In response to Sandra Johnson’s commentary of Oct. 2, “Christians are the majority,” Ms. Johnson appears to sincerely believe that it is an accepted fact that “America was founded on Christianity,” pursuant to “our U.S. Constitution.” Lest she hasn’t checked, the U.S. Constitution does not mention Christianity, Christians, Christ, Jesus, God, or any form of theocratic rule. Has she not read the Constitution, or is there some alternate-reality form of the document being circulated in certain communities? Perhaps the current focus on curriculum scrutiny and reform should begin with a high school exit exam restricted to a test of knowledge of the actual wording of the actual U.S. Constitution. This should be made mandatory both for public school graduates and for students enrolled in the curricular Wild West that comprises Alaska’s publicly supported home school and alternative school options. Leave it to opponents of this idea to explain how requiring students to know the text of the actual U.S. Constitution violates students’ or their parents’ constitutional rights.
Further, Ms. Johnson seems to believe that Christians are entitled to use their majority status to dominate or curtail the rights of others. The actual U.S. Constitution does not establish “majority rule,” or “mob rule,” with respect to individuals’ fundamental rights. Rather, the section of the actual U.S. Constitution known as the “Bill of Rights,” or the first 10 amendments, protects the rights of all individuals to such things as freedom to practice their religion, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, etc. It is this very Bill of Rights that will protect Ms. Johnson’s religious freedoms, should she ever find herself to be in the religious minority. The “alt-fact” Constitution that Ms. Johnson imagines to exist is an inferior document that would compromise her own rights.
— Nicole Stucki
Anchorage
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