LETTER: Religious beliefs won't protect us

I used to think that the president was just not that competent regarding protecting the country from terrorists. After reading about the president’s Easter message on Page A10, March 31, in the Daily Inter Lake, I now see that the president is using his deeply held religious beliefs to shape his policy. (“Obama says terrorists are trying to ‘weaken our faith.’”)

He sees terrorist attacks as a test of our faith to hold to our moral beliefs of forgiveness, tolerance and acceptance. This is a great dilemma. Should we stick to our religious and moral beliefs with the very real possibility of that course causing more death and terror in our country and in the rest of the world, or should we fight the terrorists and try to kill them as they are trying to kill us.

One path is religious and the other is practical. I believe this is a good example of why religion should stay out of the government. I do not feel safe with the president telling us to have faith and giving tolerance to the terrorists. I think that’s fine for someone’s personal life but not acceptable for running our country.

—William Fry, Kalispell