1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

As your constituent, I am asking you to stand up for the separation of church and state. On June 26, the Presidential Religious Liberty Commission released a 224-page draft report. Under friendly language about building “bridges” between church and state, it recommends changes that would move real public money and real government power toward one favored religion. The Department of Justice is collecting public comments before the report is finalized. I want you, as my elected representative, to make Congress’s position unmistakable. Specifically, I ask you to oppose and speak out against the report’s core recommendations: • Do not repeal or weaken the Johnson Amendment. Tax-exempt status should not become a channel for dark money and partisan endorsements from the pulpit. • Do not expand voucher schemes that divert public tax dollars into religious schools with little accountability. • Do not endorse laws that mandate religious displays in public-school classrooms, where children of every faith and none are required to be. • Do not create federal enforcement mechanisms that pressure public officials to privilege religious expression over their duty to serve all citizens equally. The separation of church and state is not hostility toward faith. It is the reason Americans of every religion — and of none — have worshiped freely for 250 years. It protects the Baptist and the Buddhist, the Catholic and the atheist, equally. “Religious liberty” that elevates one faith above the rest is not liberty; it is establishment by another name, and it endangers the very believers it claims to serve. I support the free exercise of religion for everyone. That is exactly why I oppose turning the machinery of government into an instrument for one faith. Please use your voice and your vote to keep that wall standing.