The First Amendment and Religion
This is the first in a series of mini articles I'm writing on the Constitution and the Amendments to it. The first article is about the much mis-understood First Amendment and how it relates to religion.Amendment IAs one can clearly read this amendment restricted the federal government, it did not give it any powers nor did it restrict the states in the same matters. It states quite clearly that "Congress" can make no law about religion, thus giving this power to the individual states. And guess what the Tenth Amendment backs this up: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.So why did a federal court in 2003 issue an order that the Ten Commandments be removed from the Alabama Supreme Court Building? The federal court stated that the Ten Commandments on display violated the First Amendment. How? Read the amendment again. A federal court had no jurisdiction in this case. The issue should have gone up to one party to decide the fate of the Ten Commandments in the court building, the people of the state of Alabama. Also Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Judge Ray Moore was suspended for refusing to remove the statue of the Ten Commandments from display. This is a clear example of where the federal government has overstepped its boundaries and operated outside the Constitution and the intent in which it was written by the framers. |
posted by David at 6:52 PM :: Permalink
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Comments on "The First Amendment and Religion"
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David said ... (21 January, 2006 20:00) :
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David said ... (29 January, 2006 13:16) :
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Anonymous said ... (15 February, 2007 02:54) :
post a commentCBSNews"The federal judge ruled the Constitutional separation of church and state barred the statue from public grounds. Moore's supporters contend the statue merely reflected the religious basis for America's laws."
Reading the above statement and reading the First Amendment, do you see any reference to "separation of Church and State"? Niether do I.
From the article - "Whatever you think of the Ten Commandments or their place in government buildings, the main issue right now is whether any state official anywhere can defy a federal court order that has been upheld upon review,"
That is the issue and if the ruling is un-Constitutional then yes anyone including state officials have the right to ignore it.
From the article - "As a purely legal matter, there really isn't a broad range of opinion about this. Most legal scholars agree that the monument, as situated, does violate the first amendment. And it's hard to find any objective expert who is willing to defend the right of a state official when that official is defying a federal court order," he added.
Once again where does this violate the First Amendment? This is a state courthouse not a federal courthouse. So much for the knowledge of legal scholars.
I thought that people may want to know where the phrase "speraration of Church and State" came from since it's not in the First Amendment. So here is a brief history of the term from The U.S. Constitution Online.
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Jefferson's Wall of Separation Letter
Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802 to answer a letter from them written in October 1801. A copy of the Danbury letter is available here. The Danbury Baptists were a religious minority in Connecticut, and they complained that in their state, the religious liberties they enjoyed were not seen as immutable rights, but as privileges granted by the legislature - as "favors granted." Jefferson's reply did not address their concerns about problems with state establishment of religion - only that on the national level. The letter contains the phrase "wall of separation between church and state," which led to the short-hand for the Establishment Clause that we use today: "Separation of church and state."
The letter was the subject of intense scrutiny by Jefferson, and he consulted a couple of New England politicians to assure that his words would not offend while still conveying his message: it was not the place of the Congress or the Executive to do anything that might be misconstrued as the establishment of religion.
Note: The bracketed section in the second paragraph had been blocked off for deletion, though it was not actually deleted in his draft of the letter. It is included here for completeness. Reflecting upon Jefferson's knowledge that his letter was far from a mere personal correspondence, he deleted the block, he says in the margin, to avoid offending members of his party in the eastern states.
This is a transcript of the letter as stored online at the Library of Congress, and reflects Jefferson's spelling and punctuation.
Mr. President
To messers Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.
Gentlemen
The affectionate sentiments of esteem & 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 & 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 & more pleasing.
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, 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. [Congress thus inhibited from acts respecting religion, and the Executive authorised only to execute their acts, I have refrained from presenting even occasional performances of devotion presented indeed legally where an Executive is the legal head of a national church, but subject here, as religious exercises only to the voluntary regulations and discipline of each respective sect.] 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 & esteem.
(signed) Thomas Jefferson
Jan.1.1802.
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