Letter of the day: Our democracy depends on freedom for all religions

The founding fathers were in complete agreement on very little, but they knew that a free and peaceful country required freedom of religion. The Tea Party's anti-Muslim, anti-mosque demagoguery reverses this evolution of the modern democratic state and mimics the 18th-century European model our founders rejected, which saw Catholics and various Protestant sects constantly battling to take over the state and use it to impose their doctrine on unbelievers. Anyone who isn't confident that their own religious sect will always be on top in America should be very nervous when someone claims the authority to determine who may worship and where, and which religions the First Amendment does not protect. I know I wouldn't want Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich empowered to rule on which parts of America are too sacred for synagogues.ALEKS HINDIN, ST. LOUIS PARK