…or, Apparently the Second Amendment isn’t the only one that gets misread:
“Pastor Steven Andrew states: ‘Our children need God back in schools,’ and he is calling Christians nationwide to bring back the Holy Bible and Christian prayer to schools. The First Amendment was for Christianity, not other religions. The first Amendment says, ‘Congress shall make no law… prohibiting the free exercise of the [Christian] religion.’”
Wow, how special. The way I remember my American history being taught, this is diametrically opposed to the way the Founding Fathers would have had it and they would have been aghast. Anyone who knows anything about the Founders’ beliefs knows that not all of them were Christians and that their beliefs varied greatly. And really, all you have to do is look at the text of the First Amendment to see that this principal and the pastor he’s quoting don’t know what they’re talking about:
“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.”
It doesn’t say anything about Christianity in there, does it? And don’t you just love how the principal tries to weasel his way out of the controversy here?
Principal Davis has said he does not agree with the pastor’s remarks and doesn’t think including them with the other notices was an indication that he endorsed the beliefs.
“To me it just looked like it all went together with the morals. I don’t think it was a stretch at all for him to make those comments or for me to share them,” he said in the Times-Union.
All righty then. It looks to me as if the principal was citing the pastor as some sort of authority, which would imply that he agreed on some level with the pastor’s interpretation of the First Amendment, don’t you think?
Tags: miscellaneous
October 24, 2011 at 16:05 |
Using his logic, we should go back to the idea that “all men are created equal” is only for WASP males.
October 24, 2011 at 19:45 |
In reality, there were several sects of Christianity, usually one dominant in each colony (later, “state”.) That’s what the 1A religion clause was for; keeping the feds from establishing one sect as the national religion, as the Anglican Church was in England. But Christianity in its various forms was THE religion of the U.S.
Now, however, false religions, and even atheism itself are protected by the 1A, even while Christianity is being persecuted in the U.S. Apparently, 1A protection is not to be afforded Christians.
October 24, 2011 at 22:07 |
Crotalus, are you on crack?
October 24, 2011 at 23:23 |
No, dude. Look around, and check he historical record.
October 25, 2011 at 10:29 |
Given that Thomas Jefferson compiled a version of the Gospels without all that pesky supernatural stuff, that both he & Franklin were vocal critics of organized religion, & that the Founding Fathers were clearly aware of other religions, it beggars belief that they would not have limited the 1A to Christianity had they meant to do so, just as they would have limited the 2A to militias were THAT their intent.
October 25, 2011 at 14:18 |
Let’s not forget that “public schools” are a fairly recent invention, and religious-backed schools were the norm, as our founding Fathers didn’t envision a gubmint big enough thru taxes to establish schools everywhere, and most churches see that teaching leads into sharing the Gospels, as only a literate people can appreciate the whole of the Bible. Frankly, seeing the Charlie Foxtrot that the US Dept of Ed. has made of things, I’m leaning more toward getting rid of public schooling, and churches can offer vouchers and scholarships for poor families, to provide that religious-based education, if families aren’t able to teach basics to their children at home.
October 28, 2011 at 08:01 |
Crotalus, whoever he is, is quite right. Whether he’s under the influence of a controlled substance or not is beside the point.
No one alive today can know the thoughts and arguments of the founding fathers as these thoughts existed when the Bill Of Rights was written. We can read their notes and various essays, but none of us can actually know. We can only surmise. That said, it’s very likely that the freedom of religion was the lesser of many evils. The government, such as it was, wanted a republic at the expense (or exclusion if you will) of all other forms of government, which included a theocracy. Not that there’s anything wrong with a theocracy – so long as the governing body of elders all belong to my church and I’m the Senior Pastor. See?