In response to Mr. Benson (“Your religion is your own – keep it out of the law”, published July 6), his opinion is a bit unclear. Precisely which idioms of (the presumably Christian) faith are we supposed to exclude?

Should we discard ‘Thou shall not lie’? This would be a bold maneuver to be sure, yet I’m almost certain local, state and federal judicial bodies may take issue with this.

How about the remittance of ‘Thou shall not steal’? Yes, the complete annihilation of personal property for the greater cause of the grand socialist utopia is fantastically popular with millennials right now, however it may be a bit too on-the-nose for all the rest of us who remember basic 20th century history and the disastrous consequences of the Soviet Union experiment.

Perhaps Mr. Benson feels we should omit ‘Thou shall not murder’? While replacing the Rule of Law with the Rule of Force would certainly benefit America’s current progressive movement – part of me can’t help but feel that this may not be what Mr. Benson was really driving at. Consider me a prude if you wish, but this would be in my estimation a bridge-too-far.

What Mr. Benson may or may not realize is that these concepts are the very bedrock upon which Western civilization was built. It is this very foundation which provides Mr. Benson the security, the liberty, and the agency to pick up his proverbial lance, and like some pseudo-intellectual Don Quixote (windmills be damned) – tilt against it.

I’m sure the fellow residents of our great Plateau would agree with me that if ‘biting the hand which feeds you’ were ever to become an Olympic sport – Mr. Benson would most certainly be our shoe-in hero.

Regarding Mr. Benson’s Biblical questions about Jericho, Original Sin, Christ’s ministry, Noah’s flood and Lot’s wife – these answers are readily provided in Leviticus 18:24-28, Romans 5:12, John 3:17, Genesis 6:5 and Genesis 19:17 respectively. Let us all hope that Mr. Benson’s Biblical investigations are heartfelt and sincere and not just some lazy, boringly redundant theological ‘gotcha’ questions lobbed clumsily at everyday people of faith.

Lastly, please inform Mr. Benson that if he needs a scriptural reference, the Bible can be readily found in abundance at any motel, hotel, library or church if he is really interested in the answers he seeks. Heck – I’d even give him mine (Romans 12:20).

C. K. Shreve

Bonney Lake