Letter: Religious Liberty and Christian Nationalism

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To the Editor:

For those of you who were able to stand with us on Jan. 6, in witness against the rising tide of Christian Nationalism (Christianity as the one state religion) and in favor of freedom of religion and voting rights for all, we extend a huge thank you for doing so.

The threats are real. The danger to religious freedom is growing.

At a Texas rally, Michael Flynn, a Trump ally, vigorously advocated: "If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion, one nation under God, and one religion under God."

Speakers like Byron Fox, an evangelist touring with an organization called Faith Wins, sees the church as a battleship, that Christians are the persecuted ones, instilling fear of the Bible being outlawed, urging all Christians to be soldiers for Christ.

Other speakers at national conferences and rallies are adherents of the Seven Mountains Dominionism, an ideology that calls explicitly for the domination of government and education by Christians.



So let us all encourage our friends, family, and congregations of any and all religions to be very aware, and continue to speak up and speak out on this rising threat to religious liberty.

For further information or to get involved, email us at: deaconFCC@gmail.com.
 

Signed: First Congregational Church Williamstown, Committee for Religious Liberty

Betsy Burris
Adrian Dunn
Sherwood Guernsey
David Langston
Bridget Spann


 

 

 

 

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Flag Meant to Represent Inclusion Sparks Debate in Williamstown

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — One of the authors of a proposed bylaw amendment to allow the display of the Progress Pride on town flag poles said he welcomes more dialogue about the proposal.
 
"It's been a good learning experience through all of this," Mount Greylock Regional School sophomore Jack Uhas said last week.
 
"Any attempt to hinder a conversation in our community would be disappointing to me. I'm excited to hear what people have to say."
 
Uhas is the vice president of the middle-high school's Gender Sexuality Alliance, which developed the bylaw proposal that will be before Thursday's annual town meeting at Mount Greylock.
 
The advocacy group has been talking for some time about how to foster a public display of support for the LGBTQ-plus community.
 
"Last [school] year, we started thinking of ways we could make an impact in the wider community beyond Mount Greylock," Uhas said. "We talked about doing something like painting a crosswalk like they do in other communities.
 
"[Select Board member Randal Fippinger], who was the father of the GSA president last year, came in and talked to us. And, apparently, there were some Department of Transportation regulations that meant it wasn't feasible [to paint a crosswalk]. We pivoted to other strategies."
 
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