As a practicing Christian, I find discussions pertaining to religion and the separation of church and state to be concerning, though interesting. With Louisiana introducing the Ten Commandments into public schools, a recent letter writer wrote to the Recorder on July 11 stating, “A true Christian would want the Bible to be taught in every public school.”

I would pose the argument that forcing the word of God into schools is not a truly Christian act, because it’s not an act of love, but one of intolerance. The passages from the Bible that seem to me the very core of Jesus’s teachings are often outright ignored by those who advocate the integration of church and state: love your neighbor as yourself, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I would say that it is the job of a parent or a youth minister to teach children about the Bible, but only where presence is a choice.

It also seems to me that the same people who push for Christian messages in public schools would be beside themselves if Islamic or Jewish practices were brought into public schools as well. We might apply to education James Madison’s words, “Religion and government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together.”

Henry D. Maxey

Conway