My wife and Irespecting 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. That is the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. It does not say that the States cannot make any law respecting religion,it says only that the Congress cannot do so. This had to do with the idea that nations in Europe had their own State Churches, in Britain it is the Anglican Church, in Germany the Lutheran, in France the Roman Catholic. The history of the State Church was a bloody one.
It led to changes in Church power over the centuries, it also led to corruption in some cases, and to death for those who did not toe the line. In Britain you will find that Rome was dominant until Henry the 8th, who decided it was better for the Church to home grown and subject to the crown instead of to God or Rome. So the Church of England was born, but others who came after Henry would change it back to Rome. Then came war to restablish Anglicanism, meanwhile Scotland became Presbyterian, and well they were punished. The United States did not want this to happen, so the First Amendment was passed to stop the Federal Government for declaring a Federal Church.
This did not stop the States however from having State Churches, in New England it was The Congregational Church, one of my ancestors was a Congregational minister and University professor. Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame, and other schools of higher learning were not started by the Governent, they were started by Churches. Schools were begun by Churches across this great land so that people could learn to read and write.
It was even legal to be an Atheist, this nation was founded on Religious freedom, yet today, we are rapidly losing that freedom. It stems from the mistaken belief that there is a Wall of Separation, between Church and State. This was a one sentence part of a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to a Baptist group promising them that they had the freedom to be Baptist because the Federal Government could not and would not pass a law against them. He did not mean for it to become the law of the land that no one anywhere could publicly support their faith by public display.
I cannot believe that our judicial system has become so corrupt as to deny the clear wording of this First Amendment right of the people to freely speak openly about Jesus Christ. It is time to redress this particular grievance. It is time to return to the truth of the Constitution, you are free to be a witch, and I am free to be a Christian, while someone else can believe in nothing if they want to do so. Do not continue to infringe on the rights of Christians in this nation.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Constitution, Lawyers, Original Intent, Politicians, Supreme Court
As I listen to the political rhetoric I find myself becoming more upset with the politicians who claim to support the Constitution, and less sure of their reality. I wonder if these people have even read the Constitution of the United States.
Article III of the Constitution says that “The judicial Power of the United State, shall be vested in one Supremem Court and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” Under Section 2 we read this: “The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under the Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States;” (see 11th Amendment for further case types). Further, “In all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in whicha a State shall be Party, the Supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction.” According to what this says the Supreme Court has Jurisdiction in Constitutional matters, and the Court must decide whether something before it passes Constitutional muster. There are of course other things that have affect in this, but the Constitution itself gives credence to the reality that the Supreme Court has Jurisdiction to decide the case before it.
I may not be a lawyer (thank heavens), but I can read, I can think things through and don’t need 100 pages of legal mumbo jumbo to tell me what is plain in the original text. So, if the Court decides that something is unconstitutional, then it is, it is not setting some kind of precedent for the Court to decide the case, either for or against the Government, even if the President thinks they don’t have the right. The Original Intent of the founders of this nation meant for the Supreme Court to be the final arbitrator of what is and is not Constitutional. We may not like what the decision is, but the legislature can always repeal or amend a statute, that is their job.
There are many statements in our Constitution that have been debased over the years by politicians and lawyers, it is time for the people of the these United States to read and understand for themselves what is and is not true. I hope that the Constitution will become required reading for all High School students in this nation. The Constitution is what framed our nation, and what keeps it together. Do not allow the politicians to continue to take away from we the People the power we hold by this document.
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