The promotion of secularism in the United States is rapidly becoming 'politically correct' as the organizing principle of our present day culture. Dictionary.com defines secularism as a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith or worship. It includes the view that public education and other matters of civil policy should be conducted without the introduction of a religious element. Secularists may refer to themselves as humanists, rationalists, freethinkers, skeptics, atheists or ethical societies.
Secularism is increasingly being upheld in our government circles, courts, universities and law schools as the necessary foundation for admittance to and participation withing social organizations.
For example: In 2009 Julia Ward entered her final semester of Eastern Michigan University's graduate counseling program with a 3.9 grade-point average. After her professors and dean of studies kicked her out of the program because she refused to affirm homosexuality because of her Christian faith, Ward appealed to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) organization to defend her cause. (1) (7)
ADF affirms that such attacks against religious freedom are rapidly increasing across the country. The ADF, founded in 1993, provides legal support for cases of religious discrimination by coordinating the legal efforts of Christian attorneys and allied groups that are working to protect religious liberty, family values, and sanctity of life cases. First Liberty Institute is another organization actively supplying legal support for the protection of our religious liberties. (8)
NO RELIGIOUS TEST
Recently anti-religious bigotry was demonstrated against Amy Coney Barrett, a law professor at Notre Dame, who was being considered for a position on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a letter signed by every full-time member of the Notre Dame law school faculty, Barrett was described as "a brilliant teacher and scholar, and a warm and generous colleague. She possesses in abundance all of the other qualities that shape extraordinary jurists..." Barrett is also a serious Christian believer.
California Senator Dianne Feinstein declared Barrett part of a suspect class. "Dogma and law are two different things...And I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different...When you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you." (2)
This line of questioning that contends that secular ideas are the only valid basis for public engagement violates the 'no religious test' clause of the Constitution. The Constitution makes it impermissible to deny any person a national, state, or local office on the basis of their religious convictions or lack thereof.
A CHRISTIAN NATION
A letter to the editor printed in the San Antonio Express News (August 30, 2017) boldy contended that "The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is God mentioned. The Bill of Rights does not mention a Christian God. Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, as well as other Founding Fathers, were also influenced by deism, which is not a Christian religion." The newspaper editor emphasized these comments by printing colored pictures of Jefferson, Washington and Franklin adjacent to the comments.
However these statements are misleading and inaccurate
AMERICA'S SPIRITUAL HERITAGE
The Declaration of Independence lifts up 4 references to God as the Creator, the Lawgiver, the Judge, and the Protector.
1. All people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
2. 'the laws of nature and nature's God
3. 'appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World
4. 'with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence. (3)
In his prayer journal, our first President George Washington wrote, "O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before Thy Divine majesty...daily frame me more and more into the likeness of Thy son Jesus Christ." (6)
"In 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin declared, 'God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?" (3:23)
In a prayer to the nation in 1801 Thomas Jefferson stated, "Almighty God...We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will... all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. (5)
President Andrew Jackson declared that the Bible "is the rock on which our Republic rests." (3:25)
After the Union army was defeated at the Battle of Bull Run, President Abraham Lincoln declared a National Day of Prayer and Fasting, stating "It is fit and becoming in all people at all times, to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government of God...the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (4:124)
The last act of Congress signed by President Lincoln required that IN GOD WE TRUST be inscribed upon all our national coins. (4:101)
President Teddy Roosevelt declared "The Decalogue and the Golden Rule must stand as the foundation of every successful effort to better either our social or our political life. (3:25)
D-Day, June 6 1944, during a six minute prayer, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared, "If we will not prepare to give all that we have and all that we are to preserve Christian civilization in our land, we shall go to destruction." (3:25)
President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared, "Without God there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. (3:25)
President John F. Kennedy stated in 1961, "The guiding principle of the nation has been, is now, and ever shall be IN GOD WE TRUST." (4:105)
THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF THE USA OUR LEADERS HAVE PLACED THEIR FAITH IN GOD'S GUIDANCE FOR OUR NATION.
TO SAY OTHERWISE IS BOTH MISLEADING AND INACCURATE.
Previous Considerations of Secular Challenges to Our Country
The reader is referred to two previous discussions within this blogsite.
Holy Humanism! It's Politically Correct - September 20, 2008
Imagine No Religion. Impossible! - December 26, 2008
References:
1. Dial, Karla. "Christians Need Not Apply." Citizen. Aug/Sept 2009, Vol. 23, No. 7. Pg. 26
2. Gerson, Michael. "Dem inquisitors would make secularism the state religion." San Antonio Express News. Thursday, September 21, 2017. pg. A11.
3. "A Nation Like No Other". Citizen. Aug/Sept. 2009, Vol. 23, No. 7. Pgs. 22-25,
4. Federer, Susie. Miracles in American History. 2012. Amerisearch, Inc. St. Louis, MO.
5. "Thomas Jefferson's Prayer for the Nation." Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation. www,findroom219.com.
6."George Washington's Prayer Journal." William J. Johnson . The Abingdon Press, 1919. NewYork.
www.cbn.com/spirituallife/prayerandcounseling...
7. Alliance Defending Freedom. https://www.adflegal.org.
8. First Liberty Institute. https://firstliberty.org.
Monday, October 9, 2017
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