Letters to the Editor: Take a history lesson before advocating for the U.S.’s ‘dominant public ethos’

To the editor: All it takes for the author to sound most persuasive in his full-throated, unequivocal admiration and advocacy for this country’s “dominant public ethos” derived from our “historical Protestant majority culture” is willful ignorance on a scale nothing short of remarkable (“What does it mean to be an American, not just a citizen?,” Nov. 21).

In order to be most kind to contributing writer Josh Hammer’s viewpoint, let’s pretend he wasn’t referencing the same “moral and religious” Protestant majority that waged a genocide (“pogrom”) on Native Americans. Or the people who initiated this country’s most deadly war to defend slavery. Or the people who formed nationwide organizations (namely, the KKK) in order to normalize lynching and cross-burning with the expressed goal of denying minorities (including Jews) equal access to their basic constitutionally guaranteed rights. Apologies for the list being limited due to space.

Rather, according to Hammer, readers should see the more recent Americans of the Muslim faith to be most worrisome to our nation’s citizens.

Thankfully, even for those who find the author’s views agreeable, high-school level American history classes are available online.

Ted Rosenblatt, Hancock Park

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To the editor: I was troubled by Hammer’s tendentious advocacy of white Christian nationalism. He equates American citizenship with Protestant Christianity. This is simply not accurate. The founders of this great nation were informed by the ideals of democracy and the spirit of the French Revolution: liberty, equality and brotherhood.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed, and that includes freedom from religion.

His statement that “American Muslim assimilation, specifically, is not going well” is also untrue. On Nov. 4, a Muslim was decisively elected mayor of New York City.

Richard Casey, Santa Monica

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To the editor: Hammer launches an attack against the American Islamic community as somehow not accepting America’s common cultural values. As evidence, he cites the fact that 57.5% of American Muslims considered the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, to be “somewhat justified.” In a 2023 Harvard-Harris poll, we find 60% of Americans aged 18 to 24 said the attack “can be justified by the grievances of Palestinians.” The percentage falls with age, with 40% of those aged 35 to 44 sharing that view.

The 18-44 demographic is largely the very population that mans our Navy’s ships, Army and Marine Corps’ combat forces and Air Force’s aircraft and missile systems. Apparently, many of them also fail Hammer’s citizenship test.

Maybe the problem is Hammer conflating a political/religious conflict in the Middle East with being an American.

Norm Rodewald, Moorpark

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To the editor: Hammer states that in order to be a true American, it is not enough to belong to certain religions and to have been reared a certain way that he approves of. To him, the only way for a person to belong to the core part of American citizenship is to belong to the public framework that the founders of the nation belonged to.

I fit into the category defined as American by Hammer. But I reject the idea that being in that category makes me more of an American than anyone else who is an American citizen as defined by the Constitution.

I adhere to the principles established by the Statue of Liberty. It is my belief that the only persons who deserve to be classified as true American citizens adhere to the principles embodied by that statue and the poem at its feet.

Steve Wood, Ventura