Separation of Church and State

Contrary to the paroxysm of hysteria my dear far-left brothers and sisters go into at the mere mention of God (a Christian or Jewish one that is), the Constitution does not drive God from the public square. The First Amendment states clearly that Congress cannot establish a national/state religion. On a state church, Thomas Jefferson was very clear and understandably so when one sees that in his day all male citizens were taxed to support the state-established church. Mr. Thomas Jefferson worked “for religious liberty, to relieve the people from taxation for the support of a state church…” The old days in Williamsburg had shown Mr. Jefferson quite enough of a state-owned religious monopoly, its establishment being “truly of the religion of the rich, the dissenting sects being entirely composed of the less wealthy people” who had to pay the tax to support the state-owned church…” whether they worshiped there or not. (Albert Jay Nock, Mr. Jefferson – 1926, page 25 of 2003 publication) [Italicized words added.] We are, as yet, far from an established religion in the United States of America; however, we are seeing just the opposite in Afghanistan as well as Iraq. Recently, an Afghani man was going to be executed for becoming a Christian. It is my understanding that in Islam there is no separation of church and state; that they are one and the same with religious law superseding secular law. I could be incorrect. But circumstances beg the question: is the Religion of Peace (the appellation used by our leadership when referring to Islam) compatible with the American ideal of freedom of religion and the right to practice one’s religion without governmental interference? Or without fear? As a nation, we’ve never had an established religion. The colonies had state-established churches but not the nation. Since the 1960’s, the far-left has worked mightily to destroy or undermine Christianity and Judaism – certainly to undermine the principles that underpin these religions. The only ideology they had to replace the principles with is socialism that weakens our nation’s people at every turn and has tended to keep many people “down”. [Certainly a whole different subject.] In terms of Christianity (which by itself is not an established religion but rather a myriad of sects), they are doing a great job of driving it from even being mentioned in the public square. A valedictorian (American citizen, female) cannot give thanks to God as a guiding force in her life without having the plug to her microphone yanked. She was censored because of the misguided notion that the “government” was endorsing religion and that her words may offend someone. Thank you, Hillary and Bill, for institutionalizing censorship. Censoring our children - at graduation? Please... Political correctness is just that – censorship. The very concept stifles the freedom of speech so vital for us in order to exchange our views and come out with consensus. But then, that is the point - to stifle speech and to stigmatize a non-protected race. As I have read, in countries controlled by Islam today, Christians and others practicing non-Islamic religions are fined/charged a “religion” tax and they are second-class citizens denied the full rights of other male citizens. Regarding the enlightened view of taxing all male citizens to support state religion in colonial days and knowing the propensity of the far-left to tax the industry of working people and give their money to the people who don’t work for the purpose of making everyone poor, it would seem that the far-left would be clamoring for a state religion so that those rascally Christians could be further taxed. But wait! The far-left may indeed have a religion and all people who work and pay taxes are supporting it. The religion (self-annihilation taking all of us with them) is the religion of Marxism and guilt (which I don’t share). The good thing for the far-left is that their religion is hidden in that there are no synagogues, no churches in the traditional sense, and no mosques. However, one must never underestimate the pathology associated with making others pay to make the far-left feel better, nor should we ignore the institutions they control. Never was it intended or even dreamed by our Founding Fathers that God would be beaten from the public square, that people speaking of their faith would be ridiculed and shouted down, that our children would be killed for their belief in God (Columbine) and that Jewish ladies would be allegedly shot (one killed) by a Muslim (American citizen I think) who after leaving a mosque, shaved his head and beard, got two handguns and a knife, and set about opening gun fire in a Jewish Center in Seattle, WA (July 28/29, 2006 I think), and we, the people, enjoy the tyranny of political correctness/censorship. In the Seattle case, there has been an overwhelming news media blackout. Why? Recently, I have heard the word Islamofacism (coined by Michael Savage) and used now in newsprint as well as TV media. In an interview with Neal Cavuto this week, President Bush indicated that he understands the threat faced by the Israelis as well as by all of Western Civilization when he said we are fighting Islamic Totalitarianism. That is an ideology, is it not? Or would the ideology be more reminiscent of the Grand Inquisition of earlier days in Europe? As Americans, we must have the freedom to share dreams and ideas as well as ideologies with each other. As an incurable optimist, I must believe that we have more that unites us than that separates us. We need to look closely at those who work to divide and separate us. What is their motive? And how much money are they making by dividing us? The idea of “divide and conquer” works if we are not vigilant. It works in families. It works in small churches. It works through the anti-American indoctrination taught in our once excellent educational system where we once focused on reading, writing, math, science, and history. Always step back and check the motive. Motive, if not verbalized, is defined by actions. We need to guard our freedoms and we need to demand the best from our institutions for the good of us all. If that means walking away from a group identity to an identity built on personal worth and responsibility, then we must walk away. We must defend our freedom of religion and our freedom of speech. If one of us does not have freedom of speech, then none of us have it. If we do not have the freedom to practice our religions without the fear of being shot and killed in our places of worship, none of us have freedom. Until next time, God bless you and God bless America.