I am proud to say I am one of 247 million Christians in the United States.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, in 2010, 79.5 percent of the population in the United States called themselves Christians.

Pew also ranked Christianity as the largest religion in the world with 2.18 billion Christians around the world.

With that said, am I the only Christian outraged at the Freedom From Religion Foundation telling the county to stop using an official seal with a Latin cross in the center?

Quite frankly, I never noticed a cross in the center of the seal. It's not as if the commissioners hold hands and sing "Amazing Grace" before every meeting.

The seal is not a religious symbol. It is a part of the history of Lehigh County.

The First Amendment of the Constitution entails Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly and Petition.

It was passed by Congress Sept. 25, 1789, and ratified Dec. 15, 1791.

It states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...."

The First Amendment has two provisions concerning religion: the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.

The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from "establishing" a religion.

The Free Exercise Clause protects citizens' right to practice their religion as they please, so long as the practice does not run afoul of a "public moral" or a "compelling" governmental interest.

According to government archives, "In none of the relatively meager records of the Constitutional Convention is the literary authorship of any part of the Constitution definitely established.

"The deputies debated proposed plans until, on July 24, 1787, substantial agreement having been reached, a Committee of Detail was appointed, consisting of John Rutledge, of South Carolina; Edmund Randolph, of Virginia; Nathaniel Gorham, of Massachusetts; Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut; and James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, who on Aug. 6 reported a draft, which included a Preamble and 23 articles, embodying 57 sections.

"Debate continued until Sept. 8, when a new Committee of Style was named to revise the draft.

This committee included William Samuel Johnson, of Connecticut; Alexander Hamilton, of New York; Gouverneur Morris, of Pennsylvania; James Madison, of Virginia; and Rufus King, of Massachusetts, and they reported the draft in approximately its final shape on Sept. 12.

"However, the document in reality was built slowly and laboriously, with not a piece of material included until it had been shaped and approved. The preamble was written by the Committee of Style."

Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, is quoted as saying, "The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government and to protect its free expression should be our first object."

Our Lehigh County commissioners need to hear from residents if keeping the seal is the "will of the people" as it was established so many years ago.

Contact them via the county website at www.lehighcounty.org/departments/commissioners and click on an individual commissioner's name to email your thoughts. If you prefer, call the county at 610-782-3050 and weigh in on this issue.

As is always the case, if the commissioners do not hear from residents, they will vote on their own beliefs, not necessarily on those of the people of Lehigh County.

Not for one minute do I believe someone from FFRF in Madison, Wis., came to Lehigh County to check out our seal.

Someone contacted the organization to stir up trouble over a Latin cross on a seal that has been in existence longer than many of us have been alive.

In the scope of life, is a Latin cross in the center of a county seal the most important issue facing our nation today?

If we don't stand up to these groups, I believe we will continue to see the freedom of religion clause of our Constitution disappear.

If you don't like a cross in the middle of a county seal, don't look at it.

If you don't like saying The Pledge of Allegiance at a government meeting or in a school because the word "God" is in it, sit down and don't put your hand over your heart.

U.S. Diplomat and President Jimmy Carter made a very profound statement in his farewell address in 1981, which I believe still holds true today.

"We live in a time of transition, an uneasy era which is likely to endure for the rest of this century. During the period we may be tempted to abandon some of the time-honored principles and commitments which have been proven during the difficult times of past generations. We must never yield to this temptation. Our American values are not luxuries, but necessities not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself. Our common vision of a free and just society is our greatest source of cohesion at home and strength abroad greater even than the bounty of our material blessings."

Send me a letter to the editor and let me know how you weigh in on the issue of the Lehigh County seal.

Debbie Galbraith

editor

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press