ideology and platforms of groups that offer you their support.
• Recognize that so-called “non-partisan” religious events are still religious events that privilege one religion over others.
• Refuse to include “prayer rallies” or other religious events in your campaign.
• Acknowledge that endorsements from tax-exempt organizations like churches (so-called ‘pulpit endorsements’) are illegal, refuse to accept them, and support IRS investigations of groups that provide them.
• Reject any association with groups that seek to undermine our First Amendment freedom of religion.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Sherrian Lea Gildemeister, a Christian friend of mine, collaborated with me on writing this letter. We designed it to be a statement that people from any religious tradition or none could support. If you agree with the message of this letter, please share it with others and encourage them to contact their elected representatives too.