You have probably heard about the state school board in Texas rewriting (or re-righting) history. They are downplaying the significance of Thomas Jefferson (OUT WITH THE BOLD) and featuring religious talking head Phyllis Schlafley (IN WITH THE RUBE) (photo below, right), for example.
Most notably, they are hiding, if not outright denying, that the founding fathers created our constitutional government intending to maintaining a separation of church and state.
One righty on the board said this: “I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state,” said David Bradley, a conservative from Beaumont who works in real estate. “I have $1,000 for the charity of your choice if you can find it in the Constitution.” The rest of this blog is directed at this David Bradley guy.
Dear Dave,
It's called the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." See, all federal laws are made by Congress. The Executive governs by enforcing those laws, as well as exercising powers specifically granted it in the Constitution (establishing religion not being one of them, BTW), and the Judiciary interprets the law. See how that works?
So, if Congress is prohibited from establishing a religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, that de facto mandates the separation of church and state. But, you can also read the writings of our founding fathers and find that they also wanted this separation.
The complexity (irrationality) of your "conservative" mind amazes me. You want a strict interpretation of the Constitution - applying only what the writers of the document intended - EXCEPT when it comes to establishing your own little theocracy. I have several comments on that.
(1) Theocracy sucks. It corrupts both religion and government. Theocracy gives you burquas, burning witches, and the oppression of peoples of minority faiths. It is one of the few things you can actually call "unAmerican." For all the mistakes our founding fathers made (slavery being a very big example), this is one major principle they got right.
(2) People, like you, who argue we were founded as a "Christian nation" are suffering from a delusion brought on by understanding too little of our history and listening to too much Glen Beck. Yes, the overwhelming majority of the first European-Americans were Christian. But our federal government was (and is) not Christian, it was (and is) secular. The power to govern comes from the people, not from God or Allah or Jehovah or any other deity. We choose our leaders in a secular voting booth on a weekday. It is not a liturgical or ecclesiastical exercise. It is an enlightened, human, secular exercise.
(3) Screaming your "Christian nation" delusion doesn't make it true any more than the Salem witch trials actually made the victims of that superstitious mass murder into witches. Saying it does not make it true. And teaching it to unsuspecting, innocent children does not make it true either.
(4) Finally, Dave, I'd like for you to send the $1000.00 to the charity chosen by my readers. I'll let you know which one wins.
Secularly yours,
Heather McDougald
Heather, I do have to agree with you on this issue. I have a problem with this issue in Texas. I don't want a school editing history and deciding what parts of history should be taught or not be taught so that it suits their own personal agendas. The history of our country is what it is. It should be presented to students in its entirety. I am personally a huge fan of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and the relationship between these two gentlemen. I am offended that any person in this country would try to downplay the contributions of any of our founding fathers. I truly believe in the constitution and I do not believe that the document needs to be interpreted. I believe it means what it says. I do not believe that the first amendment could be stated more plainly: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." I understand that this may be controversial to some but I believe that some of our founding fathers were not Christians but Deists. There are many who may find that threatening (because it does not fit their interpretation or personal agendas) and that may be one reason why they wish to downplay our founding fathers contributions. My religious beliefs are my own. I am thankful that I live in a country that allows that freedom. If it were not for the first amendment, we would not be afforded that luxury.
ReplyDeleteGo Kerrie, Go Kerrie, Go Kerrie ...! Thanks for the Comment.
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