Christian Forum:
Make your opinions heard by posting your comments in the forum.
Recent issues on the forum:
Separation of Church & State? -Lets find the TRUTH
Separation of Church & State? - Lets find
the TRUTH!
by: Mike Crane
Across our land there is a growing debate and an increasing
number of political and legal battles concerning the display of
The Ten Commandments. While I am certainly in favour of
displaying God's Laws, I have been puzzled by the arguments being
put forth by the ACLU and others. They claim that such displays
are unconstitutional based upon what they call 'Separation of
Church and State.' They claim that Our Founding Fathers intended
to build a 'wall of separation' between the Church and State and
thus not only is the display of God's Laws Unconstitutional but
is contrary to Our Founding Fathers' Principles.
Well these are certainly important arguments! If the ACLU and
associates are protecting not only the Constitution but trying to
implement the principles of our Founding Fathers, then they
certainly deserve some support. On the other hand, if they are
misrepresenting not only the Constitution but the principles of
our Founding Fathers as well, then they are simply abusing the
system to force their agenda upon the citizens.
So let's find some TRUTH in this argument and debate. In this
issue let's look at the Principles of Our Founding Fathers and
see if we can find some TRUTH.
-read the entire article here:Separation of Church & State? - Lets find the TRUTH!
TomG The First Amendment of the Constitution protects freedom of religion and not freedom from religion. This article is good. There probably are many examples of changes in definitions over time. I knew a guy that wrote definitions for dictionaries and I didn't trust him to write definitions without his liberal bias. He said he looked at old dictionaries to put together a definition. I thought at the time that he may write definitions of words that are political or about economics like a liberal would. Will dictionaries need a disclaimer and say what political agenda it's writers have?
The BoB Hello, It's been awhile, but I'm back. The ACLU does take some matters too far, but I think they're right on this one. Should atheists be subjected to Christian principles, because, even though Christians are in the majority, there are 27 million atheists in the US. And there are also quite a bit of Buddhists and Muslims too. Ask yourself this question, "How would I respond if the question was with the Nine Noble Truths of Buddhism?" Would you advocate religious seperation?
Jasmine I believe the ACLU is misrepresenting our Constitution. As TomG points out, we are guaranteed freedom of religion, not freedom *from* religion. I believe this means that all Americans are entitled to express their religious beliefs, whether they be Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or whatever. And of course, atheists and agnostics are also free to express their beliefs.
larrybilt Man,
this is tuff for me...
In God I indeed Trust..
The constitutution, as you guys have pointed out guarantees
freedom "of" religion and not freedom "from"
religion.
I am usually not one to argue, so I'll just state my views and
await your repsonse in the spirt that you always have done.
(this is a good forum)
It appears to me that "religion" implies
"rules". The constitution implies rules so probably
could be considered a from of religion.. hear me out.
The fact that 27 million atheists thrive in the USA , seems to
indicate that the constitution may "allow" freedom
(from) religion. Since an atheist probably has no rules , they
tend to be "religion free". (sorry for so many
quotation marks';I am not a learned orator.)
I therefore respectfully submit, that Christianity is not so much
of a 'religion'; rather an ideal. In essence, to live by faith in
a supreme being without being chastised by following every rule
to a "t".
It's almost like the constitution guarantees the right for a
person to believe or non-believe at his own discression, as long
as he or she conforms to the rules and regulations as stated by
the constitution, and does not harm the citizens of this fair
country..
I see nothing wrong with prayers in school, Or God Bless America,
or In God we Trust..
I can also see how some non-christians could be distraught with
this allowance..
Believe as you will, but do not do harm to your fellow patriots
as we have witnessed in other nations..
Christianity, I believe, is therefore not a religion. The only
rule it has is optional, and therefore not a rule. Either you
believe in being Christ-like.. or you don't.. You get to choose
your own path.
Sounds like freedom and America to me...
Thanks for listening...
Vinnie_B All
that Seperation of Church and State means.....
Government shall not establish a religion!
Government has no right in trying to impose it's views
on the way its' citizens practice their religion......
Also Seperation of Church and State is not in our Constitution
but that of the former Soviet Union.......
Mike_Crane
Your opinion is stated very clearly and I always respect the
opinions of others. However if I am not mistaken what you are
proposing is that any group of some size can just
"bend" the Constitution, both in practice and intent,
to suit the desires of that group. This is a very dangerous
precedent to set.
The point of my article was to show that the ACLU (and others)
are resorting to misrepresentations in their publically admitted
zeal to remove displays of the Ten Commendments. When the word
"Creator" was inserted into the Declaration of
Independence it clealy meant Jehovah for example. The insertion
of The Law's of Nature was a direct reference to the Scriptures,
which meant the KJV of the Bible.
Regardless of your views on the current day display of the Ten
Commandments, do you support what can only be called deliberate
misrepresentation? Please note that on a radio debate I
questioned Ms.Wineberg, head of the Tennessee ACLU on her
statements about the Founding Fathers and the Bill of Rights. She
finally admitted on the air that the legal argument was really
based on the 14th Amendment, being used to retroactively to apply
the Bill of Rights to the States in a manner that would have
never been approved by the Founding Fathers. As we all should all
know, they were all deceased by 1867.
I would think that the 27 million atheists that you reference
face more long term potential harm from setting another precedent
of redefinition of the Constitution by judicial activism than a
display on the wall of the Courthouse. I find it more than ironic
that the most publicly visible opponents to the display of the
Ten Commandments (the ACLU) use methods that obviously violate
one of the Commandments!
Thanks,
Mike Crane
Make your opinions known on the Christian Forum