I am extremely offended! Every day there is news of Christians being denied their right to practice the religion of their choice. Somehow, the government wants us not to offend those who practice the Muslim faith of Islam while, at the same time, they offend and persecute every Christian sect in America. Understand this: the first amendment to the Constitution GUARANTEES our right to freedom of worship. For those who do not know what that amendment says, here it is verbatim.
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.
Note the absence of the phrase “separation of church and state”. The seculars, those who want to remove all mention of God from our culture, like to quote the separation phrase to push their agenda. That phrase was used by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Locke when he wanted to assure Locke that the new constitutional government would not be able to interfere with his (Locke’s) free exercise of religion. You see, many of the new colonists emigrated to escape the religious intolerance of the crown. They had beliefs different from the imposed religion and could have been imprisoned for their beliefs; hence the letter of assurance. A partial copy of the letter is copied here for your better understanding.
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & 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.”
The wall that exists is there to protect our right to worship as we choose and NOT to prevent us from worshipping.
In my opinion, every law that prohibits the free exercise of an individual’s right to worship, is unconstitutional. I never could understand how laws can be made to accommodate one person at the expense of a hundred people who disagree with that law. Yet, somehow, the courts have found for the minority. We are not allowed to offend the 20% but they are allowed to offend the 80%. (percentages approximated) Our soldiers are being told they cannot openly read their Bibles, Bible study groups are being told they cannot gather, organizations that normally begin their meetings with a prayer are being told that they cannot pray, schools that have always begun their festivities with a prayer are told they must refrain. What in God’s name is happening?! Have we all been transported to a Muslim country? Our attorney general endeavors to defend the rights of Muslim extremists who attack our way of life. American citizens have shed their blood for the freedoms they are being denied; simultaneously, those who have spilled the blood of Americans are given rights that they, in my opinion, do not deserve. Why does this administration show favor to terrorists while persecuting American citizens? Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Another organization with a proclivity for twisting freedoms against the majority, is the A.C.L.U. My personal protest of their actions comes every Christmas when I send a religious Christmas card to their New York office. Inside I write “Merry Christmas” above my name then add, “ it’s freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion ”.