That Don Desbien's letter on faith was mercifully brief is not surprising, since he had nothing of substance to say.

As usual, he is reluctant to "take the time nor make the effort" to cite or examine what I wrote in my Local Voices columns -- not letter -- more than a year ago. Those two columns dissected the fallacious notion that U.S. law is based primarily on the Ten Commandments, and only complemented my more recent column about our supposed status as a "Christian nation," as evidenced by the words and actions of the Founders.

Don's idea of a devastating response is to mention a 1982 Supreme Court decision which he characterizes as having "ruled that the U.S. is a Christian nation." "Wow!" he says, apparently awed by his own scholarship. A unanimous decision, he says -- then in case we've forgotten, he reiterates that means "9-0."

Perhaps he could now expend the time and effort to provide us with the case citation for that decision, with a quote that supports his assertion about its content.

Here's how it's done, Don: 1797, "Treaties of the United States, volume 2, Document 20, Article 11." Relevant quote: "the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." Approved -- yes, unanimously -- by the U.S. Senate and signed by the president.

These were the very people who intended and created our secular democracy. "Secular" doesn't mean "against Christianity," Don, it means "neutral toward all religious beliefs." Don's version of Christianity -- and there are hundreds of different versions -- shouldn't be so insecure about its sustainability that it requires endorsement and promotion by a government charged with representing all the people.

I'm repeating mention of this treaty because it truly merits a "wow!" -- and because Don carefully avoids dealing with it. Instead he prefers a Supremes' decision made nearly 100 years after the Founders died off. A nation populated by a Christian majority is not the same as a government that promulgates Christianity, and that's the way the Founders wanted it.

Jon Hauxwell

1335 Central