The recent headline in The Washington Times reads “School prayer charges stir protests” stating a Florida school principal and an athletic director are facing criminal charges and up to six months in jail over a mealtime prayer at Pace High School.
The Pace High School teacher’s handbook asks teachers to “embrace every opportunity to inculcate, by precept and example, the practice of every Christian virtue.” So why has a Federal judge imposed this inane threat—and why has he been allowed to begin this assault on our freedoms without the checks and balances of a democracy?
90 miles south of Florida, Guantanamo Bay houses many of the worst terrorists who have waged a bloody war on the US. Their hatred for Americans is beyond measure.
But their “right” to hold daily prayers is accommodated in this Cuban facility with every detail attended to. On the United States Department of Defense website, http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/gitmo/facilities.html pictures are posted showing arrows painted on the floor in many rooms, pointing the direction to Mecca, the Islam holy city, so the detainees know which way to face when the call to prayer sounds. The call to prayer is broadcast five times a day. During the broadcast, a yellow traffic cone, with a big "P" stenciled on it, is placed at the center of each cell block. This cone signals the guards must be silent while the detainees are praying.
The Establishment Clause in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution does not mention anything about a "separation between church and state." This phrase came about through a letter written by President Jefferson to the Danbury Connecticut Baptist Association in January of 1802.
The First Amendment of the Constitution reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." These words established that government would not stand for either an official religion or restrictions on the freedom to practice any such religion.
History shows that the practice of “Christianity” is found to be offensive and unlawful in the majority of religious disputes. Many religious institutions such as Islam, Buddhist, Hinduism, Sikhism, and others are respected and exalted in public and state settings.
Frank Zappa, a forceful but invisible critic of mainstream education and organized religion, was a little known supporter for freedom of speech and the abolition of censorship. Regardless of the famous musician's insane lifestyle and flare for far out living, he made a succinct statement: “The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.”
A lone Federal judge single handedly makes a bad call on a gray constitutional particle—that should make all Americans stand up and roar with objection.
Why Christians? Jesus is controversial. Christianity is seen as a threat. Prayer—to the one true God, stirs up arguments and brings offensive dispute.
Truth carries the sting of hysteria to people who fear their own lies.
Visit me at http://www.cindyscinto.com
To inculcate is a world that has nothing to share with freedom,my dear Cindy...in Guantanamo at least the prisoners have the opportunity to pray,but nobody oblige them.
ReplyDeleteIn your country there are so many fundamentalist association that share theories like fascism,nazism and so on..the problem in Florida is not recent,and I read in a book that there ... Read Morewere many sentences after trials on the subject of religion teaching in the public schools,you can see it for instance at http://supreme.justitia.com
www.pfaw.org
and you should read what Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to John Adams,dated april11th,1823.
I quit here,there is too much to say,I love you but unfortunately you got an atheist italian cousin!
There is a saying I learned in a college comparative religion class: I don't remember it verbatum, but it goes something like this:
ReplyDeleteIf there is a God and you believe and try to follow God, then well when you die that is a good thing
If you believe and try to follow God and there is no God, well then you lived your life through the bible, which is again, not a bad thing... Read More
However, if you DO NOT believe in God and there is a God.....ooooh you are in trouble
Since the odds are in the favor of believing, well then fear enough works for me.......
You know I love you right? So remember where this is coming from ...
ReplyDeleteThough you state that your God is the one true God, there is of course no proof of that. It is just an opinion. Others have different opinions including atheists. They are all equally valid. Why should my tax dollars go toward promoting religion of any kind? Why should we pledge to one nation 'under God.' I find that offensive. 'in God we trust' on our money is also offensive. Churches not paying taxes is offensive.
Everyone has a right to believe whatever they want to but when the government starts imposing 'christian values' on me I'm offended. The Christians haven't always had the best values throughout history or in the current church system.
Hope I didn't offend you. I didn't want to do it publicly but I wanted to give you the other side.
Nothing but love,
Michael
You did not go too far. What is freedom among friends if we can't air our minds! I have mulled over your comments. I NEVER alluded to the government imposing Christian values on ANYONE. But they cannot make those values illegal for one who prayed over his meal to himself. AND churches do not pay taxes because NO NON PROFIT GROUPS PAY TAXES! That includes ALL belief systems. You do not have to believe in God to have it on your money just like having Caesar on coins back in the day. This country was started by Christians...and a free and grand country it is. But YOU are free to believe your heart's desire. As far as MY God being the one true God--he is to me and I have my own proof in many ways but NEVER think you need to believe what I believe. If you wanted to find out if He is the True God, there are ways. If you are convinced He is not--let it go. But your insistence on freedom is skewed when you look to prevent me from airing my own words on a blog or anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteWould you have posted the same reply if we were living in North Africa and I wrote about Allah being the one true God? Would you have insulted a Muslim?
Okay--LOVE YOU TOO! 8^)
First, and most importantly, I never meant to infer that I wanted to prevent you from airing your views. I only wished to give you my perspective. Blog away my friend. I'm sorry if my words insulted you. That was never my intent. You know I love you.
ReplyDeleteYes, you never alluded to the Government imposing Christian values. That's my own pet peeve that I threw into the mix. They DO do it though.
I agree those values and prayers should not be illegal. People should be free to worship as they see fit. I don't think there should be any official rules for or against prayer in school or anywhere else. It's none of the Governments business and not their place to weigh in on it.
As for Non-Profit groups not paying taxes, I sort of see you're point there. I don't view all churches as non-profit though. Being in Musical Instrument retail, I've worked a lot with churches. Pastors in Armani suits driving Mercedes Benz' and spending $400,000 on recording gear. I don't think that's what the parishiners had in mind for their donations and I don't see why my tax dollars should fund it.
The country was started by Christians? Do you mean the wig wearing slave owners? I don't put that much faith in our founding fathers. They did a lot of good stuff mixed with a lot of bad stuff. Just ask an American Indian - if you can find one.
One's choice which God to believe in (or not believe in) is a personal choice. The government should have no opinion one way or the other. What if there were (through good marketing) more Scientologists than Christians? Would you be OK with "In L. Ron Hubbard we trust"? or "I pledge allegiance to the flag. One nation under L. Ron Hubbard." Sounds ridiculous when it's not your God, doesn't it? That's how others feel about the current infusion of religion into our government.
As George Carlin said "more people have been killed in the name of religion than any other cause." I know a lot of churches do amazing charity work and I have nothing but respect for that. I'm currently producing two Christian artists that went to Shri Lanka after the tsunami and to New Orleans after Katrina. Just amazing stuff. I know there's a lot of that out there.