1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

Please speak out to condemn religious bigotry and Islamophobia. You should also condemn the insults to the pope made by public officials. Uphold the separation of church and state. Recently elected GOP members of Congress have used the rhetoric of bigotry, hatred , and lies against Islam to foster division. Here's how Heather Cox Richardson characterised this on April 16th: Josh Kovensky of Talking Points Memo noted that in their panic over polls and the popularity of Democratic candidates, Republicans are trying to reclaim their base by turning back to Islamophobia and hoping a culture war will drown out concerns about gas prices, corruption, the Iran war, and Trump’s erratic behavior. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN) posted that Muslims—who first came to the American colonies in the early 1600s, by the way—“don’t belong in American society,” and House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called “the demand to impose Sharia Law in America…a serious problem.” You are surely aware of Trump's insults to the pope and Pete Hegseth's fake bible quotations. We have robust constitutional protection s for freedom of speech and expression. But elected officials also have a responsibility to respect other constitutional rights, including the first amendment's separation of church and state and its prohibition of an established religion. Insults to religions and attempts to impose any religion: both alike are unacceptable from public servants. Fomenting hatred and ignoring the constitution are WRONG and damaging. Speak out to condemn them. Censure your congressional colleagues.