Atheists should
By Elbridge W. Smith
lay off crossI was most disappointed to learn that Maj. Gen. James T. Hill, commander of the 25th Infantry Division, has decided to surrender the Kolekole Pass to destruction (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 20). Although I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU's litigation committee, I took exception to its endorsement of the recent federal lawsuit seeking removal of the Kolekole Pass cross.
The assertion that our Constitution and more particularly the Bill of Rights requires a solid wall of separation between government and beliefs in, and the worship of, God is without solid foundation.
Neither the actual wording of those documents nor their historical circumstances mandate a godless government. The Constitution and the First Amendment require a government and society with freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.
Of course, there can and should be no state-supported church, as there was (and still is) in many of the countries from which our ancestors came, both east and west.
But the sponsoring organization of the federal lawsuit to remove the Kolekole Pass cross, calling itself the Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church, is primarily an organization established and controlled by atheists.
Indeed, one of its tenants is to mandate an interpretation of the First Amendment, not just to prevent any government sponsorship of a particular religion, but to obliterate even tolerance of religion, in favor of non-religion.
But in adopting the First Amendment, the founders had no intent to sever all connection between religious faith and government. This fundamental truth and practice was recognized and accepted by all including the courts for many generations.
Those courts of the 20th century, upon which this lawsuit purports to rest and those who sponsor this lawsuit against the Kolekole Pass cross, have misstated material historical facts.
The writings and speeches of Sam Adams, James Otis, John Adams, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton abound with references to God Almighty as the source of freedom and liberty.
Jefferson, the main author of the Declaration of Independence, was a firm believer in the supreme God of Scriptures. So was George Washington.
The first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence call upon the authority of "God" and assert the truths that the "Creator" was the natural and legal source of those certain unalienable rights for which government itself was instituted to secure.
Congress then added two more references to God near the end of the document which were not present in the initial Jeffersonian drafts: "The Supreme Judge of the World" and "a firm reliance on the protection of Divine providence."
Congress has had a chaplain and has opened its proceedings with prayer since its beginnings and continues to do so. Since their inception, many federal courts begin their sessions with a prayer and/or the pledge of allegiance, which recognizes our "one nation, under God."
Most schools begin the day or assemblies with the pledge. Every military organization has always had chaplains and established places of worship.
The plain truth is that a vast majority of Americans believe in a supreme being or higher power regardless of whether they go to church. They call upon God's blessings at marriages, births and deaths and, when not prohibited from doing so, at graduations, openings of meetings, the beginning of sporting events and in a myriad of other ways.
While Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black may not see the difference between prohibiting establishment of a state religion and the general practice of religious faith, most Americans can.
I would have liked to see our own federal court take the first step in returning America to its historical Constitution foundation. One day the Supreme Court will, too. That is a fight that the ACLU and we all should join.
Elbridge W. Smith is a Honolulu attorney
specializing in federal labor law.