Dear FRONTLINE,

Your program has, no doubt, helped to solidify, as if it were necessary, Bush's religious right backing. To relegate such eloquent voices of reason for religious diversity as Welton Gaddy to a thirty second sound bite while giving Richard Land and others free reign to express their narrow view surely slanted the program's impact upon the non-discerning.

Bush is not trying to establish a theocracy, he is trying to establish a Christocracy or evangelocracy at the expense of any other religious tradition. Your program implied those who oppose this view are secularists. I, as a deeply spiritual ecumenist, restent that point of view. I am deeply disappointed in the way that this documentary was presented and in PBS for airing it.

Dellie Clark
Monroe, Louisiana

Dear FRONTLINE,

More frightening as the wars around the globe is the religious conflict taking place in our own country.

I kept thinking about the pure conviction, unwavering faith, and black and white vision evident in the letter Mohammed Atta left behind.

Yet,I am afraid of us.

Barbara Chase
boston, ma

Dear FRONTLINE,

My wife and I are both non-observant Jews. Frankly, we are frightened by the two trends highlighted by the remarkable Frontline episode, "The Jesus Factor": the growth of the collective power of the Christian evangelicals and the continuing subversion of The Constitution of the United States of America as religion is integrated with government.

If Mr. Bush is re-elected, we will seriously consider leaving this country for good. The presidency of George W. Bush might well mark the end of the grand experiment that was the USA.

Jeffrey Broido
Morristown, NJ

Dear FRONTLINE,

It's interesting to me that the leader of our cherished country and the leader of Al Queda both believe that life should be lived and the world organized according to religous values that they obtained from Gods that no one alive has ever seen, spoken to or heard.

Most logical human beings would consider such nonsense the workings of a child's imagination or insanity of one sort or another and further that the perpetrators of such irrational thought are dangerous to the rest of us and probably should be kept out of power in a rational society.

William Beecroft
Azalea, Oregon

Dear FRONTLINE,

As a non christian (I am a Buddhist), this president scares the living daylights out of me. If he is following the direction of the biblical God, then it inevitably follows that anyone who opposes him must be a servant of Evil.

Citizens with minority beliefs have looked to the constitution and the judiciary for defense of their rights.

Where are we to look when judges are appointed on the basis of their Christian credentials and our president advocates constitutional ammendments to limit freedoms?

James Zents
New Ulm, MN

Dear FRONTLINE,

What about a small comparison here?

Can we imagine what the reaction would have been if John F. Kennedy had invoked his faith so strongly as a political ploy to garner votes when he ran in 1960? Or if he had put forward executive orders to provide federal tax money to ìfaith-basedî initiatives, but most of the money had gone only to his own Roman Catholic faith?

This past week there was a succinct and relevant New York Times letter to the editor , written by a Mr. Jonathan Derow, responding to Nicholas Kristofís ìHug an Evangelicalî column, which read:

ìHow is it that intolerance of intolerance is now called bigotry?

ìI will gladly hug evangelicals when they agree to keep their eyes out of my bedroom, their hands off my son's science textbooks and their politics out of my wife's womb.

ìUntil they agree to keep their morality to themselves, I'll gladly be called a bigot.î

Thank you for presenting a program that discusses this extremely important constitutional issue.

B.L. Jay
Dayton, Ohio

Dear FRONTLINE,

Is a president who shoots his arrows straight and speakes up about his beliefs bad? Would we be better off with a leader who commits acts of adultry or one who has values that this country was founded on? I believe that all you have accomplished to do is tell your viewers where you stand and not the president.

.

steve setzer
prescott, arizona

Dear FRONTLINE,

I am grateful for a President who is firm on his convictions and is not afraid to distinguish between right and wrong.
I would venture to say so many of us are tired of the constant wavering of rhetorical beliefs that have been "posed" for the media from other politicans.

Jackie Young
Oakland, Calif

Dear FRONTLINE,

Every man or women holds a set of guiding principals within his/her heart which act to guide their decision making. It is impossible to seperate these fundamental ethical/moral components of a persons personality from the actions and rationales that move them. I have only seen objections based upon the fact that these are religious or Christian in nature from the reponses I have read.

Would an existentialist or a morally ambiguous ethical relativist be called out if they voiced these as guiding principals within their life and thus their decision making? Are not those who play that card merely practicing the very prejudice and/or exclusivity and intolerance that Christians are so easily labled with?

Should not the actions and results of this President and his Administration be the primary focus here as oppossed to his religious background or his campaign target audience? Anything less than that I think is fear mongering, intolerance or lack of discernment.

I have scrutinized the actions of this American Administration and quite frankly have seen it make a number of large mistakes which will, in my opinion have large repercussions for years to come. And yet these are monumental times with America facing huge challenges that are complex in nature and I pray that your leaders are given the strength and courage to continue to lead your great nation through these troubling days.

Tim Sparrow
Victoria BC, Canada

Dear FRONTLINE,

thank you for having the strength to do this program, I cant believe that Mr. Bush isn't recognizing that America isn't just one faith in one god, but many faiths and all are important. And his idea of faith based charities makes me wonder who is steering this ship, and who is fighting for the people who are not in Mr. Bush's idea of a perfect Evangelical Christian world.

Paul Kinney
Vancouver, Wa

Dear FRONTLINE,

Normally I would say excellent show! But not in this case. On the surface it seemed like your program was nothing more than an endorsement of President Bush. Perhaps there is some deeper meaning if we "read between the lines". What happened to the balanced discourse and rhetoric?

Grady Henry
Casa Grande, AZ

Dear FRONTLINE,

Men far wiser then Bush developed a document called the Constitution which has led us through trials and triumphs for over 200 years and which has been emulated by other governments throughout the world. Federal funds are not supposed to support religion, certainly not one religion over all others. More appropriately, Bush should be called to the mat for being the bigoted pretentious philistine that he is. Yes, bigoted: showing preference to one religion over all others.

I recall a box I checked on my last tax return that donated $3 of my tax money to political campaigning. I don't recall such a box authorizing my tax dollars to be donated to a particular religion. Perhaps I have the right to refuse to pay my taxes at the end of 2004 if Bush is re-elected.

Babrara Welt
San Jose, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for this presentaion. I hope you repeat it often so we voters can decide if we want to continue a theocracy or return to a democracy. I left the Catholic Church because I didn't want a man in Italy telling me how to live my life ... and I don't want a president preaching to me, especially one who hasn't yet evidenced any sense of real "compassion" for the least of those amongst us.

Ask who is better off today- the poor or corporate leaders? This kind of Christian I don't understand ....

I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state. Bringing the two together has been the cause of oppresion and wars throughout history. Let us learn from history and strengthen democracy.

mary liebert
seattle, wa

Dear FRONTLINE,

I was very impressed by the reporting done here, as I did not see it biased.

My own thoughts on President Bush's religious faith are those of increased faith in our nation's reason for being, that we are not here for ourselves alone. We all are, including our president, here for one another and to create a world of freedom and peace, even to lay down one's life.

Tho I may not agree with perhaps the words he may use in some of his speeches, I believe strongly that we must try and do the right thing, not necessarily what one person believes, but the right thing as our creator has shared with us in His Word. I am tremendously thankful to have a man of faith (and none of us are perfect, but if we are trying sincerely, I believe God helps us), as my president.................thank you.

Dianne Scott
Hubbardston, Ma

Dear FRONTLINE,

Great documentary. The aspect of this religious debate that I find most fascinating and disturbing is this discussion about the so-called moral relativism of the left vs. the moral absolutism of the religious right. This seems to be the most fundamental distinction at the core of this debate.

Do we base American policy upon some apparently arbitrary and generic democratic ideal that does not seem to conform to any kind of absolute "sacred authority", or should we base American policy on the "word of God" as it is described and prescribed by the Judeo-Christian right?

In fact, this entire distinction is ludicrous and neither side is right. Yes, we do need to resort to "sacred authority" but such Authority will never be "codified in the Constitution" just as it has never been codified in any religion!

The "sacred authority" that we seek is of a much more subtle, transcendental, and immediate nature than is suggested by either the "absolutist" philosophies of the right or the "relativist" philosophies of the left.

I personally have a lot more sympathy with the so-called relativists of the left who are trying their good-hearted best to make sense of this mess, than I do with the God-fearing right who always end up "drawing the line" two inches short of infinity and are far too smug and certain about their ego-protecting ownership of would-be "God in heaven".

Raphael Simon
Middletown, CA