Posted on 07/03/2006 7:51:15 AM PDT by AnnAdoringFan
The Views Expressed in this Essay Do Not Represent the Views of the United States Government
Ever since the US Supreme Court decided that there must be a Gorelick wall between church and state, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment has been twisted to mean that no mention of God (at least, the Christian God) can be made in any public venue that enjoys any funding from tax dollars. This has led to the removal of Christmas manger scenes from public property, attempts to remove crosses from war memorials, the silencing of valedictorians in the middle of their high school graduation speeches, and so on (oddly, certain public schools are still able to teach about Islam without being dragged into court over the First Amendment right not to be offended by mentions of Allah and Jihad).
It is fair to say that such applications of the Establishment Clause have not only had a chilling effect in the marketplace of ideas, but they have been used to marginalize a large portion of the population in public debate. The United States Government as a whole has been schnookered by those who wish to suppress certain opinions. The government has fallen prey to the unspoken argument that to allow a point of view to be expressed is to agree with it. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
When the Government uses our tax dollars to provide any space where citizens can express their opinions or other sentiments in some way, then that space is a public forum. With a public forum, the Government has a responsibility to allow equal access to that space without favoring one viewpoint over another. There might be guidelines for using the forum, but they should be applied equally, without bias. Furthermore, criticism from citizens might well temper the opinions expressed in such public forums, but the Government itself should not.
When a citizen expresses an opinion in a public forum, even though that forum is paid for in whole or in part by tax dollars, there is no implied Governmental endorsement of that opinion. If this obvious concept is unclear to anyone who might have gone to public school, then perhaps Government agencies need to begin using disclaimers: “The views expressed in this forum do not necessarily represent the views of this Government Agency”. This approach seems to work well enough to prevent television and radio stations from being sued, so why can’t it be applied by government agencies?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
There is no law that says, "You must put:"In God We Trust" on coins. You must erect a Cross on the San Diego Heights to commemorate Christian theology or you must say a Christian prayer before legislative or school events.
There is no law that says you must be a practicing Christain, Jew Muslem, Wiccan or Agnostic. Only the vicious PC crowds insistence that we all behave according to their dictates, (dictatorship wannabes).
Do you think there a law against it?
What do you think?
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