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Prayer before a game, under God as a part of the pledge, the Ten Commandments on school walls: are all of these really an endorsement of religion or are they merely a nations heritage; traditions passed down year after year? This point could and probably will be argued forever. But there is one thing that must be settled once and for all. If rights are to be removed from moral, conservative students in the public school system, then the precedent set by the removal of these rights must extend all the way across the board, even into government offices. If any one persons rights are to be revoked, the revocation must be consistent, from public school student, all the way up to President of the United States.
When one item is declared unconstitutional by the government, and the same item in another instance is not, our government is proving its lack of true leadership, not only to Americans but also the rest of the world. The Constitution of the United States has been compromised. It has been twisted and taken out of context many times to promote the liberal, social agenda. The dictionary definition for the word constitution says it all: the composition or make-up of anything, as of the human body or the state; the system of fundamental laws of a nation or society (New Concise Websters Dictionary, 1988). The constitution of a country cannot be altered any more than that of the human body. Twisting words; pulling them out of context, is like pulling out the stomach and inserting it into the brain cavity.
It doesnt work. When a constitution is altered, the body loses its identity. It is no longer what it was. Although on the outside it may seem to be a beautiful creation, it no longer has the strength and fortitude it had before it was cut and pieced back together. American history is full of official references to the value and invocation of Divine guidance in deliberations and pronouncements of [both] the Founding Fathers and contemporary leaders... (Lynch v. Donnelly, 1999).
American heritage and modern life alike are wrought with often times unrecognized religious symbols, sayings and celebrations. National holidays: Easter - Christian feast commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). Thanksgiving The fourth Thursday of November, observed as a legal holiday in the United States to commemorate the feast held at Plymouth in 1621 by the Pilgrim colonists and members of the Wampanoag people and marked by the giving of thanks to God for harvest and health (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). Christmas A Christian feast commemorating the birth of Jesus (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). Each one of these holidays, has been proclaimed a national holiday and is most definitely an endorsement of religion. Yet, the same Americans who are fighting to remove students religious rights on the grounds of its unconstitutionality revel in their time-and-a-half for holidays worked or paid holiday vacations.
In a 1980 case (Stone vs. Graham, 1999), the Supreme Court prohibited the posting of the Ten Commandments on public school walls. Reasoning for this judgment was that: since public schools are funded by government moneys, it would be unconstitutional to publicly display anything religious in nature. Unconstitutional: [against] the composition or make-up of anything, as of the human body or the state; [against] the system of fundamental laws of a nation or society (New Concise Websters Dictionary, 1988).
The fundamental laws of our nation began with the Constitution of the United States. There is no reference to separation of church and state in the Constitution. The Establishment Clause, if read in context, is written for the purpose of preventing Congress from establishing a national religion. Not to remove God from public view. Our Constitution states that we are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights. Yet these rights are one-by-one being revoked, pushing America back in time into the same tyranny that our forefathers ran from, leaving their homes to come to America to establish a new, free country.
In 2003, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, was mandated to remove his sculpture of the Ten Commandments from the courthouse by U. S. District Judge Myron Thompson (Cabell, Mattingly & King, 2003). But will government deface the Supreme Courthouse Building to remove Moses; the first lawgiver; a figure from the Christian faith? What about art galleries funded by public revenues; dont they display paintings that are predominantly inspired by one religious faith? The National Gallery in Washington, maintained with Government support, ...
has long exhibited masterpieces with religious messages, notably the Last Supper, and paintings depicting the Birth of Christ, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, among many others with explicit Christian themes and messages (Lynch v. Donnelly, 1999). Justice Sandra Day OConnor stated her opinion about religious and government entanglement in Lynch v. Donnelly (1999). The Establishment Clause prohibits government from making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a persons standing in the political community. Government can run afoul of that prohibition in two principal ways.
One is excessive entanglement with religious institutions... The second and more direct infringement is government endorsement or disapproval of religion. Endorsement sends a message to non adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community. But after stating her stand on a definite separation of church and state, this same Justice allowed the local government to display a manger scene as part of the citys Christmas display on public property stating that, Celebration of public holidays, which have cultural significance even if they also have religious aspects, is a legitimate secular purpose (Piereson, 2003).
Engel vs. Vitale, 1962 was the first in a series of cases in which the Court used the establishment clause to eliminate religious activities of all sorts, which had traditionally been a part of public ceremonies. (Goldman, 1962). Before students religious rights were removed when prayer was first outlawed in school by means of government compromise, we did not have the crime problem that we have today. Since laws went into effect removing God from the classroom, the crime rate has increased to a current double from 1960 s crime (Drews, 2002). The Gallup polls show that the majority of Americans do not agree with the court systems removal of religious rights (Dobson, 2003). So how do they get away with it?
What happened to democracy; majority rule? Dr. Dobson (2003) calls it oligarchy government by a few. The few who are passing such liberal laws hold positions of power. Most of them are in lifetime positions and cannot be removed by a vote from the people. They take advantage of their status and rule using their power to make decisions as a pacifier to quiet the screaming of the liberal minority.
Cases are won by a minority because the passive majority of Americans sit in silence, twiddling thumbs while the court system softens up the nation, stashing one case after another, quietly under the bed. This stash will ultimately become a massive arsenal, used to establish the grounds for complete removal of God from our nation. Darrell Scott (2000), father of the late Rachel Scott, read this poem in his speech before Congress after the atrocities occurred at Columbine High School. Your laws ignore our deepest needs, Your words are empty air, Youve stripped away our heritage, Youve outlawed simple prayer, Now gunshots fill our classrooms, And precious children die, You seek for answers everywhere, And ask the question, Why? You regulate restrictive laws, Through legislative creed, And yet you fail to understand, That God is what we need! In 1987 the Supreme Court ruled that schools teaching evolution were granted the right not to have to give equal time to Creationism (The National Conference for Community and Justice, 2002).
Evolution, as Creationism, is an unproven theory. Darwin's theory of evolution was created by a human being and is to this day unproven by science; yet the theory is given the status of science while the teaching of Creationism is called an endorsement of religion. Compromise - A committal to something derogatory or objectionable; a prejudicial concession; a surrender; as, a compromise of character or right (Websters, 1998). The slightest compromise from any government exposes a nations Achilles heel. In this day of war, our American government cannot afford compromise. Our government must make one of two choices.
It can leave our schools alone allowing students the religious freedoms promised by the Constitution. Or it can completely remove God from any and all government funded institutions. In order for America to remain a truly free country, moral Americans must stand up and not passively take the judicial tyranny that is removing our rights one at a time. We must not allow ourselves as a nation to be softened to unconstitutional verdicts being handed out, catering to the minority with a liberal, social agenda.
We must stand firm and not allow the judicial system to twist words, taking them out of context to suit their own ideas and lifestyles. We must not let them make a mockery of the Constitution. No compromise! References Cabell, B. , Mattingly, D. & King, J. (2003, November 4).
Ten Commandments monument moved. CNN. com Law Center. Retrieved November 16, 2004.
from web Dobson, J. (2003). Restoring the Foundations: Repealing Judicial Tyranny. Retrieved December 15, 2004, from the Focus Radio website: web Drews, C. (2002). United States Crime. Morality Index. Retrieved November 18, 2004, from: web Goldman, J. (Ed. ). (1962).
Oyez: Engel v. Vitale. Retrieved December 15, 2004, from The Oyez Project: U. S. Supreme Court Multimedia website: web Lynch v. Donnelly. (1999).
Supreme Court Cases: The Dynamic Court (1930 - 1999), Retrieved November 19, 2004, from Academic Search Premier database (AN 2154880). New Concise Websters Dictionary (revised ed. ). (1988): Modern Publishing. Piereson, J. (2003, October 18). Under God The history of a Phrase. The Weekly Standard. Retrieved November 1, 2004.
from web Scott, D. (2000). A Fathers Plea to our Nation. Retrieved October 29, 2004, from web Stone v. Graham. (1999). Supreme Court Cases: The Dynamic Court (1930 - 1999), Retrieved November 18, 2004, from Academic Search Premier database (AN 2146322) The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4 th ed. ). (2000) [electronic version]: Houghton Mifflin Company.
The National Conference for Community and Justice. (2002). Religion in Public Schools: Overview & Frequently asked questions. Retrieved November 18, 2004, from The National Conference for Community and Justice Website: web Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (4 th ed. ). (1998) [electronic version]: MICRA, Inc.
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