1. United States
2. S.C.
3. Letter

Please speak out to condemn religious bigotry, insults against the Pope, and Islamophobia. As mebers of Congress, you should condemn such insults made by public officials. Recently, elected GOP members of Congress have used their platforms for 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 also aware of Trump's unhinged and insulting comments directed at the Pope. We have robust constitutional protections for freedom of speech and expression. However, elected officials also have a responsibility set and example to the American people. Speech maligning specific groups of people often leads to an uptic in violence against said groups. This is totally irresponsibleand unacceptablebehavior from our government representatives! Speak out to condemn these statements and the ones who make them. Call for Censure on your congressional colleagues. Return to the civil and respectful conduct that the American people rightfully should be able to expect from our government officials.