Personal Reflection
As I was walking today running my errands I hears some people speaking Italian, and being Italian-American, it brought a smile to my face. When I watch Italian programming and hear the Neapolitan, or even Sicilian songs, the poems of old Italy, I realize how important heritage is. I realize how important it is for me to really get closer to my Italian culture, as well as the faith I know in my heart, spirit and soul to be true. Even in the arts, I feel the call in my heart to create works in Italian, to connect to my culture, culture of my ancestors. The older I get, the more I realize just how crucial heritage, common heritage, culture of some kind is for a family, a community, a society and even more so for a nation.
That culture, especially that faith culture, not in any government theocracy, like the Arab countries have, but as a solid sense and foundation of a nations identity is important. For a nation like the United States, which is still to an extent considered a world leader, a solid cultural and faith foundation identity connected to its' earliest history, Christianity, the Christianity of the Reformation, which didn't go far enough in reform of the faith, as it rejected gifts of the Holy Spirit in full and fully the teachings of the Catholic Church, most of which are not Biblical, and some only exist due to petition of the people. Without a common public foundation and recognizing that historical foundation, a country has no honor, only dishonor, same as a family. There is a Neapolitan song O Zappatore which speaks of a young man who came from a family of farmers and became a doctor thanks to their sacrifices. When he became a doctor, he was embarrassed and negated his family, wouldn't acknowledge his family lineage, but at an fancy event his father shows up to tell him his mother has died heartbroken because he turned his back on his family, heritage. When we as a nation deny the baseline foundation, heritage, Christian heritage, Biblical foundation of what made this country come to exist, its' laws come to be etc..., we dishonor the nation, those who came and sacrificed much, the colonists, and all those who crafted the State Constitutions, build those monuments, universities, with inscriptions clearly pointing to a Biblically based foundation for America. Anyone who denies this is blind, has no eyes to see, no heart, spirit, no soul.
Liberal Progressives and Humanists love to use the whole establishment clause and separation of church and state thing to squash all religious, especially true Christianity out of the public square. The problem with is is that they have it all wrong, and I am calling them out on it and their bluff. They cite first and foremost a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in correspondence with a Pastor, where Jefferson used the term "separation of church and state. However, what these Nimrods and unGodly, unholy people fail to do is take it in context and they fail to look at the whole trajectory of our nation's history from the colonies onward, as well as the fullness of the amendments of the Constitution.
On New Year's Day, 1802, President Jefferson penned a letter to the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut. The Baptists had written the Jefferson a letter in October 1801, congratulating him on his election to the "chief Magistracy in the United States." They celebrated Jefferson's great advocacy for religious liberty and chastised those who had criticized him "as an enemy of religion Law & good order because he wasn't, but he also wouldn't assume the prerogative of Jehovah and make Laws to govern the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, infringing upon the churches rights to do as they saw fit, preach as they saw fit etc... He also did not believe in doing in state established Church like Great Britain had. He was adamant that the government would not interfere in public or private with religious expression, ever. Jefferson even set aside national days of fasting, prayers, thanksgiving and such, so does this sound like a man who would want Yahweh, Christianity and the Bible out of the public square? I think not.
In a carefully crafted reply, Jefferson endorsed the persecuted Baptists' aspirations for religious liberty:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.
What of the Freedom of Religion clause? Freedom from coercion by government is essential to authentic religion, promoting a positive and public role for moral insights and habits. True religious liberty can create conditions in which religion has a more profound does have an influence on public life. It protects the integrity of both religion and human beings. Each of us has inherent dignity, given to us by virtue of IMAGO DEI and that dignity demands freedom of choice, choice of faith, expression of faith. However, freedom from coercion form government does not mean no right of expression of one's faith in the public square at all, nor can the Jefferson phrase be used since Jefferson endorsed and created national days of prayer etc... The Constitution does not say "Freedom of Church Worship, or Sunday Worship", no, it says Religion and tie that in with Speech and Assembly in the public square and humanists, atheists haven't got a leg to stand on, but cowards have given to them, including judges, schools etc... It was only in the early 1900's that this really came about, this separation of Church and state. Prior to that most of the education as provided by and through the churches, not the state. Even most state Constitutions were strong in religious language, so to say that this nation had a strong wall of separation between church and state is stupid, dumb, untrue etc.... We can not let Christianity be thrown out of the public square, when all indications are that this was a solid, strong nation of faith in the public square throughout history. It is an affront to our heritage. Should we ever have a state mandated religion, or a state church like the UK, NOOOOOOOOOOO. However, we can not accept humanists, and such telling any group of students, or anyone they can not pray, sing etc... anything of faith they wish to in a public setting at any time because any of them might be offended, or anyone might be offended. If offended, don't pray with them, don't sing with them, don't participate, that is why we have a democratic republic, you have to participate. Once you silence faith, once you take away our guns, then all is lost.
Shalom and Amen.
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