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“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
This one sentence, an excerpt from the 1st amendment to our Constitution, is the basis on which the “separation of church and state” argument is formed. I think I’ll repeat that quote for emphasis.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
You can read through the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence, and you will find no other clause, save this one, which calls for anything resembling a “separation of church and state.”
If you’d like, you can read all three documents at the following site:
http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/
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What our Bill of Rights does say about religion is this: That our government shall not pass laws which dictate that its citizens follow any particular religion, or any religion at all. And at the same time, our government shall not pass laws which infringe upon the rights of its citizens to worship as they please.
The 1st amendment does NOT require that religious symbols be stricken from public property, nor does it require that all mention of God be removed from public speech.
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It is a perversion of American law not to allow displays of the Ten Commandments in court houses. It is a perversion of our law not to allow nativity scenes or menorahs in front of public buildings. It is a perversion of our law not to allow references to God in schools and at colleges.
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How do you think our forefathers drew up the first set of our laws? They didn’t pick their ideas about American freedom and personal responsibility out of thin air– they based the principles written into the Constitution and Declaration of Independence on Judeo-Christian philosophy.
From the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
We are endowed by our Creator with our rights. This is the crux of the Judeo-Christian philosophy– that we are not given our rights from our government nor from other humans; we are given our rights from God.
This “God” is not necessarily the Judeo-Christian God, or Buddha, or Allah, or Mother Nature. This God is merely a higher authority than ourselves– that force which created the universe. It is this Creator which bestows upon us our self-determination– the right to make choices for ourselves in pursuit of whatever happiness we seek.
And it is the job of our government to protect these God-given rights. It is not the government’s job to foster the denial of the Creator.
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It is not an infringement on your rights as an American to see religious displays on public property, nor is it an infringement on your rights to hear or see other references to God. You are not, in any sense, entitled to walk through life without having to recognize the beliefs of others.
When the judicial branch of our government interprets our law so as to strike religious displays from public life, it does more to force atheism on everyone than to enable our open worship. And it also does more to betray the history of our country rather than to respect its religious underpinnings.
Let’s face it– overwhelmingly, our founding fathers were Christians. They weren’t Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, or anything of the sort. So let’s not act like when it comes to honoring our country’s heritage that “it isn’t fair” that other religions aren’t represented in the same magnitude. Remember where your country came from, and honor its past.
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To those of you who aren’t religious and tend to look the other way when you’re near a depiction of faith– Take comfort in knowing that you live in a country that allows you to choose not to believe. And respect the free and open worship of your peers. That includes the discussion of God, both in public and private life. Feel free to explain to others why you don’t believe as they do.
To those of you who are religious– Express yourself and discuss your views, but do not attempt to force your beliefs onto others. Feel free to explain to others why you believe the things that you do. But respect the freedom of your peers to reject your belief structure, for that is their right as Americans.
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Religious or not, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May your holidays be relaxing, enjoyable, and free of hostility.
