I am sad to the point of despair and disbelief that the bloody history of Protestant Christianity continues in its relentless criticism of those who dare to interpret the Bible differently.

The letter in last week’s Times titled “Church series” lists the eight pastors who have banded together to set things right.

One of my favorite movies is “The Dirty Dozen.” Why does this group of eight bring that to mind? The eight are united for battle against “Progressive” Christianity. The quotation marks used here already disrespect honest debate.

I grew up in an area populated by large numbers of Amish and Mennonites who lived peacefully with each other and with neighbors they called the English. They did so without malice or criticism of the differences in religious beliefs.

In my humble opinion this church series contrived by the eight is wrong and offers one possible explanation as to why the U.S. Census reports that in just five years the number of citizens marking “none” when asked for their religion has doubled.

The infighting among churches has disillusioned many of the formerly faithful. If any members of the eight churches concerned disagree with this call to battle whatever is considered “progressive,” and wish to discretely oppose it, I suppose they could just stay home Sundays until July.

I wish that these fundamentalist preachers would quit trying to convince me that “God is love” by fighting “progressive” religious interpretation from their eight pulpits.

I have counted 18 churches listed in the Fountain Hills phone book. Could this possibly mean there are 10 churches in Fountain Hills whose pastors and members are trying to live by their faith rather than fight about it? I certainly hope so.