Separation of Church and State

We need to change policy regarding judicial power, as well. A Supreme Court judge should not be allowed to restrict a private individual or company from acting in any religious way. If a man places a cross in his yard, and his atheist neighbor is sick of looking at it, a judge should not have any say in what happens there. If an atheist wants to place a sign on his hilltop that reads “God is dead,” then a Christian ought to take matters into his own hands, and place a sign on his own hilltop proclaiming, “God is alive.” The key to this situation is to keep the government out of it altogether. If a Christian places the Ten Commandments on the courthouse steps, a Muslim who doesn’t like it should place a stone Koran inscription right beside it. Again, keep the government out of it. Judges should be instructed to throw cases involving religion out of their courtrooms. Exceptions could be made for judging cases against humanity, that involve child abuse, polygamy, or other acts which could be claimed as “religious,” yet are harmful to the people. The government is made “by the people,” so the people should be allowed to put whatever they want on public property, however nothing obscene should be placed in public view, because society would not appreciate that. Is it okay in our policy recommendation to use common sense to decide what is obscene? Yes.

Furthermore, we need the federal government to butt out of the states’ business with regards to their relationship with the churches in their state. If a state decided to grant money to congregations who help the homeless, they ought to be allowed to do so, with no federal involvement whatsoever. Remember, we mentioned above that the first amendment to the constitution was written as a buffer to protect the states and the individuals from federal tyranny, not to prohibit the states to do anything. The states have the power to legislate their own policies towards their churches.

Finally, we need to bring back common sense to the issue of separation of church and state. Common sense is something that is lost in the political world today. Every little law is so nitpicked and examined word for word to look for any single loophole or way out, that it is silly. Laws need to be able to be executed efficiently, and this means not having frivolous court cases involving every aspect of the relationship between church and state, from Christmas Trees, to headdresses, to Ten Commandments, to Evolution versus Creation in the classroom (this is another topic we could discuss about how the federal government needs to butt out and let the states decide how their children are going to be educated, but we will not get into it at this time). Whatever the discussion, Judges need to use their heads. But, most importantly, they need to view cases objectively, based on an accurate interpretation of the constitution.

We as your advisers understand that this topic is touchy, the debate is heated, and the solutions will never be favorable to all. But that is why there are fifty different states in this country. It is not the President’s or the federal government’s job to micromanage the relationship between local towns and their churches and their governments. This issue, for the most part, needs to be delegated back to the states to act on it in the way they see fit. The federal government’s job is to obey the Bill of Rights, which was explicitly given to the people to protect them from tyranny. Any act that the federal government does regarding religion can cross that line to infringing on the rights of the people. This is not what America is all about. Let us get back to an understanding of the constitution and what it means, and then act accordingly.

One final note, the First Amendment guarantees the right to peaceably assemble in public, and, as part of the overall first amendment, that means that the right of the people to peaceably express their religion in public should not be infringed upon. This is why we support individuals being allowed to place religious symbols on public property.

Thank you for hearing us out, and we hope that you choose to adopt our recommendation.