June 26, 2002 dawned a mildly warm Wednesday, but before sundown the national temper would soar past boiling.
On that day, the Ninth Court of Appeals ruled that recitation of the words "under God" within the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag in public schools was unconstitutional. The court ordered an end to reciting the Pledge unless the offending phrase was removed.
The ruling affected only the western states under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Court but the uproar stormed across the country. In an instant, the people of the United States of America --- many of whom had entertained no particular interest in God the day before --- were united in their indignation.
Members in both houses of Congress found courage to hotly attack the justices of the Ninth Court, intemperately describing them and their decision as "outrageous," "nuts" and "stupid." The Senate passed a unanimous resolution "expressing support for the Pledge of Allegiance."
But the blather and bluster was little more than political posturing. The strength displayed by citizens united in outrage was temporary. Elected officials loudly announce, "God is on our side," because polls show 85 percent of Americans express a belief in God. The same percentage holds concerning the opinion that they can mention God in the Pledge without it becoming a credal statement of an establishment of religion prohibited by the First Amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …"
That's all. No mention of Church. No mention of State. No mention of worship. No mention of God.
So what is "an establishment of religion"? Anglicanism remains a prime example, a church underwritten by Great Britain's taxpayers. This is precisely what the First Amendment forbids, without defining --- or denying --- "God."
"God" remains whatever one chooses to believe is "God": a powerfully built man brandishing a trident; a young woman holding three apples; a chubby toddler carrying a bow and arrow, a totem pole, or even an SUV, the latest Gucci ensemble, or a hefty bank account. The First Amendment guarantees that the government cannot prevent any American from worshipping the divinity of his choice.
Religion, on the other hand, is how a god is worshipped. Religion contains procedures and beliefs systematized into rites and dogmas. Government support of such a system is the concept most definitely rejected by the First Amendment. Not God.
This is the intellectual foundation of the First Amendment.
Unhappily, over the past 30 years, we've seen courts rule against belief in God in government, not against the establishment of a particular religion. Prodded by a veritable three-ring circus of special interest groups, with the American Civil Liberties Union as ringmaster, courts have applied the law inappropriately and often illogically, transforming the "focus" of religion, God, into the "exercise of religion."
Two thousand years ago St. Paul found an altar dedicated to the "unknown God" erected by Athenians timidly seeking to appease some overlooked divine being. Paradoxically, in America today exactly the opposite is true: the courts timidly appease the ACLU in its efforts to overlook God.
Presidents from Washington to Eisenhower mentioned God in speeches, and few gave it a second thought. President Bush mentions God and he's raked over the coals. Striving to make God a boogeyman, the ACLU tries to frighten the gullible, incessantly dredging up the mantra "separation of Church and State."
Still, as long as "God" remains indefinite, meaning everything, anything, something or nothing to a person, there can be no ban against federal employees, including the President, from recognizing their "God."
Of course anti-theists, as opposed to honest atheists, are rigidly monotheistic in their struggle against God. The God they constantly oppose was hanged on a gibbet for his efforts to teach people to live in goodness; who demanded that we respect each other by observing moral and ethical behavior. The God they hate is known to history as Jesus of Nazareth.
The proof became apparent when the ACLU tipped its biased hand recently, demanded that Los Angeles delete a tiny cross on the County seal --- while mentioning nothing about the imposing central figure of the goddess Pomona rising above it.
Don't be fooled by legalistic smoke and mirrors. Anti-theists live in fear. They are not really fighting tooth and nail against God being recognized in law. They are fighting against His morality. They prefer keeping segments of people fighting against each other over superficialities so that they can sit back and sin in peace. They are petrified when they see the people of the United States truly forged together in a union committed to keeping the excesses of sin in check.
This past Flag Day, Monday June 14, the United States Supreme Court voted 8-0, to strike down the decision of the Ninth Court --- but only on a technicality, deliberately sidestepping the constitutional issue, as Justices O'Connor, Thomas and Chief Justice Rehnquist glumly noted.
Plans to bring "under God" back under judicial scrutiny are being hatched as you read this page.
The war against Jesus and a truly Christian sense of law and morality continues. Sean M. Wright lectures on the origin of symbolism in Christian art, historically papal elections and other topics of Catholic interest to parishes, schools and universities. He is a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Santa Clarita. |