It is hard to believe that so many people have been hood-winked by our government liberals and other secularists who disdain religion and believe that our founding fathers created a law to prohibit or discourage us from believing in and worshiping God or any Supreme Being.
The First Amendment states: “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.”
It clearly says, Congress shall make no law to establish religion. It doesn’t say that we the people can’t practice it if and as we choose. We keep hearing the term, “Separation of Church and State.” Our founding fathers primarily meant a separation of “the Church” and the State. The Church of England had up until that point held significant power over the people and the formation of our new government and the First Amendment was meant in part, to prohibit that continued rule by “The Church.”
Nowhere in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, does the word God appear, nor are there any restrictions to the people’s right to pray privately or in public or otherwise practice their religious beliefs. In fact, it states, there will be no “prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
The only exception to the reference to the Lord is found in the Signatory section, where the date is written thusly: “Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven.”
It is a shame that our federal and state governments are now so willing to appease atheist activists, muslims and church-state separatists, discourage any form of prayer or mention of God in school, and ignore the rights and beliefs of the majority of Americans who do believe in a “Supreme Being.” It is also a shame that the media seems to give dissenters priority and space over that of believers.
Roy Costner IV, (photo below) a high school valedictorian in Pickens County, SC, tore up his “school approved valedictory speech” and spoke from the heart at last weekend’s ceremony and at the end, said “The Lord’s Prayer,” (Matthew 6:9–13). He was given a nearly unanimous ovation by those in attendance, but was criticized by a vocal minority of dissenters who advocate the removal of all invocations from all school events.
It is too bad but if Mr Costner violated the school’s policy, then I guess he deserves to be chastised, but I disagree with a policy that denies him 3 of the 5 rights granted by the First Amendment. It is sad that we have let it get that way today !
I suppose the next step will be removing the words, “In God We Trust,” from all US Currency, because if there is anything “We The People” are losing faith in (besides our Administration and Congress) it is the “Almighty Dollar.” May God help us because we seem impotent to help ourselves.