 American Religious Liberties Union |
American Religious Liberties Union |
Some, such as the ACLU, contend that "make no law respecting an establishment of religion" requires the "separation of church and state", however the phrase "separation of church and state" does not appear anywhere in the Constitution. It comes from a letter by Thomas Jefferson.
Many of the Puritans emigrated from England to the British colonies in the New England area of what today is the United States. For the first few centuries of these colonies' existence, their population was primarily Puritan, and Puritanism was the state religion, and in Connecticut and Massachusetts the state religion was Congregationalism. On Independence Day, 1776, nine of the original thirteen colonies had official state churches. And, at the time of the adoption of the First Amendment in 1791, four of the fourteen states recognized an official state church, and in spite of the First Amendment these state churches remained existent for many years before being abolished by the voluntary action of the state legislatures, so clearly our Founding Fathers did not fear a STATE religion. What they feared was the Federal Government selecting the state religion of one of the other states and making it "THE Official Church of the United States", much like England had the Church of England which was created because King Henry VIII could not get the divorce he wanted from the Roman Catholic Church, and many English citizens wanted to be free to remain Catholic.
The Maryland toleration act was one of the first laws that explicitly tolerated varieties of religion, and is sometimes seen as a precursor to the First Amendment, but even it presumed the religion would be Christian, so why are schools permitted to discuss and explore other beliefs, such as Islam, and yet why are only aspects of Christianity suppressed by this misinterpretation of the First Amendment?
Children in this predominantly Christian country are forced to substitute a Winter Holiday for Christmas, if the school has a decorated tree it is a Holiday Tree, not a Christmas Tree, and where once they had a Christmas Pagent, now they have a Winter Pageant filled with songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes, and good cheer, but no mention of an innocent babe, a manger, or Christ's precious, sacred gifts of life, hope, and joy.
Many faiths have celebrations around Christmas time. Our Founding Fathers would not have approved of suppressing the celebration of Christmas, but if we must acknowledge the fact that other faiths have different beliefs, would it not be be better to retain the celebration of all faiths, than to suppress the celebration of all faiths. Would Christian children not learn something from the inclusion of a Menorah, along with the explanation of the meaning of the Jewish Festival of Lights called Chanukah, and the victory by the Maccabees, against Greek persecution and religious oppression, and would they not enjoy the Dreydle Song.
I am not sure what images would apply, but Fasting in the month of Ramadan is compulsory on every Muslim adult. Would school children not gain from learning a bit about Ramadan and the other four Pillars of Islam?
It might be stretching to refer to Kwanzaa as a religion, and the man who inspired the collectivist holiday just admited "I failed", but it is celebrated during this same period, and is there not something to be learned from a discussion of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa?
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