Separation of church and state

Today, there is another story concerning separation of church and state in the news. City council members of a small New York town are considering banning prayer before their public meetings saying it violates separation of church and state. Many city councils, government boards, schools and chambers of commerce have considered the same matter, but the New York case is going to court.

It is approaching that time of year where my county courthouse erects a lighted Nativity scene on the east side of the courthouse square and self proclaimed atheists write letters to the editor in the newspapers saying it violates the constitution and separation of church and state.

So, what is this "separation of church and state" that keeps coming up? One side interprets the First Amendment as meaning there should be no religion in state, public and government. Another side believes separation of church and state is for government to ban religion in public and government places.

Both sides are wrong.

Here it is in the U.S. Constitution:

Amendment I

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.

Once again: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

The Constitution states laws should not be based on a religion or favor a religion. Laws can be created for good, wholesome, moral, just and beneficial reasons, but not religious interpretation or to favor a particular religion.  Furthermore, Congress should not pass laws to hinder the free practice of religion. That's it.

Sound simple? Not so. With the most controversial legal battles right now - abortion and gay marriage - argument from some of our government leaders is based on religious interpretation.

Do you still think laws should be based on religion? Consider countries whose religious laws are the laws of the country. Think about what human rights are violated in the execution of these laws and you may begin to think our founding fathers knew what they were doing when they wrote Amendment I in the Constitution.

Amendment One came into spotlight in my area school district when morning announcements that once began with a reading from the Bible were reduced to a student reading a generic prayer and further reduced to a moment of silent prayer. When that moment of silent prayer was challenged, some parents protested sternly in school board meetings and the moment of silence stayed. My thought at the time was if you want to see parents get really angry, wait till a student faces east and kneels on a prayer rug during the silent prayer and the poop would really hit the fan!

The First Amendment has nothing to do with banning prayer. Neither does it give leaders the right to use religion to justify laws.

PS. Because the holidays are upon us I want to mention a 1984 Supreme Court decision, Lynch v Donnelly, provides for publicly sponsored holiday religious displays on public and government property as long as it contains secular holiday symbols along with the nativity scene.

Coming soon: Another part of the First Amendment, freedom of the press, and why what some journalists believe about it is false. Hint: My Ninja Journalism master, teacher Millie Thompson, used to say, "What do the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Freedom of the Press have in common? Anybody? Anybody?"

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