Friday, January 27, 2012 0 comments

Separation of Church and State

In school, we were to memorize the First Ten Amendments. The first amendment stating,

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Our nation was not founded upon Christianity. Although there were leaders who were religious, this simple fact does not meant our nation was founded on religious beliefs. In fact, it was just the opposite. Our ancestors migrated to America to gain freedom from royal oppression. Our Founding Fathers created freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of religion to build an intellectual, self-governing democracy. We were meant to use our reason and intellect to come up with ways to govern a society with morals, ambitions and equality. 

So where have we gone wrong? 
  • Too many Americans think it is OK to use religious bigotry to gain votes or simply to "have their way." 
  • People ignore the First Amendment and forget that our Founding Fathers created freedom of religion for all citizens. 
So here is the story I wanted to present: 

Jessica Ahlquist is a 16-year-old girl from Cranston, Rhode Island. Jessica and the American Civil Liberties Union are suing Cranston West High School over an 8-foot prayer located in the School's gym. 

The school is violating the first amendment in that it is addressing a heavenly Father (stated in the Bible) and is praying to a heavenly Father. If you completely remove yourself from your own religion and look at the supreme law of our land, you can see that this is a clear violation of separation of church and state. I respect Jessica Ahlquist's  active voice in the secular community and it has raised my attention to the fact that this violation is everywhere. 

Please join Jessica's and the rest of the youth of this nation in their fight for their freedom and their right to exercise reason and intellect into their lives. 
 
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