Religious Symbols

In reference to your article on religious symbols, the writer ignored or didn’t understand the flip side of the coin.

Not only should religious symbols be barred from public buildings, but members of religious groups should also fight to keep the symbols religious instead of insisting they be made secular. St. Valentine is now a saint only to Hallmark cards, and St. Nicolas is a funny looking guy in a red suit.

Those who insist on secularizing the church, once a religious symbol of the birth of Christ, can look forward to seeing their “holy family” being composed of a gingerbread family or dolls representing different religious and ethnic groups as the tax dollars from many religious groups are pooled to make a “non-sectarian” church. Even the cross and menorah are not safe if turned over to the secular power of the state to alter them and change their meaning.

LYBRAND P. SMITH

Torrance