Pastor David Whitney said our rights come from God, not the government, and even if he only said it once in three hours, it requires a reply ("Church-state objections to class," Feb. 24).

There is no evidence for God, so any rights attributed to be from him are strictly man-made. Maryland has had four constitutions, but it seems Mr. Whitney thinks nothing has occurred here in the last 250 years.

We've gone from a colony ruled by a king claiming a God-given right to rule, to a state in a country that gave blacks and women their freedom and the right to vote. We will not let Republicans or evangelicals turn back the clock.

Theodore Carl Houk