Posted on 06/28/2005 10:17:55 PM PDT by CHARLITE
A few days ago, the majority of the Supreme Court ruled as if it were using the Constitution of France instead of the Constitution of the USA. The French Constitution states that its nation is a secular one, while our Constitution states that we are a nation under God. One would not know this if the majority of the Supreme Court today is to be believed
Mark Levin states in his book, Men in Black, “Chief Justice William Rehnquist has written that the Court ‘bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life.’” Based on a misreading of Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists, the Court has propounded and expanded the concept of a ‘wall of separation’ between church and state.
The framers of the Constitution wanted to ensure that all Americans could worship freely, without religious persecution. So they prohibited the federal government from ‘establishing a religion’ and equally prohibiting it from ‘interfering with the people’s free expression of their religion.’
States, however, were permitted to have established churches (the Puritans were the officially established church in Massachusetts.). Even two of the most secular framers, Madison and Jefferson, appreciated the role of religion in the public life of the United States. Jefferson himself wrote, in the Declaration of Independence, that our liberty is not endowed by states or governments, but by God.
President George Washington established Thanksgiving Day as a day of prayer to God. And it was not until 1897 that the Congress decided to stop appropriating money for education at religious schools.
In that now-famous letter, Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists that the U.S. legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting free exercise of, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.” Interestingly, a mere two days after writing this letter, Jefferson participated in church services held in the House of Representatives.
Yet liberal judges have seized on this image of a wall of separation, and are waging a war on religious freedom in our country.
Now the Socialist movement, the ACLU, and other liberal organizations (some with “Mom and Apple Pie” names to fool its readers, its fiscal donators and the country) have been partly successful in its efforts to drive the Judeo-Christian religion out America. The secularists have not failed in making most of Europe and Canada almost wholly secular and they are working hard to do this to America.
How?
They have crammed our courts with liberal legislative judges as replacements for Constitutional judges, and now their representatives in Congress have filibustered to keep President Bush from appointing a majority of Constitutional federal judges. Finally, the ACLU has tried to eliminate any mention of “GOD” from all public places. I don’t think that the word, “God” is a symbol of any one particular denomination or denotes any one specific religion, do you? So why do they act as if it does?
Apparently, the ACLU has forgotten that the founders were only afraid of a federally-owned religion ruled by a King or a President, not by free religious bodies governed by themselves.
In addition, the secularists have convinced enough people that they cannot offend any minority; they must all be “politically correct.” They accuse the majority of “trampling” on minority rights. What about the rights of the religious majority? Is not the minority trampling on those? Do the atheists not offend those who believe in God when they try to eliminate Judeo-Christian religious symbols from all public arenas?
One of the most important causes for the Bush Administration and American voters is to get Congress to accept only Federal judges who believe in and will rule upon and in light of what is actually written in the Constitution of America, not that of France, nor any other document, nor of a personal letter written by an individual—whether he is Thomas Jefferson or not.
The ONLY way this will happen is if you elect a STRONG majority of conservatives to Congress in 2006 and 2008!
Fail this and bid welcome to a godless nation. Or prepare to bid Adieu (literally and ironically, “to God”) to any semblance of freedom of (not from) religion in America.
About the Writer: Lee Ellis is a retired journalist and a former vice president of both CBS and Gannet. He resides in Indio, California, where he writes op-eds that appear in several local newspapers. Lee receives e-mail at indiolee@dc.rr.com
Nice swipe at France.
Gratuitous.
And erroneous.
The US Constitution does not say "under God".
And the French Constitution, while proclaiming the doctrine of laicite (loosely, "secularism") does not exclude religion from public life. Indeed, the government pays the salaries of teachers in both religious and public schools. Americans do not have school vouchers yet, because of constitutional barriers raised against them. In France, effectively, there are universal vouchers. Also, the French state maintains all of the churches of France, on the grounds that they are historical sites. Lest one think that this imparts government control of the content of the Churches, that is not the case. Most French people are Catholic. The government of France does not control the Catholic church, and it does not interest itself in the business of the Catholic Church. It maintains the cathedrals because they are historical sites and tourist attractions, but "laicite" in no way requires the state to exclude the religious symbols or cult that is practiced in those churches.
The government simply does not involve itself in religion, but instead of having a system of tax deductions (and a lack of vouchers) it maintains the physical church buildings, and it pays teachers' salaries.
French national holidays include Christmas, Easter Monday, All Saints Day and the Assumption. Nobody seriously advocates changing any of this. And even if someone did, the only way that could be done would be act of Parliament, given that courts in France cannot order changes in law.
So, the swipe at France was not only gratuitous, it was about 180 degrees out. France is more protective of religion in a positive sense. Religion simply plays less role in politics and government, perhaps because it is left alone, and supported to the extent that is compatible with laicite, because it is recognized as a public good.
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Yup
A very informative post, thank you, I was not aware of the details of the laws of France when it comes to religion.
Now, with that said - I'm not at all thrilled with your use of the word "cult" in reference to the Catholic Church.
Has anyone looked or at the NATIONAL ANTHEM of the US?
Second verse to be precise, the part that says this..
"And this be our motto,'IN GOD IS OUR TRUST'".
I think the reference was to the Declaration of Independence, no? Goes something like this:
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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...
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But it was taken care of :)
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