--1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."
--Thomas Jefferson (Letter to the Danbury Baptists)
"practical distinction between Religion and Civil Government is essential to the purity of both, and as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States."
--James Madison (Principal architect of the Bill of Rights)
The 1st Amendment to our Constitution is the keystone upon which this great nation has been built.
Two hundred and thirty-two years into America’s existence, this simple, yet fantastic idea, is the one that still separates us from many other nations.
It allows PETA members to gather and protest the annual, Bowling with Possums tournament.
It makes possible the gut wrenchingly painful to watch Fox and Friends m
orning show…It guarantees me the right to call my neighbor a dick twizzling fuck nozzle. (And trust me, he is.)I like that.
The First Amendment is also the catalyst for endless debate about prayer in school, and the teaching of Creationism.
Many overzealous, rapture ready Evangelicals claim that nowhere in the Constitution does it actually read, “separation of Church and State.”
That’s true…but nowhere in the Bible does it tell them send salvation money to freaks like Pastor Rod Parsley, or engage in incessant whining about how Christians are having their rights trampled upon.
I think it’s pretty clear, that the Constitution and the words above offered by Jefferson and Madison say that yes, a separation between the two entities is critical to the success of both the country and religion.
Can’t you pray in school now anyway? I mean hell, I used to pray before every Chemistry and Trig exam I took. Nobody prevented me from doing that.
Funny thing, my prayers were answered in Chemistry class…In Trig? Not so much.
The religious right should actually be against public, school-led prayer. After all, according to Matthew 6:5, one shouldn’t pray in public in order to be seen by man.
And Creationism?
That is something that is based on faith, not science. It doesn’t belong being taught along side of the Theory of Evolution.
If you want public prayer and the teaching of Creationism, send your pious little rug rat to a private school that offers those things.
I had a funny thought yesterday.
Some right wingers and Evangelicals in this country are eating up the Internet and Talk Radio rumors that Barack Obama is not a Christian, but rather, he is actually a raging Muslim.
He's not a Muslim, but if he was, I really wouldn’t care if he was, and if he's elected President, I want President Obama to do the following…
Hold a press conference in the Rose Garden, surrounded by some big time Evangelical leaders and announce that he will work to make school-led prayer a reality.
After the applause and shouts of “Praise Jeebus” die down, continue on by saying, “and those prayers will come straight from the Quran.”
Ha. Let’s see how fast those “Godly” fuckers discover that the Constitution does say that there should be a separation between Church and State.
When blogging this week leading up to the 4th of July, remember…
The 1st Amendment has made that possible.
Cheers!!
