A couple of days ago, Claire over at e-Claire/e-Biscuit.com commented on the "Action Alert" I posted with respect to an upcoming case where the U.S. Supreme Court will determine the constitutionality of displaying the 10 commandments on public property. In part, her comment said;
"How can anyone prevent anyone from displaying the 10 Comandments -- or the Torah or the Buddah or....."
Actually, depending on the Constitution of the individual State and not the Federal Government, that possibility may indeed exist, but what we also need to remember is that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles centered around the laws provided by God in the scripture of the Old Testament and not Buddha or Krishna or Gaia or Zeus or?
"I see the argument over using taxpayer money to fund a display of any of the above, but neither SCOTUS nor Congress has any say on any other such display any citizen may create."
?and on that, I couldn?t agree with her more.
United States Constitution ? Bill of Rights
Amendment I - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified December 15, 1791
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.
The first part or the "establishment clause" of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution states; "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion?" Up until about a century ago, most folks clearly understood the meaning of those words. Congress has no constitutional authority to create legislation which establishes a federal religion. This was purposefully made the number one priority of the Founding Fathers because they didn?t want this new nation to be ruled by a governing body that mandated adherence to one particular form of Christianity as did the Church of England with its theocratic aristocracy. Each man needed to have the freedom to worship his creator in the way he saw fit without intervention from the federal government. Any and all laws pertaining to religious expression were intended to be the responsibility of each individual state. In fact, for several years following the ratification of the Bill of Rights, some states continued to maintain an established church.
Today, if you were to ask just about anyone on the street what the religion part First Amendment means, you will most assuredly hear something about the infamous "wall between church and state." Why? Because that is what?s being pushed by the MSM and the God-less public school system. The same revisionist historians that try to paint our Founding Fathers as a bunch of racist, slave-owning, homophobic, religious fanatics who slaughtered the native Indians and stole their land to build sweatshop factories spewing toxic waste that poisoned the wildlife and caused global warming are also the ones responsible for the on-going eradication of Christianity from the historical roots of American democracy.
Unfortunately, because of these radical secularists, there exists much confusion about who the Founding Fathers were and the building blocks they used to establish this great nation. As part of their relentless pursuit in removing all Christian identity from our government, they have scoured every historical source in the attempt to find anything they could use that would solidify their supposition on the absolute division between government and religion. Among various snippets of quotations that were purposefully taken out of context for their campaign of propaganda, one line from one historical document appeared to stand out above the rest.
On New Year?s Day in 1802, Thomas Jefferson penned the famous "church-state separation" letter in response to the Danbury Baptist Association?s concern over whether or not the new President would impose his theological preferences upon the rest of the nation. In it, he wrote;
Gentlemen, ? The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist Association, give me the highest satisfaction. My duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, and in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing.
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, 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 and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection and blessing of the common Father and Creator of man, and tender you for yourselves and your religious association, assurances of my high respect and esteem.
In the 1947 Supreme Court case of Everson v. Board of Education, Justice Hugo Black (a reputed Klansman and strong supporter of FDR?s socialist New Deal) chose to use Thomas Jefferson?s words on "separation of church and state" out of context for the purpose of bolstering his decision:
"The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach."
By doing this he established an absolute definition of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment which drastically undermined the original intent of the framers and as a result laid the groundwork for future cases seeking to completely remove religious expression from the public venue.
The second part or the "free exercise" clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution clearly states that with regard to religion, Congress shall make no law "?prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This freedom is then backed up by the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which states;
United States Constitution ? Bill of Rights
Amendment X - Powers of the States and People. Ratified December 15, 1791
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
The Tenth Amendment ensures that legal jurisdiction over any function not granted to the federal government is forbidden and reserved explicitly for the individual states or the people. Since the "establishment clause" and the "free exercise clause" of First Amendment clearly prohibits the federal government from establishing or interfering in matters with regard to religion, each individual state is thereby vested with the responsibility of its own legislative action and judicial review.
In the case of Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore defying a federal court order to remove a display of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama courthouse, he held true to his oath of office and equally upheld the U.S. Constitution by refusing to allow the federal government to overstep its jurisdiction and render a legal decision on what is clearly a state issue.
When he took his oath of office, Chief Justice Moore swore to protect and uphold the Constitution of the State of Alabama in which the final version that was ratified in 1901 states;
"We, the people of the State of Alabama, in order to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility [sic], and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution and form of government for the State of Alabama"
In August of 2003, former American Ambassador Dr. Allen Keyes wrote a fabulous essay on Judge Moore and his appropriate interpretation of the First Amendment entitled "Standing for the Constitution" where he wrote;
In the state of Alabama, Judge Roy Moore has refused the unlawful order of Judge Myron Thompson, since it represents a destructive violation of the right of the people of Alabama to decide how their government will or will not express their religious beliefs. This right of the people is the first one secured in the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights, and it cannot be compromised without surrendering the moral foundations of republican liberty. Judge Thompson's assault upon this right, and that of the entire federal judiciary for the last several decades, is not, therefore, a trivial threat to the liberty of the people. Judge Moore cannot obey the court's order without surrendering that liberty.
Now, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as it applies the Bill of Rights to the states, lays an obligation upon state legislatures, officers and officials to refrain from actions that deprive the people of their rights. With respect to the First Amendment, therefore, it becomes their positive obligation to resist federal encroachments that take away the right of the people to decide how their state governments deal with matters of religion. This obviously has a direct bearing on the case of Chief Justice Roy Moore in his confrontation with the abusive order of Judge Myron Thompson.
His refusal of the order is not only consistent with his duty to the Alabama Constitution, it is his duty under the Constitution of the United States. Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, the eight associate justices of the Alabama Supreme Court, and indeed any other state officials in Alabama who submit to the judge's order are, by contrast, in violation of the federal Constitution, as well as their duty to the constitution and people of Alabama.
Justice Myron Thompson and the justices of the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals broke their oaths of office, overstepped their jurisdiction and as a result became subject to impeachment. Their actions were clearly an affront on constitutional jurisprudence as their arrogant disregard for the First and Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is nothing short of an act of treason.
Setting aside the numerous legalities of this argument, I feel that it is our duty fight as individuals and as a nation to restore the religious heritage of our country?s founding?s. The men who fought to secure our God given freedoms were nearly all Christian men who paid for it with their own blood. Our nation was not built on the religious principles of the Hindus or the Buddhists or the Mohammedans or the Atheists, but on the foundation of laws prescribed to us by the God of Abraham which were handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai. Our country?s historical establishment as well as our blessings of freedom and liberty are rooted deep in Biblical Scripture, The Ten Commandments and The Gospel of Jesus Christ. To deny it for selfish desire is pure folly and contrary to the vision of our country?s Founding Fathers and to prohibit public recognition of our Biblical heritage is to remove the backbone from our very existence.
In August of 2003, Howard Phillips, Founder of the Constitution Party wrote in an essay titled "Who is America's Sovereign";
"Those who framed our great Constitution acknowledged that, as God's creatures, we must hold the Federal government accountable to us, so that, as God's stewards, we can be accountable to Him."
AMEN BROTHER PHILLIPS, AMEN!