With respect to last week’s cartoon impugning the Assembly over prayer; it is so sad to watch our Republic self-destruct in such incredible ignorance.
The Declaration of Independence clearly defines the ‘lawful realm’ under which we function: “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. … We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator…”
Clearly the ‘lawful realm,’ the Foundation, upon which, the Constitution is to be interpreted is the Word of Nature’s God, the Bible! ‘Rights’ don’t come undefined as clearly stated above. ‘Rights’ don’t come without responsibility as clearly defined above! Our ‘unalienable rights’ are those endowed by our Creator, which means they are defined in His Word, the Bible! Similarly, our ‘responsibility’ in respect to those ‘rights’ is also clearly defined in His Word, the Bible.
Let’s put the First Amendment in context with the time it was written. At the time the Constitution and First Amendment were written; the religion of the day was ‘Christianity.’ There were numerous ‘denominations’ but all reflected different modes of worshipping the same Lord God, our Creator. In that day, the Eastern religions, Mid-Eastern religions, etc. were of no consequence in this nation.
Respectfully, I submit that when James Madison drafted the First Amendment that he used ‘religion’ whereas, today; we would use ‘denomination.’
Respectfully, I submit that an astute electorate would absolutely insist upon an Assembly that strongly supported prayer to the Lord our God who blessed us with our Republic!
Sincerely,
Stan Welles
Sterling