To the editor:

I wish to thank Ms. Rebman for her letter of Dec. 4 for clearly illustrating the false premise underlying the argument of the Christian right in their crusade to promote their views to the law of the land. I do not dispute Ms. Rebman’s statements that the Founding Fathers occasionally included acknowledgment and reliance on a supreme being in their efforts as they forged our nation and form of government. However, Ms. Rebman construes their use of “God” universally to represent “the one true God of the Bible.”

Says who? I have not found the word “Bible” in the Constitution (nor the word “God” for that matter). The Declaration of Independence refers to “Nature’s God” not to the “Bible’s God.” The realization of God is a personal matter subject to the interpretations of numerous religious beliefs. I submit the Founding Fathers’ concern regarding establishment of religion to be directly related to such attempts as Ms. Rebman’s to define God as any particular religion’s perception.

Ms. Rebman, I suggest you Google “founding fathers + religion” to discover some very illuminating quotes regarding the intent in this area of the framers of our Constitution. Thomas Paine put it succinctly, “I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.” I will thank you to let us all do the same.

Doug Burger,

Lawrence