The First Amendment Part 1
There is a cross in the Mojave Desert that is covered in a plywood box due to a man in Oregon being offended by it. The cross was erected by World War I veterans with a plaque and stands in the middle of that barren land as a memorial to the men that were lost in that nightmarish war of trenches and gas, of mud and machine guns. These men erected a memorial to their lost comrades in the desert in the 1930's that you have to go out of your way to actually see, but there is a legal battle because the land is now in government hands, controlled by the National Park Service.
So the National Park Service opted to sell the land, an easy fix, but not good enough for the American Civil Liberty Union who has invested millions into this case and wants the government (ie you and I taxpayer) to pay them for their services rather than the quick fix. You see, people have apparently not read the Constitution or the First Amendment yet are so willing to hide behind it to fit there needs. The first amendment does not have the wording "Separation of Church and State" as that was used in a personal letter of Thomas Jefferson not an official government document, and if we were to use every presidents correspondence for official government documents than the good Lord knows what Bill Clinton would have brought into the government.
The First Amendment 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."
So what does this mean. Well lets examine the first part:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion
This came from our experiences in England and the Church of England. It prevented congress from creating a Church of the United States and outlawing the Church of England and the Catholic Church. When the Church of England was formed in Great Britain the Catholics (and every other religion) became second class citizens. This clause prevents this from ever happening in the United States.
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof
In the United States we had a problem with the early colonies with this one. People leaving because of religious persecution in other countries immediately turned around and persecuted others. After the United States was established, it was the states that were violating this such as the sanctioned persecution of Catholics in the south during reconstruction after the civil war and the prolonged attacks against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) that pushed them to move to Utah (in Missouri it was even legal to kill a Mormon until it was taken off the books in 1976) and have a US Army base built over Salt Lake City to keep an eye on them. The United States was not very good about letting people practice their religions in the past and even now you'll here the term cult to term a group that is misunderstood. Public hysteria has a way of causing problems for people but as long as they don't violate established US law, there should be no problems. Now if a religion forms that is established to have practices that violate US law such as sex with minors, drug use, torture, or any other things that have been practiced in the past and can be thought up, then it needs to be scrutinized and people need to be prosecuted not persecuted. Otherwise, let people be people.
Now does this mean that if people in an office want to hang Christmas decorations they are establishing a religion? Of course not. Neither does bringing out a menorah make me Jewish but I do so for several of my Jewish friends, just as they have Christmas decorations because they're pretty. It's not establishing a religion it's just enjoying the company of one and other. Were those men establishing a Christian religion when they planted a cross for their dead friends in the middle of that desert? No. They were putting in place a memorial for the dead. Lets face it, religion is a part of us, all of us. You cannot deny this. If you are offended be a symbol, whether a star of David, a cross, a representation of Buddha, an ankh, or any of the other various symbols used in worship, then maybe you need to look at your own beliefs a little harder. The stronger your foundation, the less it should be worried by things of the inconsequential.
There should not be lawsuits if veterans build a cross or a star of David to represent fallen soldiers. It should be expected as most service members were either of a Christian denomination or Jewish. Now as service members die more faiths will be represented but most will still be Christian and Jewish. There should be lawsuits if the DMV woman is trying to convert you instead of doing her job not if a neighborhood decides to put up a nativity scene.
As far as the ACLU is concerned, they are the an example of the problems with our health care system, people trying to make a buck off of lawsuits not caring who pays for. In the end, the cost goes to all of us.
