RELIGION IN PUBLIC LIFE 

Our founding document recognized a Creator

“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.”  These are the words from the Declaration of Independence; this is the principle upon which our nation and all its laws are based.  Within this principle are found religion and fundamental rights which government may not modify or amend.  Life is granted by the Creator of Life and from this right spring all other rights. 

President Washington in his farewell address said that religion and morality are “indispensable supports” to American public life.  The overwhelming majority of Americans believe that without religion and morality no government can protect the rights of the individual for long. 

 

Political Honesty 

From the beginning of this republic God has been at the center of our government.  Until the 1960’s the Supreme Court had ruled that “this is a Christian Nation”.  In the past 60 years the Court has moved ever closer to declaring that “freedom of religion” means “freedom from religion” – this was never the intention of America’s founders.  The recognition of God is found in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, in the speeches of Presidents and in the personal papers of our founders and Presidents.  The idea that religion should be completely removed from public places, schools, and public buildings is without foundation.  The absence of religion from public life should be foreign to any thought of a citizen who would seek justice from government institutions. 

Rule of Law 

The revision of our history and law is most clearly shown in the debate over the “Establishment Clause” of the Constitution.  The drift of the Supreme Court away from a nation of religion and religious value is most clearly demonstrated in the 2004 case brought to the Court by an atheist who did not want his daughter to have to listen to the phrase “one nation, under God.”  They relied heavily upon previous rulings by the Court that step-by-step has driven religion from most all government funded gatherings.  The case was presented to remove the national motto “In God we Trust” from our currency and the phrase “one nation, under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Thus far the Court has managed to avoid ruling on such an argument.  Laws should be decided by the elected representatives of the people.  When courts expand law beyond the meaning of the original legislation, the legislators and the people should rise up against the courts.