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Home::Religion
God in America RIP
Author : Gregory J. Ballan
God in America, R.I.P
One of the great mysteries thats plagued me is the existence of God. I admit to referencing God in my columns and sometime praying to a higher power for guidance when the path before me is unclear and clouded. But still, I often find myself wondering; what is God? And why are so many people going out of their way to keep him out of courtrooms, school houses, town meeting halls and government. God must surely have torqued off several institutions and people to warrant such banishment and fervor at the mere mention of his name. Let me caveat the above paragraph by saying that Im not a church going individual and have a great many issues with organized religion. Those who know me well can attest to this claim. I tend to lean more toward Taoism in practicality and view God as the binding intellect and fabric of the Universe. I believe in a supreme being, but I dont necessarily agree with how organized religions do things and interpret things in Gods name.
Now its common knowledge that God has been given a bad wrap in several Christian biblical stories and with the Catholic Church. God is kinda like Santa Clause with super powers; he sees you when youre sleeping, he knows when youre awake, hes marking off every bad thing youve done so youll burn for eternitys sake. Well, the Catholic Church has enough problems with priests, altar boys, affairs with secretaries, and a long history of simply unpleasant things that have been done to people in Gods name. Im sure Galileo would have some choice words on this topic but I digress. Bottom line; is God an avenging force that will burn you in hell, a real Old Testament deity that has no tolerance for anything? Or is he the New Testament God of love and forgiveness that many newer, younger religions are depicting God to be? Is God the burning sword of justice or the tranquil dove of peace? The answer is probably both. Not being a religious scholar and not knowing the mind or intent of God, I can only guess at what God is and what God thinks. I cant comprehend the power or the intellect of a being so vast that he has reign over everything. Perhaps thats why God is feared by some. Such a great power makes Man and his institutions paltry and irrelevant in comparison.
I simply dont know. My view on organized religion, especially the Catholic Church is skeptical at best (Being in Boston at the heart of the priest pedophile scandal jades my outlook a bit). Churches are run by men and men are corrupt and fallible, history proves this point over and over again. But again, religion aside, why is there this inane fear of God? Everywhere on the news, theres some group trying to squash the Ten Commandments or have a Nativity scene taken down over the holidays. Who is God and what is his message and why are so many people terrified of it? Lets examine some of the recent Anti-God activities occurring locally and nationally.
1. Prayer in School. This is a big to do over a few moments of silence in the beginning of the day for each student to reflect privately on his/her faith or lack of faith. I dont ever recall reading one of these bills that say you must pray a Rosary of meditate towards the West or cite a Wicca chant. Its simply a minute for each individual to address his or her faith before facing the rigors of the upcoming day. Is it the word prayer that has School Officials in such an uproar? Well, Ive got some news; every kid prays in school; before a Math test, before a Science Test theres the Oh God, PLEASE dont let me blow this. That, dear friends, is a prayer and one Ive muttered on many occasions in my academic career. So whats the big deal? I hope somebody can give me a rational explanation for banning prayer in school in the form of a few moments of silence. Again, the bills as drafted did not mandate and particular form of prayer or particular religion be mandated; just prayer in general in a non denominational fashion.
2. The Ten Commandments. Man I just loved that movie with Charlton Heston as Moses. I can still sit down on Easter afternoon and sit through it and be mesmerized by the story. Ive read these commandments over and over again and after careful consideration have come to this conclusion; whats the problem?
ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'
TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'
THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'
FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'
FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'
SIX: 'You shall not murder.'
SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'
EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'
NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'
TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbors house; you shall not covet your neighbors wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbors.'
Dont steal, dont lie, Honor thy parents (Ok Im paraphrasing here), Have no other God before me etc. As far as the other Gods part and the false idol one, I cant see too much to be riled up over. I dont see any religion, or people in this country worshiping statues of cows or goats. When was the last time somebody in this country made a temple to Zeus or Apollo? God is whomever or what ever an individual makes God out to be. Thats an exploration and a journey that each individual embarks upon alone. Faith/ belief in these rules are an individual decision. Most of the 10 are, in my humble opinion, non- denominational. Dont kill, dont steal, dont lie, dont cheat on your wife, dont boink your neighbors wife or anything else of your neighbors. I really dont see a whole hek of a lot wrong with these; maybe we could post the items six through ten. Even the religious ones as theyre written arent offensive. Dont take the name of the Lord..YOUR GOD in vain. Meaning each individual perception of what God is should be respected and honored and not defiled by said individual. Again, whats the problem?
These ten rules have pissed off more attorneys in the AFLCIO than any Union busting case in history. Again theres this vendetta against God in this country. Yet most people claim to believe in a God in some form. I can see why Lawyers wouldnt like them; dont lie, dont cheat, dont bear false witness. That would put every lawyer everywhere out of business; then where would the courts be?
3. The Nativity Scene. Again, Im sorry, bear with my stupidity. We can celebrate Kwanza and learn about that in school, we can teach our children about the Menorah and Hanukkah in school but we cant learn about Christmas or display a Nativity scene because of some separation clause of church and state that isnt really a separation clause at all. The Constitution merely claims that there shall be no State sponsored religion. This simply means that the government cannot favor one philosophy over another. OK, then dont allow any religion in schools. Ban discussing Kwanza and every African American political activist would be screaming racism of every 6:00 news broadcast from sea to shining sea, but ban a nativity scene and thats proper interpretation of the Constitution. Fine, then all non Christian students have to go to school on December 25th since thats a religious holiday, after all, the Christian students dont get the Jewish Holidays off. Can anyone else see how stupid this is? We have a bunch of liberal socialist wackos who have insecurity about God and religion trying to ban anything spiritual in favor of everything secular by utilizing the courts as a bludgeoning hammer. Christmas vacation is now Winter break, COME ON !!!
This country was founded on the basis of religious freedom, not the lack of religion or freedom from religion, whatever ones spiritual or lack of spiritual beliefs may or may not be. Why is it that those who dont believe in the existence of a supreme being are given favor and preference over those that do? The word God appears in our Pledge of Allegiance, it is printed on our currency and the word God is said at the beginning of every court session. So, I must be missing something. For a society that mentions God on our currency, in our nations pledge and in the courts, the foundation of our Justice System, we still seem to want Him squelched out of existence. This seems to be a rather large dichotomy of beliefs, dare I say even hypocritical.
There seems to be an active movement by the intellectual elite to banish faith or spirituality from our governing bodies and our learning institutions. The effort to eradicate God in our schools and our government is real and alarmingly successful. The religious majority, whatever their faith may be, need to step up and make their voices heard. If those who have faith are silent, God will go the way of the Plains Buffalo and the Dodo; into extinction. Cultural decay begins with the loss of spiritual belief. These lessons are evident in history; one need only study the Greeks and the Romans as examples of the decaying of a society over time. Ban God from our country and we are following in their path of decline, a path we, as a nation, are already walking.
Nuff said.
-Esper
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