On Faith
Rev. Ron Arnold
Separation of church
and state is a myth"Myth: A belief, opinion or theory that is not based on fact or reality." (World Book Dic-tionary)
Separation of church and state, as popularly understood today, is a myth. Worse yet, this myth is being exploited by a few to weaken the foundations that have made this nation so great.
Michael Newdow, a California atheist activist, recently sued Congress and his 8-year-old daughter's local school district because she was being injured by having to say the words "under God" in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. The infamous 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in June, upheld this on the grounds of "separation of church and state." (It has since come to light that Mr. Newdow is separated from his wife and daughter and has been fighting for custody. Additionally, not only does his daughter not object to saying "under God" -- she and Mom are Christians! Confronted with this, Mr. Newdow says, "This is more about me than her. I'd like to keep her out of this." I'm sure he would at this point.)
Our president and members of Congress went ballistic when the 9th Circuit Court announced its verdict on the Pledge of Allegiance. Even Sen. Daschle declared, "This decision is just nuts." They should not have been surprised, given the track record of that court and the direction our courts have taken in the past 40 years.
Congress never intended such a separation between church and state. It's nowhere to be found in our Constitution. Our founders began the first Continental Congress with a three-hour prayer meeting! They approved the Declaration of Independence, which has four mentions of God within it! (I'm waiting for someone to sue the United States to have our Declaration of Independence set aside for mentioning God.)
What happened? How did this myth come to be?
The clause "separation of church and state" occurred in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Baptists of Danbury, Conn. They were concerned that the government might establish one Christian denomination as the state religion, as had been the case in Europe. Jefferson shared their concern and stated that there was necessarily "a wall of separation of church and state" insuring that no single denomination became the state-supported religion of our nation. Jefferson in no way imagined or intended, nor did his peers, that religion was to be kept out of government or public life. On the contrary, their writings show that they believed religion, specifically the Christian religion, to be the necessary foundation for a stable society.
For 150 years our courts sustained this. Then, in 1962, an activist court ruled against prayer in the public schools using Jefferson's phrase, out of context and contrary to Jefferson's intent, as their justification. They had also expanded the meaning of "church" to "any religious activity." They offered no precedents for their action, because there were none! Used again and again, people have come to believe this phrase is in our Constitution. Welcome to 2002.
Mr. Newdow has now filed suit against the U.S. government to remove chaplains from the Senate. He will continue until we become informed, outraged and involved. Let's not allow a few individuals armed with a vendetta and a myth to erode the foundations of our nation.
Let's arm ourselves with truth and become myth-busters. Check out David Barton's well-researched material at www.wallbuilders.com. God, bless America!
The Rev. Ron Arnold is pastor of Kaimuki Christian Church.
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