The Sept. 21 edition of The Northerner contained a letter to the editor with the headline ‘God had no place in the public domain.’ I would like to respond to that letter.

The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, states, “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.” Certainly by “Creator,” Jefferson meant God and nothing could be more public domain than the Declaration. Should this reference to God be taken out of the Declaration of Independence?

Second, the article begins by asking about the Constitution’s separation of church and state.

The phrase ‘separation of church and state’ does not appear in the Constitution. The First Amendment contains a non-establishment clause and a free exercise clause.

Third, the article states that the founding fathers were not Christian.

Charles Carroll of Baltimore, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was Catholic according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Fourth, the article states that our country was created as a secular refuge for all creeds and religions. It seems to me that ‘a secular refuge for religion’ is an oxymoron. Under the First Amendment, one could argue that the federal government is such, but one cannot argue that for the states.

And finally, the article opines that religion is something meant to be celebrated privately in homes and churches.

This is precisely the attitude adopted by the Christians in Nazi Germany.

If they had taken their religion into the public domain, the holocaust would never have happened.

Reverend Monsignor Gilbert J. Rutz

Catholic Newman Club

Northern Kentucky University