Senator Josh Hawley obviously never read the U.S. Constitution

Echo opinion letter published in the Columbia Missourian news.

Recently (#RunRunHawley!) Missouri's Senator Josh Hawley injected himself, as a government employee, at the National Conservatism Conference that “without the Bible, there is no America.”

Watch Josh Hawley Run From January 6 Rioters He Cheered On (The Intelligencer)

This far-right and militant Christian nationalism is off base on who America is. It ignores the contributions of all world religions from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, and right here at home with the Indigenous Native Americans.

Each contributed to the American experience. No one is greater than or less than the other.

That is why our Founding Fathers wrote these words to protect all from tyrants who would say otherwise.

Thomas Paine said, “Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the word of God. It has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind.”

James Madison wrote: “Religion and government both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together.”

“The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries,” wrote John Adams.

The United States is not a Christian nation any more than it is a Jewish or a Muslim nation.

Hawley does not understand our religious founding.

Written by Paul Smith. a resident of Columbia Missouri and voter who is concerned about extremism.

P.S. Maine Writer:  #RunRunHawley runs from truth! #VoteBlue