To the Editor,

It was first odd, then startling to see that The Cranston Herald chose, for its edition that includes 4 July, a letter espousing Christian nationalism (August 6.29.23) and another by a confederate apologist (Foley 6.29.23).

I applaud editorial freedom and support the paper’s publishing anti-democratic messages during a time usually marked by unbridled patriotism. The letters themselves are run-of-the-mill pabulum. The former foments the implausible yet widespread notion that the US is somehow a Christian nation. That hardly squares with Thomas Jefferson excising the “diamonds from the dunghill” to create his own slim version of the New Testament, without a god.

The latter letter is a bit more odious, in that the writer suggests a moral equivalence between murderous traitors and bone fide Union patriots. However, what seems to be a new editorial direction should provoke a more engaged readership and engender more scholarly responses than this one.

 Sean Hagberg, PhD

Cranston