Letter: Religious Liberty and Christian Nationalism

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To the Editor:

For those of you who were able to stand with us on Jan. 6, in witness against the rising tide of Christian Nationalism (Christianity as the one state religion) and in favor of freedom of religion and voting rights for all, we extend a huge thank you for doing so.

The threats are real. The danger to religious freedom is growing.

At a Texas rally, Michael Flynn, a Trump ally, vigorously advocated: "If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion, one nation under God, and one religion under God."

Speakers like Byron Fox, an evangelist touring with an organization called Faith Wins, sees the church as a battleship, that Christians are the persecuted ones, instilling fear of the Bible being outlawed, urging all Christians to be soldiers for Christ.

Other speakers at national conferences and rallies are adherents of the Seven Mountains Dominionism, an ideology that calls explicitly for the domination of government and education by Christians.



So let us all encourage our friends, family, and congregations of any and all religions to be very aware, and continue to speak up and speak out on this rising threat to religious liberty.

For further information or to get involved, email us at: deaconFCC@gmail.com.
 

Signed: First Congregational Church Williamstown, Committee for Religious Liberty

Betsy Burris
Adrian Dunn
Sherwood Guernsey
David Langston
Bridget Spann


 

 

 

 

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Williamstown Finance Committee Finalizes Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Proposal

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The tax bill of a median-priced single family home will go up by 8.45 percent in the year that begins July 1 under a spending plan approved by the Finance Committee on Wednesday night.
 
After more than a month of going through all proposed spending by the town and public schools and searching for places to trim the budget and adjust revenue estimates, the Fin Comm voted to send a series of fiscal articles to the May 19 annual town meeting for approval.
 
The panel also discussed how to appeal to town meeting members to reverse what Fin Comm members long have described as an anti-growth sentiment in town that keeps the tax base from expanding.
 
New growth in the tax base is generated by new construction or improvements to property that raise its value. A lack of new growth (the town projects 15 percent less revenue from new growth in fiscal year 2027 than it had in FY26) means that increased spending falls more heavily on current taxpayers.
 
The two largest spending articles on the draft warrant for the May meeting are the appropriations for general government spending and the assessment from the Mount Greylock Regional School District.
 
The former, which includes the Department of Public Works, the Williamstown Police and town hall staffing, is up by just 2.5 percent from the current fiscal year to FY27 — from $10.6 million to $10.9 million.
 
The latter, which pays for Williamstown Elementary School and the town's share of the middle-high school, is up 13.7 percent, from $14.8 million to $16.8 million.
 
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