Public servants must be educated

The lack of erudition of congresspeople like Lauren Boebert, Louie Gohmert, Marjorie Taylor Green and Matt Gaetz, as well as Donald Trump, is demonstrated nearly every day.

But statewide races, too, are not immune to fielding candidates with a lack of understanding of our founding documents, and blatant lies aimed at denigrating their opponent. Consider Arizona, where Kari Lake is running for governor against Katie Hobbs, the secretary of state. Lake claims the 2020 election was stolen but offers no evidence.

She recently accused Hobbs of voting to block the teaching of elementary schoolchildren the Pledge of Allegiance, the national anthem, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and even the Mayflower Compact. This is untrue.

Lake is also a proponent of adding Christian prayer in public schools. But the Constitution’s Establishment Clause prohibits the government from favoring one religion over another. Separation of church and state is in the Constitution and is plainly stated by Thomas Jefferson in his 1801 letter to the Danbury Baptists.

Boebert says prospective members of Congress should have to pass a religious test to serve, but again her constitutional knowledge is inadequate. Article VI, Clause 3: “no religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

Republicans want to govern, but far too many have inadequate knowledge of our most important historical documents. When you think of countries that put religion before secular laws, check out life in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vatican City, Yemen, etc.

Mark Wolfson, Henderson