Today I wrote a letter to my Representative in Congress. Here it is:
July 20, 2006
The Honorable Michael G. Fitzpatrick
60 N. Main Street
Doylestown, PA 18901
Dear Representative Fitzpatrick,
I was disappointed to read in this morning’s Philadelphia Inquirer that you voted for H.R. 2389, the “Pledge Protection Act of 2005.” This bill would deny the rights of Americans to challenge the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance’s reference to God and thus weaken our system of due process by introducing a type of authoritarian inflexibility into our legal process. Authoritarianism has no place in a nation of free people.
If you truly believed in what the Flag represents, you would have voted against this bill and allowed our courts and Constitution to do what they do best – preserve our freedom and uphold our ideals. Congressional attempts to deny access of free people to the courts disgraces the Flag. Why not just lock the courthouse doors and throw away the key?
I fly the Flag on all patriotic holidays and attend church every Sunday. I am proud to be an American and unashamed to be a Christian. Yet, being an American is about freedoms and ideals, and does not require belief in God nor even acknowledgment of a deity. Your colleague Zach Wamp of Tennessee has it all wrong when he says, “We should not and cannot re-write history to ignore our spiritual heritage. It surrounds us. It cries out for our country to honor God.” We citizens do not need the guidance or encouragement of Big Government to honor God. Let Americans honor God – each in their own way.
Representative Fitzpatrick, please get our government out of the business of talking about God. The religious institutions and faithful people of this country can do it just fine without your help.
Respectfully,
Lutheran Zephyr
The Lutheran Zephyr 
So do you actually sign letter Lutheran Zephyr?
Kudos, I’m working on the tendency of church folks to avoid overt political speech. There is something about the belief that we need protection that rankles. I’m a grown up, if I need protection I’ll ask for it. Even more insidious is the belief that Jesus needs the US congress to protect him and His word from everyone else. Hubris, nothin but
Great letter! Will it also go to a newspaper?
Well, I usually don’t shy away from sending letters to the editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and I’ve had many published, but this one will not be sent . . . My wife is a pastor and she doesn’t need people of her parish reading my rants about God and Country and worrying that the pastor’s family is a bunch of godless atheists who hate America (slight exageration of the possible perception, perhaps). This is one of those times when the quasi-anonymity of a blog is wonderful.
However, I did sign my real name in the letter to the Representative. If and when I get a response from him, I’ll post it here.