Keep the evangelizing in church, not the newspaper

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter originally ran on Sept. 16, 2007, and inspired the editor’s column that is reprinted in today’s Inter Lake.)

This country was founded upon the premise of freedom of religion. We all, supposedly, inherit the privilege to choose our own spiritual path without having someone else’s conviction forced upon us.

I am horrified to see the many editorials, guest opinions and letters by people using this newspaper as a forum to evangelize their Christian beliefs. This is not a Christian ministry newsletter. It is a secular publication whose purpose is to report the facts and reflect the opinions of its readership concerning newsworthy topics.

Please, dear readers, have the decency and consideration to direct your evangelizing and Bible quoting within the church, where it belongs. Please, dear editor, maintain some degree of professionalism by choosing letters and writing editorials that truly reflect the purpose of a real newspaper editorial rather than misusing it as a forum for absurd religious arguments that no one will ever win. —Patricia Berliner, Whitefish