Legislators’ behavior disturbing

State Rep. Joni Jenkins’ March 2 account of the unruly behavior of some of our elected representatives during and after an opening prayer is deeply disturbing.

I suggest that those representatives read the First Amendment to the Constitution, which requires that in the United States, there shall be no law regarding “an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

One of the sad things these past few years has been that the word “Christian” has been kidnapped by very narrow-minded people, turning it into a religion of hatred and exclusion. To see that happening before your eyes, you only need to watch a Republican presidential debate.

This seems to be a new development, and it is disturbing. John Adams, the second U.S. president, was one of the few Founding Fathers who did not own slaves. He was raised a Congregationalist, one of the early streams of religion that fed into today’s United Church of Christ, well represented by Jenkins and the Rev. Lauren Jones Mayfield.

This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Legislators’ behavior disturbing."