I start off today by defining two terms that are too often thrown around when discussing politics and religion. First, the Establishment Clause. The Establishment Clause, found in the First Amendment, says that Congress may not pass a law establishing an official state religion nor favoring a specific religion. Fine. The Next one is the Free-Exercise Clause also found in the First amendment and stating that Congress shall not abridge citizens the right to practice any religion that they choose. Why is it then that the Federal Government, mainly the Supreme Court and Congress, have become specifically hostile towards religion in the last half of a century?
First off, there is no such thing as the Separation of Church and State. It is a myth. Nowhere in our Constitution does it say anything about Separating the Government from religion, it is propaganda established by anti-theists. Like it or not, support it or not, the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and it remains a Christian nation, one of the more practicing in the world. And yet, we look at our law history and find that we ban prayer in school, ban polygamy, disallow the right for military officers to wear a yarmulke, ban Manger scenes if they are not side-by-side with something secular, take the ten commandments from federal buildings, remove crosses from memorials on Federal land, the list goes on and on. To get my point across I will only argue two of these points, Prayer in School and Polygamy.
As for Polygamy; I am totally against polygamy on a personal level. It seems to toss ethics out the window and to recreate the whole image of marriage. However, we take a look at the Free-Exercise Clause and see that Congress shall create no law to abridge the practice of one’s religion. A Mormon wishes to marry more than one wife because the bible and the God that he believes in tells him that, should he not, he will perish in hell. Who the hell is Congress, who has these instructions for our founding fathers to not interfere with the practice of religion, to tell the Mormons that they may not do what their God tells them to! As a Catholic, I can say that I’ve been drinking wine in church since I was seven years old, and yet Congress thankfully followed the Free-Exercise Clause and allowed me to do so because it is my belief that the wine is the blood of Christ. If it is the Mormon’s belief that they will go to hell if they fail to follow the rules of their God, than Congress has NO right to interfere both logically, ethically, and constitutionally.
As for Prayer in School, a much grayer topic. Up until the mid-1900′s, there was no question on the fact that a school prayer was done in Public Schools. Then, people argued that their tax money was going to support a prayer and the prayer was removed. First off, the prayer was non-sectarian, and thus was simply “God, Look after our teachers, friends, and families. Amen,” or something along those lines. I ask, was it mandatory? Of course not, nobody would force anyone to say the words of their prayer. Was it beneficial? Absolutely, it cause fond thoughts for friends and family and was a moment to think and relax from a hectic school day. For Religious students, it was also a moment to thank God for their gifts. Nowadays, I send my son or daughter to school where she sits through Biology and Earth Science and learns about evolution and Global Warming. Do I believe in both of these things? Yes, to an extent. However, both are as much theories as my religion is and yet, neither can be fought in a court of law. You are not allowed to push religion in a public school, and yet by teaching evolution, it is perfectly fine for my tax dollars to go to the teaching of Anti-God and Anti-Religion.
The whole ordeal is both not fair and not constitutional. The majority of our nation is Christian, and it is time we stop listening to the minority of Atheists. Religion should be a part of our national life, and I am not simply saying Christians, but Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Seeks, Hari Krishnas, whatever it may be! I tell you, at this rate I fear our future as the Government continues to side Anti-Religion, for not too far in our future I wouldn’t be shocked to see Arlington National Cemetery stripped of it’s crosses, crescent moons, and stars of David, or the words ‘In God We Trust’ torn off the dollar bill.
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