The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996                  TAG: 9605210010
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A14  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   24 lines

DEIST LEGACY

To set the record straight, this country's founding fathers were, by and large, deists. The ``Judeo-Christian heritage'' thing has a nice ring to it, but it is, at best, an overgeneralization.

Regardless of how offensive and ``sinful'' some behavior may seem, we must understand that religious beliefs must never be allowed to influence government policy. That was the intent of our deist founding fathers (Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, et al.). Let us not be too quick to forget what has happened in the past to governments that ruled by their interpretation of the divine word.

TODD N. LeVECK

Virginia Beach, May 3, 1996 by CNB