Incompatible

To the editor:

How do you explain the irony of those who seek and demand religious freedom for themselves yet want to impose religion on others?  

Louisiana recently passed a law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school. This law is clearly unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which prohibits government from favoring or endorsing a religion.  

The recent rise in Christian nationalism might sound like a good thing to Christians, but it’s not. Theocratic governments are ruthless, oppressive and restrict personal liberties. 

To many Christians, this law seems reasonable. But theocracies are usually led by the most fanatical who will inevitably legislate archaic laws and implement draconian punishment to impose their will on others. 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a theocracy as government “by officials who are regarded as divinely guided.”

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahsa Amini died while in the custody of the Morality Police after being arrested for not properly wearing her hijab. And Iranian girls as young as 9 years old can be forced to marry.

In Afghanistan, women cannot be out in public without a male escort and are stoned to death for adultery. In Saudi Arabia, only since 2018 have women been allowed to drive. In Vatican City, women cannot be priests. And in Mauritania, non-Muslims can neither proselytize nor become citizens.  

And what do these sovereign states have in common? They are all theocracies led by the self-proclaimed religious illuminati that are “divinely guided.”

Some Americans are concerned about sharia law abroad and they should be, but yet are blind to the insidious rise of religious fanaticism right here at home. 

Marc Bullaro