The
problem with the "separationists" beliefs about the "separation of church and state" issue, is that they don't understand
what the Constitution says or means, or the historical influences that
helped to form it. The 1st Amendment reads, "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof". I don't know that that has happened anywhere in
this country. Art. 6 of the US Constitution provides that there shall
be no religious test as a requirement to hold public office. These are
the only mentions in the Constitution regarding religion, and neither to
my knowledge have been violated.
The
Declaration of Independence invokes God in its opening paragraph as the
authority upon which the colonist draw the right to seceded from Great
Britain, "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 . . .". And in the final paragraph, God again is called upon, this
time with a declaration of faith; "And for the support of this
Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and
our sacred Honor."
The
point of this is that God is not excluded from the public forum by the
Constitution. To the contrary, if you read the writings of the authors
and signers of it, (and of the Declaration of Independence) you will see that they often invoked the name of God
in their writing, even in the writings surrounding their official
duties. It is clear that the Founders viewed the Natural Law, the laws
of Nature and Nature's God, as the basis for the liberties and laws of
Man.
The
majority of the Founders understood Nature's God to be the
Judea/Christian god. And today, a majority of Americans still recognize that
same god. We are, and have been, a Judea/Christian nation, one that
tolerates the religious liberties of others; thankfully so and
documented so. The second paragraph of the Declaration contains one of
the most recognized assertions of the Founder's belief in God and the
laws of God. It declares that mankind was Created and Created equally
(by God) and the rights of Man come from the Creator and are not subject
to the whims of the powerful.
What
are our rights and where do they come from?
"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, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
What then, is the purpose
of government?
". . . to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed . . ."
The open acknowledgement of God by our government doth not a theocracy make.
Wednesday, July 01, 2015
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