Letters to the Editor: Autonomy and religious freedom are as American as it gets

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To the editor : Guest contributor Alan Dershowitz says that “freedom of conscience doesn’t mean the freedom to conform” ( “When do laws against abuse become weapons against faith?,” Oct. 9). Following your conscience and being autonomous is American. We can’t punish people for their belief systems. As Dershowitz notes, George Washington promised that our new nation would “give to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”

In the late 1960s, my father and I were discussing religion while driving on a New Mexico country road lined by posts and barbed-wire fences. He turned to me and said, “See that post over there? People can pray to it if they want.” In other words, liv