Religion
Return to Common Sense
December 10, 2019
Section: Culture
– Religion
“The Constitution
erects a wall, not to protect government from religion, but rather to protect
religion from government.”
“Every man, conducting himself as a good citizen,
and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be
protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of his own
conscience.” George Washington.
Philosophy
(Background, Issues, Objectives):
Religious freedom is widely regarded as
America’s “first freedom”
– the cornerstone of our nation’s political and civil liberties.
- Declaration of
Independence states that “unalienable Rights are endowed by the
Creator.”
- Constitution
Amendment I states “Congress
shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof.”
- “Separation of Church and State”
is not in the Constitution, but was part of a letter by Thomas Jefferson
in 1802.
As of 2014, the United States is 71%
Christian, 2% Jewish, 23% unaffiliated and the rest less than 1% Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist,
and other faiths.
- 47% are Protestant, 21% are Catholic, and
another 4% other Christian faiths.
- Adults are the most religious as reach 30
and raise their own children.
- 22% of Protestants and 6% of Catholics live
in the South.
- 6% of Protestants, 5% of Catholics, and 1%
of Jews live in the Northeast.
- 8% of Protestants, 5% of Catholics, and 2%
of Mormons and other Christians live in the West.
- 11% of Protestants and 4% of Catholics live
in the Midwest.
American Founders based much of their
thinking on Judeo-Christian religious principles.
- Early Christian
thinkers helped write many of the early political documents:
o
Alfred the Great set
the Ten Commandments as the center of English law,
using biblical legal analysis for his laws, laying the foundation for
subsequent development of Common Law.
o
Christian
scholar William of
Ockham’s
analysis of mankind’s place
after expulsion from Paradise, helped develop the
ideas of Natural
Law, Consent of the Governed,
& Natural Rights.
o
The
Magna Carta,
the greatest legal document in British and American history, was articulated
and composed by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury.
o
Lex
Rex, famed
call for a Rule of Law above king, composed by famed
Scots Presbyterian pastor Samuel Rutherford
divinity professor at University of St. Andrews.
o
Constitutionalism is applied Rule of Law, championed by
Puritan-trained John Locke, advocating
separation of powers and limitations of government to minimize threats of
tyranny.
- John
Adams wrote “Statesmen may plan and speculate about liberty, but it is religion
and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which liberty
can stand.”
- Patrick
Henry’s prose “rustled with the leaves of the New Testament.”
- George
Washington identified “Religion and Morality” as the “surest” and the most “indispensable supports …. Of
public prosperity.”
- The original Ten
Commandments were used as a basis for many laws, but judicial
interpretations has morphed the original commandments into something
unrecognizable.
- Many people do
not observe the minutiae of religion, yet believe in a personal, caring,
and wise God, and consider themselves religious.
o
Americans, like the Founders, do not want a
theocracy yet desire “a nation
under God.”
o
Americans see a need to live within moral
boundaries and to reject moral anarchy and secular religion.
There is a direct relationship between
democracy and religious repression.
- Most religiously
free countries are democracies, almost all of them culturally Christian.
- Most religiously
repressive include communist regimes, Islamist regimes, and former Soviet
republics.
- A majority of
the world’s most religiously repressive regimes have majority Muslim
populations.
- Some democratic
regimes have poor records on religious freedom, but just about all
religiously free nations have good civil liberties rankings.
- Religiously free
societies encourage private initiative and entrepreneurship.
Research clearly demonstrates that
regular religious practice is both an individual and social good.
- Practice of
religion is good for individuals, families, states, and nations.
- Regular
churchgoers tend to live an average of seven years longer than those who
never attend church.
- Religious
practice improves health, learning, economic well-being, self-control,
self-esteem, and empathy.
- Christian
“fundamentalists”
have dropped to only 30% of all Christians in 2004.
- Religious
practice reduces the incidence of social pathologies, such as unwed
births, crime, delinquency, drug and alcohol addiction, health problems,
anxieties, and prejudices.
- Black ministers
attack root problems of under achievement and dysfunctional families.
Churches have had a traditional obligation to care
for the poor and needy.
- Church
charitable organizations were the most effective relief after Hurricane
Katrina.
- Too often in
America, Christians view private charity as an optional use of their
money.
- Liberals argue
that government is the best entity to help the poor at home and abroad.
- All too often,
government uses charity as a political device to "buy"
constituencies for politicians or their parties.
- Libertarian
conservatives believe the responsibility to care for the poor rests on the
shoulders of individuals.
Moral relativism is a secular notion that
personal feelings can decide right from wrong.
- Christianity
breeds individualism and fosters liberty.
o
Only 3% of Americans are atheists.
- Liberals are
offended and feel threatened by all expressions of spiritual religious
faith.
o
Selective criticism tries to reduce religious
influence, while pretending to be religious.
o
Young people rely on feelings since they do not
have the maturity to question their passions.
- Socialism has
been offered as a pseudo-religious alternative.
o
Karl Marx viewed religion as “an opium of the masses”, imposed
by the rulers to oppress the workers.
- Secularist objective is to purge all references to religion in the
marketplace.
o
Religious expression is perceived as evidence of a
theocratic conspiracy.
- ACLU seeks to
remove all things religious from public life.
o
Removal of prayers from schools.
o
Removal of Ten Commandments from public buildings.
o
Removal of “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.
- In Europe,
secular fervor i.e., communism and Nazism, arose to fill the religious
void.
There is logic to assert that
Socialism has been established as a secular religion and an unofficial national
church.
·
Socialism
exhibits all the same elements as a religion:
o
Garden
of Eden (the State of Nature).
o
Original
Sin (Amassing private property).
o
A
Promise of Salvation (socialist salvation by future generations).
·
Marx
has become a mythical, god-like figure.
·
Darwin
is the embodiment of science and truth.
·
The
state-planner, the minister of socialist religion, sees himself as a modern-day
Moses uniquely qualified by his knowledge about the so-called Immutable Law of
History to guide humanity to earthly perfection, back to the Original State of
Nature.
Principles:
Maintain Judeo-Christian religious
principles and morality as the core basis underlying our laws.
- Respect all
personal religious beliefs.
Judaism is based on principled beliefs:
- There is one universal God: the Creator of the
world and the God of all humanity.
- One universal God means there is one
universal morality.
- God is: Incorporeal (not physical); Eternal; Outside
of nature; Personal; and Good.
- God is the God revealed in
the Torah: God
of Creation; God of Israel; God of the Ten Commandments.
- God's primary demand is that
people be good: God cares more about how we act toward
one another than how we act toward Him.
- There is an afterlife: God rewards the good
and punishes the bad.
- There is an afterlife; God wants us to be
preoccupied with this life.
- Reward in the afterlife ("heaven") is available to all good people, not just
good Jews.
- Human beings are not born
basically good;
evil comes primarily from within the human being, not from external causes,
such as poverty.
- All people are created in the
image of God. The most important distinction
among human beings is their behavior.
Human life is sacred and animal life is not.
- God created the world for man.
- The Jews are the Chosen
People.
- The Torah is from God.
- Judaism, too, has a trinity:
God, Torah and Israel
(meaning Jewish peoplehood and the Land of
Israel).
- Jewish faith rests on two
pillars: creation and exodus.
- Judaism is a religion of
distinctions:
God and man; Good and evil; Man and woman; Holy and profane; and Life and
death.
- Judaism
can ennoble anyone.
Principles which undergird any
successful charity:
- Charity should
encourage affiliation with the needy person's local community, church and
family
- It should form a
bond between the needy and the charitable
- It should
organize the needy into different groups depending on their type of need
- It should seek
to establish the needy person in a long-term job
- It should
emphasize the freedom of being able to provide for oneself
- It should
recognize the spiritual and not just material needs of the poor.
Recommendations:
Enforce the Founders intent to respect
religious beliefs.
- Affirm right of
private associations and individuals to uphold religious tenets and
express them publicly.
- Appoint and
confirm judges who understand the important contribution of religion to
public life.
Protect the religious liberty and
integrity of faith-based organizations that participate directly or indirectly
in government social service programs.
- Encourage private giving to augment support to the
poor and needy.
References:
“Godless
– The Church of Liberalism” by Ann Coulter published by Crown
forum, 2006.
“Enemies
of Tyranny: Faith, Reason, and the First Amendment” by Steve Farrell
dated April 10, 2001 published by News Max at http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/6/14/140730.shtml .
“Private
Property: Right from God, Friend of Republics” by Steve Farrell dated
July 17, 2001 published by News Max at http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/5/23/203004.shtml .
“Missing
the Mark With Religion, Part 8: My Country, My President, My Party, Come Hell
of High Water!” by Steve Farrell dated July 25, 2001 published by
Religion Resource Center at http://radicalacademy.com/studentrefreligionsf9i.htm .
“Finding
the Mark With Religion: Memories of Our Founders’ Faith” by
Steve Farrell dated October 24, 2001 published by News Max at http://www.newsmax.com/commentmax/get.pl?a=2001/10/23/231846 .
“What
does ‘Judeo-Christian’ mean?” by Dennis Prager dated March 30, 2004 published by Jewish World Review
at http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0304/prager_2004_03_30_04.php3 .
“Exploding
Liberal Myths 9: The Separation of Church And State” by Joe Mariani dated December 2, 2004 published by American Daily
at http://www.americandaily.com/article/5886 .
“Liberal
feeling vs. Judeo-Christian values: Part VI” by Dennis Prager dated February 22, 2005 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2005/02/22/liberal_feeling_vs_judeo-christian_values_part_vi .
“Socialism:
Our Unconstitutionally Established National Religion” by Tom Brewton
dated July 29, 2005 published by American Daily at http://americandaily.com/article/8491 .
“The
Truth about ‘Separation of Church and State’” by J. Grant
Swank Jr. dated September 1, 2005 published by American Daily at http://americandaily.com/article/9030 .
“Las
Cruces and the Bigotry of anti-Theists” by Bruce Walker dated
November 16, 2005 published by American Daily at http://americandaily.com/article/10221 .
“’God
is Dead,’ Now We’ll Create Our Global
Village –or- Why Christians are Mentally Ill” by Linda Kimball
dated December 31, 2005 published by American Daily at http://www.americandaily.com/article/10982 .
“Obama’s
Prayer- wooing evangelicals” by Peter Wood dated July 6, 2006
published by National Review Online at http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTMzNDU5ZDU4ZjhiYTkxMzhhNTk3Y2M5MmRhMmJkY2U= .
“Constitutional
isogesis” by Mark M. Alexander dated July
8, 2006 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MarkMAlexander/2006/07/08/constitutional_eisegesis&Comments=true .
“Theocracy
and Liberal Paranoia” by Tom Brewton dated July 22, 2006 published by
Republican Voices at http://republicanvoices.org/more.php?id=195_0_1_0_M .
“Does
‘Separation of Church and State’ Really Exist?” by Warner
Todd Huston dated July 24, 2006 published by Renew American at http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/huston/060723 .
“Democrats
Recruit God to Advance Morally Bankrupt Agenda” by JB Williams dated
September 20, 2006 published by Free Republic at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1705506/posts .
“Atheists! Who Are These People?”
by Alan Caruba dated November 6, 2006 published by
Human Events Online at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=17874 .
“ACLU
targets removal of prayer” by Jay Sekulow
dated November 14, 2006 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JaySekulow/2006/11/14/aclu_targets_removal_of_prayer .
“Black
Power: The New Conservative Stronghold” by Harry R. Jackson Jr. dated
November 20, 2006 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2006/11/20/black_power_the_new_conservative_stronghold .
“America
Was Meant to Be Free, Not Secular” by Dennis Prager
dated January 3, 2007 published by Orthodoxy Today at http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles7/PragerAmerica.php .
“Blaming
God” by Phillip V. Brennan dated January 3, 2007 published by News
Max at http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/1/2/164712.shtml .
“It’s
the worldview, stupid” by David Limbaugh dated January 5, 2007
published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/DavidLimbaugh/2007/01/05/its_the_worldview,_stupid .
“Leaps
of Faith” by Paul Singer and Brian Friel
dated January 5, 2007 published by National Review Online at http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2007/0105nj1.htm .
“Why
the ‘Christian Left’ is not” by Kevin McCullough dated
January 14, 2007 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/KevinMcCullough/2007/01/14/why_the_christian_left_is_not .
“I
Don’t Judge Religions” by Dennis Prager
dated January 23, 2007 published by Front Page Magazine at http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=26562 .
“The
gospel according to Darwin” by John G. West dated February 12, 2007
published by National Review Online at http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWEzZGRiMzE0ZDRhNzE2ZGJjMjVjYTZhMzJiZjJmMzI= .
“The
Religious Left vs. ‘Demonic’ America” by Mark D. Tooley dated February 13, 2007 published by Front Page
Magazine at http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=26887 .
“Religious
Freedom in America” by Roger Scruton dated
February 13, 2007 published by The American Spectator at http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10999 .
“Why
liberals are right to hate the Ten Commandments” by Michael Medved dated February 28, 2007 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMedved/2007/02/28/why_liberals_are_right_to_hate_the_ten_commandments .
“Atheistic
Democracy: An oxymoron” by Mary Grabar
dated March 4, 2007 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MaryGrabar/2007/03/04/atheistic_democracy_an_oxymoron .
“A
Leftist Declaration of DE-pendence” by
Frank Pastore dated April 8, 2007 published by Town
Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FrankPastore/2007/04/08/a_leftist_declaration_of_de-pendence .
“Why
Liberals Revile the Risen Christ” by Kevin McCullough dated April 9,
2007 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KevinMcCullough/2007/04/09/why_liberals_revile_the_risen_christ .
“Two
Enlightenments” by Linda Kimball dated April 11, 2007 published by
Intellectual Conservative at http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2007/04/11/two-enlightenments/ .
“Ten
Commandments, Two Versions” by Pat Boone dated May 21, 2007 published
by News Max at http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/5/21/111638.shtml .
“Dreaming
of a World Without God” by Ben Shapiro dated June 13, 2007 published
by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2007/06/13/dreaming_of_a_world_without_god .
“How
the West Really Lost God” by Mary Eberstadt
dated June 22, 2007 published by Real Clear Politics at http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/06/how_the_west_really_lost_god.html .
“Who
Persecutes Religion the Most?” by Mark D. Tooley
dated July 13, 2007 published by Front Page Magazine at http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=29141 .
“The Founders got it right” by Stephen
Mansfield dated July 16, 2007 published by USA Today at http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/07/the-founders-go.html .
“Only
Christians Subject to Separation of Church and State” by Sher Zieve dated August 1, 2007
published by American Daily at http://www.americandaily.com/article/19789
“This
is not a ‘Christian Nation’” by Charles Haynes dated
September 19, 2007 published by The Courier-Journal at http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070919/OPINION04/709190746/1054/OPINION .
“Myths
About American Religion” by Robert Wuthnow
dated October 4, 2007 published by The Heritage Foundation at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Religion/hl1049.cfm .
“A
Christian foundation” by Dinesh D’Souza dated October 22, 2007 published by USA Today
at http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/10/a-christian-fou.html .
“God in
America” by Aryeh Spero
dated November 29, 2007 published by Human Events Online at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23680 .
“Why
Atheists Are So Angry” by Dinesh D’Souza dated December 9, 2007 published by Town Hall
at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DineshDSouza/2007/12/09/why_atheists_are_so_angry .
“Religious
America or Secular Europe?” by Dennis Prager
dated December 19, 2007 published by Front Page Magazine at http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=3CB40498-00A0-4397-A0F9-9C72FB82E261 .
“Free
Exercise, Not Theocracy” by Nathan Tabor dated April 1, 2008
published by American Daily at http://www.americandaily.com/article/21856 .
“I am
an educated Christian and I vote” by Carolyn Hileman
dated April 19, 2008 published by American Daily at http://www.americandaily.com/article/21979 .
“Who
Separates Church from State?” by Larrey
Anderson dated June 1, 2008 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/06/who_separates_church_from_stat.html .
“Founding
Fathers Legislated Morality” by Pat Boone dated June 2, 2008
published by News Max at http://www.newsmax.com/boone/founding_fathers/2008/06/02/100774.html .
“Charity
Should Begin with the Church” by Ken Connor dated June 8, 2008
published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenConnor/2008/06/08/charity_should_begin_with_the_church .
“Christianity
and ‘Anti-Semitism’” by Jack Kerwick
dated April 12, 2009 published by Intellectual Conservative at http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2009/04/12/christianity-and-anti-semitism/ .
“Socialism:
Our Unconstitutionally Established National Religion” by Thomas
Brewton dated April 29, 2009 published by Thomas Brewton at http://www.thomasbrewton.com/index.php/weblog/socialism_our_unconstitutionally_established_national_religion/ .
“They
Have Islamist Fanatics, We Have Secularist Fanatics” by Dennis Prager dated January 31, 2012 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2012/01/31/they_have_islamist_fanatics_we_have_secularist_fanatics
.
“Will Pastors Risk Tax-Free Status to Help Save America?” By Kelly O’Connell dated April 29, 2012 published by Canada Free Press at http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/46343 .
“Yes, the Christian West” by Conrad
Black dated July 31, 2013 published by National Review Online at http://www.nationalreview.com/article/354746/yes-christian-west-conrad-black
.
“The
Media’s Ignorance of American Religion” by Erick Erickson dated
November 6, 2015 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/erickerickson/2015/11/06/the-medias-ignorance-of-american-religion-n2076424
.
“Charting
Americans’ religious affiliations” by Becka
A. Alper and Alexsandra Sandstrom dated November 14, 2016 published by Pew Research
Center at http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/14/if-the-u-s-had-100-people-charting-americans-religious-affiliations/
.
“What
is Judaism?” by Dennis Prager dated
December 10, 2019 published by Town Hall at https://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2019/12/10/what-is-judaism-n2557727
.