The Inequality Map – New York Times 11/11

To the editor:

David Brooks looks so far down on us mere mortals that apparently small details (“The Inequality Map,” 11/11) are not apparent to his godly gaze. Brooks asserts “It would be uncouth to wear a Baptist or Catholic or Jewish jersey to signal that people of your faith are closer to God. It is wrong to look down on other faiths on the grounds that their creeds are erroneous.” He is apparently unaware of the ubiquitous religious jewelry that many wear to advertise their membership in favored faith communities. He is apparently unaware of the open evangelism taking place at military academies, where students are coerced into attending assemblies in order to be preached at by religious snake-oil salesmen, whose faith happens to correspond to the academy’s officer corps, and to show public fealty to such faiths at public ceremonies. He must be unaware of similar pressure brought to bear at local military bases, under the influence of the Christian Military Fellowship. Surely, he must be unaware of the work of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and the American Civil Liberties Union, who continue to fight lonely battles in court, to defend even Christians from this unwanted proselytizingm which destroys command cohesiveness, even as it claims to promote it.

I urge Brooks to come down from the mountain of his sarcasm, and to enter the real world of religious discrimination. I ask him what it might mean for anti-abortion “activists” to be honored for their faith, even when they slay doctors in their homes and churches. I ask Brooks to withhold his scorn for a moment, to ask whether wearing a tee-shirt with a religious symbol is less abhorrent to freedom of religion, than coercing public medical policy through force of law, to “protect” religious majorities from the practices of others’ faiths, whose beliefs in fact sometimes dictate an abortion to preserve the life or health of the mother, and whose laws would (if passed) deny the freedom of religious practice to Jews like himself.

To achieve such heights, what is he smoking?

(name and location withheld)