"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."
Please make note of the 'Congress Shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' If this is the case, then why is the ACLU always screaming about how people who are constantly "violating" the First Amendment. According to the above, it is my Constitutional right to or not to be Religious, but that seems to be the question, right?
There is a fine line one walks when it comes to the Separation of Church and State*, but why is it, a group like the ACLU can cross it, but those of us who do pray to God or, whichever Deity reigns over ones religion, can not. I have a placed a link below that explains the Separation of Church and State and how somehow it went from meaning one thing, to something completely different.
I think it is time we make a stand. I was telling someone not to long ago, that the reason religious people are not heard, is because no one speaks up. Why is it the ACLU can say something, but not us. Why is it someone can be taken to court for bowing his head at school. Since when does that become unconstitutional? Just because I can’t pray out loud, DOES NOT mean I can not pray to myself.
Now, let’s see if we can dissect that Amendment…Since the ACLU can interpret it, so can I. Let’s take the first sentence about congress not making a law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting free exercise thereof…To me that means a lot of things…you can interpret it in the manner of atheism, or in the manner of religion. Point is, the way I read it, it protects both parties, not just the one that does not believe in God. I am also allowed Free Speech. If that is the case, then why stifle me (helloooo Archie Bunker!) when I want to pray out loud wherever I choose? If I want to say the Pledge of Allegiance to myself, why stop me? Or Sing God Bless America? Why Stop me? The First Amendment also allows me to write this Blog…it’s my freedom of press. Heck, for that matter, people can peacefully assemble anywhere they would like and say a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance out loud, because it is MY RIGHT as a United States Citizen!
I saw a show not too long ago about a man who pulled his daughter from school, because he believes his daughter’s rights were violated, because there was prayer in school. Mind you, it was only ONE student. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have any rights, because she most certainly does. That also DID NOT give the other children the right to pick on her(another extreme in the issue of religion), but the man is working on taking prayer out of the school. So why is it that one person means more than a couple of hundred? Doesn’t that amendment cover all of us? There should be a compromise, the first 5 minutes of Home room could be dedicated to praying students gathering and saying their prayer and pledge of allegiance and the other students who do not want to participate can do homework. No one is being forced and everyone SHOULD be happy. Sadly though, if the word God even creeps out in a school facility, all hell (pun intended) will break loose.
Let’s take a stand. If you need to pray no matter where you are, then bow your head and do it. Don’t wait until you’re in a bathroom stall, or your car, or some other place hidden from the public….if people can walk around not believing in God, then we can walk around believing in God.
1 comment:
kudos to you, my friend! i couldn't agree more!!! and, as you said......the ACLU is getting away with this because the rest of us aren't standing up for OUR rights! and, as i told you earlier....the ammendment is about freedom OF religon, not freedom FROM it!!!! i'm making a vow to pray in public more often! thanks for the encouragement!
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