October 2000

Senator Joseph Lieberman
Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Lieberman:

I was distressed by the comments you made recently during a speech at a 
Detroit, Michigan church where you called upon Americans to "reaffirm our 
faith and renew the dedication of our nation and ourselves to God and God's 
purposes."

You also suggested that the Constitution of the United States "guarantees 
freedom of religion, not freedom from religion."

These sorts of remarks are inaccurate and inappropriate in an American 
election campaign. You are seeking the nation's second-highest elected 
office where you may have the responsibility of representing all Americans 
- not just those of religious belief. Tens of millions of us describe ourselves 
as Atheists, agnostics, skeptics - people of no religious faith. We pay taxes, 
"play by the rules" as Bill Clinton likes to say, and many of us vote. We find 
it offensive that major political figures preach at us, commanding us to 
worship, and then suggest that our nation does not enjoy the constitutional 
protections of the First Amendment's establishment clause.

Americans are fortunate to have both freedom of religion and freedom from 
religion. The latter was an important component of the American 
Revolution, when the states of the new federal union began to "disestablish" 
their official churches. Jefferson wrote of a "wall of separation" between 
church and state. Many of the Founders rejected Christian and other 
religious dogmas, and warned against the tyranny of religious rule. The U.S. 
Supreme Court has strictly limited the role government may play in 
promoting religious beliefs and groups. We rightfully prohibit organized and 
coercive sectarian prayer and other religious rituals from our public schools. 
We force no one to attend a house of worship, compel no one to financially 
support religion, nor do we censor those who questions doctrines and beliefs.

If any group should be sensitive to the need for separation of church and 
state, and the freedom from religion, it is your own heritage, Judaism - a 
minority religion in America. In the history of western culture, no single 
religious group has been persecuted, excluded and stereotyped in such a 
despicable fashion by the majority religion. Perhaps you might recall the 
case of Wayne and Sue Willis, a Jewish family in Troy, Alabama. Their 
story was reported last April 7, 2000 in the St. Petersburg Times newspaper. 
Their 14-year-old son, Paul, received punishment for disruptive behavior for 
refusing an assignment, which was to "write an essay on 'why Jesus Loves 
Me'."

"Paul and his brother were harassed with 'Jew Boy' taunts and swastikas on 
their lockers."

This is why we have separation of church and state.

It is inappropriate for you, or any candidate, to "preach at" the American 
people. I urge you to be more inclusive, tolerant and broad-minded; and 
acknowledge the fact that millions of Americans exercise their right to not 
believe in religious creeds and deities. As one of these Americans, I urge 
you to speak for the separation of church and state - our freedom FROM 
religion, a principle that benefits both religious and nonreligious citizens.

I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.


Sincerely,






(name and address)