Letter to the Editor

Your view: Support bill

Wednesday, April 7, 2004

There is some good news to report concerning all who wish to see America begin to return to her spiritual heritage and become one nation under God once again. I need to give a little background information first.

Originally, the establishment clause of the First Amendment meant exactly what it said. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. ..." The individual states were free to make their own rules concerning religion at the time and many had official religions. Many demanded that only Christians could hold public office. The Supreme Court of the time and for just under the next 200 years or so, somewhat less, held that there was absolutely no conflict between this and the First Amendment.

The phrase "separation of church and state" does not appear in the Constitution. The Supreme Court took this phrase from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson and, for all practical purposes, coined it during the late 1940s. Since that time, federal judges and Supreme Court justices have systematically stripped God from the public arena and, in doing so, have brainwashed most of the American people into believing this was the original intent of the framers, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. In fairness, there have always been justices on the Supreme Court who understood what true original intent was, such as Justices Scalia and Thomas, but they have been in the minority during these crucial decisions.

Everyone remembers the rash of school shootings that occurred during the late 1990s. People all over the country correctly discerned that a root cause of this was the removal of God from public life. Ten Commandments signs went up in yards all over the area and America. A member of the Sikeston School Board at the time rightly advocated the teaching of scientific creationism in the school district, although the policy was never implemented.

Most people are unaware that Missouri has a law allowing creationism to be taught here in our state. Some school boards in Southern Illinois even voted to post the Ten Commandments, but had to back down after threats by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to take them to federal court.

Now here is the good news. Alabama Representative Aderhold and Senator Shelby have introduced the Constitution Restoration Act of 2004. Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution says that Congress has the power to regulate and except jurisdiction of the federal courts, including the Supreme Court. This act says that the federal court system and Supreme Court will no longer have jurisdiction concerning matters that relate to the public acknowledgement of God. We should have done this 40 years ago.

Think of the good that will be accomplished if this act passes. If a little grade school student points to a cross around the neck of a teacher and asks about it, the teacher will be free to tell the student about it, which is true religious freedom. The local people will decide what is best for their children instead of a few activist judges or justices. The Christian majority will be in charge once again, not the minority. We will return to our original form of government concerning religious matters. The whole theory of democratic government is that the minority has the rights only because the majority gives rights to them. If an atheist or minority religion is offended by a public prayer, they need to bear it or move to an area where the local people who feel like they do are the majority.

We need a grassroots movement to enact the Constitution Restoration Act and restore our system of checks and balances by reining in the out of control judicial branch which wants to tell us how we can live. That is not their function. That function belongs to the Legislative Branch. To bring true religious freedom back to America, please call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask Congresswoman JoAnn Emerson to co-sponsor House Version (HR3799) and Senators Talent and Bond to co-sponsor the Senate version (S.2082). I did this week. It took about 20 minutes and cost less than a dollar at 5 cents per minute - a very small price to pay. God bless!

Scott Coatney