My 3rd Letter to the Editor

February 27, 2006 at 2:05 am | Posted in Letters to the Editor | Leave a comment

Dear Editor, Are the citizens of Madison County against the separation between church and state? I asked this for two reasons. I will cover both reasons and you should decide if these things are appropriate. In the Feb. 23 issue of the Berea Citizen on page A11 there is a full page ad from Bethel Baptist Church opposing expanded gambling. Did The Berea Citizen and Bethel Baptist Church forget that churches are not supposed to be involved in politics? When churches get involved in politics they are subject to losing their 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. I think that the full page ad complaining about gambling was not appropriate coming from a church. The church should reconsider their actions. On Tuesday, Feb. 22, I went to Richmond to renew my drivers license. I was offended by one the employees. On the cameras they use to take your picture for your license there were signs that said, “Smile, God Loves You.” After she finished making my license, I told her that the signs were not appropriate. She got very upset at me. I told her that everybody doesn’t believe that way and church and state are supposed to be separate. She complained that the state was in the churches’ business because they could not put up The Ten Commandments. I simply told her that putting The Ten Commandments up in public was not appropriate. The lady had very poor customer service skills. I was polite and she was not. Let’s all try to do our part to promote religious tolerance and not force our beliefs on other people.

Thank you,

J. Ashley Decker