Concerning your editorial of Aug. 27, about the proposed Mosque in Sterling Heights:

There is a teachable lesson that we can all learn from… and that is; sometimes it takes the newer citizens— those who are the most grateful for our Bill of Rights, those who vividly remember the oppression they are fleeing— to remind us what a great country we live in. What a great document we have in the Bill of Rights.

We may be taking this document for granted. We forget we have an outline, a model for ensuring a civil society. A society where every citizen has the right to pursue the religion of their choice, the religion of their conscience.

Or, the freedom not to worship, according to individual conscience.

This freedom cannot be abridged by any government or elected official in the United States of America.

Our founders have defined a political philosophy and theory on which to guide our great nation.

Their studies went as far back as ancient Greece. The conclusion: the American experiment. A political system in which every individual is sovereign and lives by the rule of law, not at the whims of politicians.

Let’s revisit our first guiding principles, from the 1st Amendment to the Constitution:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…;”

So, if one likes the 1st Amendment, I suggest becoming familiar with the other nine. How else can a civil society survive? We may not be perfect, but we’re the best on earth. 

Again, the teachable moment: We can benefit from people who appreciate the Bill of Rights, the guiding principles of this great nation. These principles should be a reminder of what makes these United States of America different from every other nation in the world.

As stated in the editorial:

“Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhist, Hindus, Sun worshippers, atheists, people of all faiths and backgrounds are equal in the eyes of the law. The 1st Amendment of the Constitution grants all Americans freedom of religion and the 14th Amendment grants equal protection under the law to every single person in this land.”

It’s a good reminder. 

–Paul Sophiea is Dearborn resident and former member of Gov. Snyder’s Middle Eastern Affairs Commission.