By Nick Dial
A common phrase seen and heard used by protesters the last several years is “separation of church and state” This phrase has been used to protest the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance, school, curriculum, nativity scenes in public, and even gay marriage. So….does separation of church and state apply to these activities and venues? This is where people must dust off that old history book to find the real intentions behind what “separation of church and state” really means.
When our founding fathers wrote the Constitution there was sound reasoning behind why they made specific reference to religion. The U.S. Colonies had lived under the thumb of King George III for some time and had grown weary of monarchy rule and the arbitrary law that came with it. Religions other than the Church of England had been suppressed for quite some time so much so, that the Puritans settled in the Americas in order to freely practice their religion. This was nothing new to the founding fathers; they knew this history as well as anyone else.
The term “separation of church and state” is not found anywhere in the US Constitution. The phrase was made popular by Thomas Jefferson when he wrote a letter defending the rights of a group of Baptists to practice their faith.
“The Danbury Baptists were a religious minority in Connecticut, and they complained that in their state, the religious liberties they enjoyed were not seen as immutable rights, but as privileges granted by the legislature — as “favors granted.” (U.S. Constitution, 2010).
Since then Jefferson’s words have often been used out of context and, unfortunately, by those who misunderstand the very reasons the First Amendment addresses the issue.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states : “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” (Us constitution, 2010).
The key words regarding this issue are the following: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.
Again, we need to look at history to understand the reasoning behind their position. We know that the Puritans came from the Old World to escape religious persecution so that they could practice their faith freely. Europe’s, and especially England’s, long history of religious oppression was the reason for inclusion of the phrase “make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. Although none of Europe was particularly religiously tolerant, the oppression reached intolerable levels during the rule of King Henry VIII. In the sixteenth century, King Henry had failed to have a son born in order to retain a male heir to the throne. There had already been tension between the authorities in Rome and England for some time. King Henry went to the Pope requesting that his marriage be annulled. He was refused. He had fallen in love with a new woman, Ann Boleyn, and wished to be married to her in place of his current wife. After refusal from the Pope, the king met with his closest advisors and developed a novel idea.
“When he met with failure, Henry did what every other king would do. He fired his closest advisor. This was an important move. His closest advisor on the matter was Cardinal Wolsey, the Lord Chancellor of England. The negotiations with the papal court were largely carried out by Wolsey. When he failed, Henry dismissed and arrested him and replaced him with Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell. Both these men were sympathetic to the new ideas of Martin Luther. They gave the king some radical advice: if the pope does not grant the annulment, then split the English church off from the Roman church. Rather than the pope, the king would be the spiritual head of the English church. If the King wants an annulment, then the King can grant his own annulment” Protestant England, 2010).
Taking the advice of his advisors King Henry did just that. England broke off from Roman Catholic Church, and the Church of England was formed. King Henry was then declared head of the church and was free to annul any marriage he wished. When the Church of England was created it became the official church of the kingdom and an act against the king was viewed as an act against God. This is the very reason why the founding fathers put safeguards such as the First Amendment in place. They knew from their own history the dangers of a church being part of the government and the abuses permitted under a state religion.
The founding fathers were logical men. The point of the First Amendment was to keep any religion from becoming a state sponsored religion, not the government being supported by those of faith or any reference to faith. If their intent was to keep any reference of God or faith out of government, they would not have made such bold statements about their beliefs in God and God’s role in our granted freedoms.
In the Declaration of Independence they wrote, “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”. George Washington himself called for a national day of prayer during the Revolutionary War.
The notion of keeping God or faith out of governmental matters, or public displays of faith was never the intent behind the first amendment. It was there to keep religions from being empowered by government support and turning into a tool of tyranny. Today, due to lack of understanding and revisionist history behind the First Amendment’s purpose, we see people taking things completely out of context to fit their world views. The First Amendment has nothing to do with the concept of God in school, gay marriage, abortion, or any other political issue involving religion. Being an advocate for or against such things and publicly announcing it is fine, that’s what America is all about. Before you rush out with a sign saying such things as “separation of church and state” keep one thing in mind; if you don’t learn the history behind what you are saying and its true meaning, you will accomplish nothing except making yourself look foolish.
References
Protestant england. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/REFORM/ENGLAND.HTM
Us constitution. (2010). Retrieved from
By Nick Dial
As the Anti-Wall Street protests continue to desecrate our streets, and in many cases, denounce America, I can’t help but ask….What with wrong with the kids of these generations? Everyone from baby boomers to millennials are filling our streets and condemning America and Capitalism. Were they not instilled with the American fighting spirit as kids?
When I was a child, my favorite holiday was the Fourth of July. Sparklers burned, flags waved, and all was good in the world. Today, the nation is stuck in a malaise. Somehow along the way many have lost the meaning of what a privilege it is to be an American. Of all the nations in the entire world, truly the few and the proud can call themselves American. We are a nation that stands for more than just self-interest. We stand for that moral question of what every human being longs for…freedom. The freedom to self-govern our live as we choose, and at one time, to only call on the government for things that are necessary, such as national defense.
Our youth today seem to have no concept of such views. They never lost touch because they were never connected in the first place. Today’s generation is a reflection of a society that judges success by the fruits of materialistic objects. The flashy car, the mini mansion, the fancy clothes, all in the name of keeping up with what pop culture deems as success in today’s fast paced world. What are we to expect? Our government is acting as if the parents went away for the weekend and left the credit card behind for the kids to find. Everything is charge it now, with little consideration for the long term implications of what such careless behavior will bring. What will our future generations do when they are a product of being reliant on big government and have no understanding of what it means to be self-reliant? It wasn’t that long ago when the fruits of success were measured in sweat after a full day of honest work in a field and when the rain came down to compliment your hard work, it all came together and paid off.
As the father with a young daughter, I take our nation’s future seriously. I want her to inherit a safe United States. I have never been in combat, but I have seen what we can do to one another right here at home. As a police officer, I have seen horrible things in our own streets. I am aware of the kill or be killed ways of the world. Myself and others who have served, can testify, evil is real. We have seen it firsthand with our own eyes. What I want to do is share some awareness with you. We live very busy safe lives as Americans. We are very much involved in pop culture, gossip magazines, and tabloid media. We get advice from Hollywood actors about topics they have no expertise or understanding of. We have become a nation of superficial obsession. All these things are possible because we have always had a strong deterrence to anyone wanting to do us harm. A strong military is the foundation of freedom and safety. Without that, we have nothing. There would be no job security, no guarantees, and no pursuit of happiness. No one knows this better than the men and women of the 1940’s, who lived in the shadow of the Third Reich. If you get a chance, ask a WWII vet how they feel. Ask them how it was to endure food and material rations for the war effort with no sure outcome of a winner and the knowledge if we lost the war, we lost our way of life with it.
The problem is while we are encased in this “safe” nation of ours, the world outside our borders is preparing for conflict. Mexico is on the verge of collapse and is losing a war with drug cartels. I have dealt with this as a Police Officer and have tried to give warn of its implications. Iran has made threat after threat and will soon have a nuclear weapon along with the means to deliver it. North Korea has test launched ballistic missiles that are capable of hitting our west coast. Russia and Putin are extremely anti – west, and becoming a world power again. They hold a monopoly on the oil reserves in that part of the world and are becoming very wealthy. They have paid monies to Kyrgyzstan not to allow us to continue using Air bases to serve the Afghanistan region. Russia has stated that they will match every NATO ship in numbers. Russia has supplied Iran Nuclear technologies and surface to air missiles to defend against the United States or Israel. Russia is also touring their navy in South America and is renewing Cold War ties with Cuba and Venezuela; both anti-American. Russia has threatened preemptive nuclear strikes against Poland and has caused Obama to back down from missile defense. Russia has also announced they are building 70 more nuclear weapons. China is a rising power that already rivals us. Iran was just caught funding an assassination attempt on our soil, and now threatens to anchor war ships of our coast.
There is a storm rising and we cannot continue to back shelf these issues until they come full circle. We owe it to our children and their children’s children. It’s time to stop with the petty party pandering and get back to what it truly is to be an American – proud, free, and self-reliant.
