To the editor:

If we are going to separate church and state, let’s do it completely. Let’s start with laws. Most laws regarding how individuals conduct themselves, that is, how we agree to interact in society, are based on Judeo-Christian precepts. I say let’s do away with the statutes regarding murder, rape, theft, assault and other laws based on “morality.”

I also think we should take a hard look at the music being taught in the public schools and state institutions across the country. Most of the classics written by Mozart, Bach and Beethoven are church music written for the Catholic church. It must go.

Philosophy courses should no longer teach Augustine, Thomas Moore, Socrates or Plato. They were much too influenced by religion. The state does not need the church.

The best way for the whole church and state thing to be reconciled is for the state to eliminate the church altogether like the Soviet Union did. There was a country ahead of its time.

Scott Burkhart,

Lawrence