By Aria Hopes
When people start to realize that something is, internally, hurting our country, we go to government, and we start from there and we see where we went wrong. In the beginning of our country, when we were only states divided, great men wanted to bring us together. They, in turn, did just that. After our separation from Great Britain we began only as an anarchy, with no rule of the central government; we were all together yet separated states with to each their own laws and customs. When the realization came of the need for a supreme law of the land the Founding Fathers created our Declaration of Independence. The Founding Fathers were firm believers in God, evident in many historical documents as well as other writings as the phrases contained within the Declaration of Independence. “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” This Divine Providence meaning God. Thus our nation is founded on Biblical Principals, the Bible, and is blessed by God thereof.
As the Bible is a guideline and law of Christian life, the Constitution of the United States of America is our guideline for everything, from the division of powers in government to our rights for each individual person. The judicial branch, the court system, specifically the Supreme Court, has been granted the power to interpret the laws in light of the Constitution and apply it to cases that come before it. They are required to follow historical precedents, past case rulings, and go by the Constitution. Though personally I believe the interpretation of the Constitution must be in line with what the purpose of it was when it is written. Otherwise the guidelines are completely void, and the interpretation and ruling that judge would make is completely unconstitutional in every aspect. This is treason to our government and tyrannical in actions, which is a hazard to our country and written Constitution.
A misleading statement not found in the Constitution nor in the First Amendment nor any official document, “the separation of church and state,” was the phrase applied to the Court in the 1960s when ruling about prayer in public schools, in which they overstepped their constitutional boundaries, and they handed down decisions out of their jurisdiction. Even so they only ruled state mandated prayer, Bible reading, and posting of the Ten Commandments did not violate the constitution, only that they could not he ordered by the state. Yet states, school boards, and courts of appeals interpreted them as if all were not allowed in any public setting. Yet this would violate our right in the first amendment. It would prohibit our free exercise of religion. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Thomas Jefferson wrote a personal letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut in 1802 to answer a letter from them written in 1801. They were concerned that they would have in the country an established “religion,” or in the way they had perceived and implied it in those times “denomination.” They were concerned that they would establish another denomination of Christianity that would be contrary to their certain denomination of Christianity, and they did not want government to interfere in their manner of worship. In Jefferson’s return letter he wrote in the ending after assuring them no establishment of religion (again many words had different meanings then from today; Jefferson’s word, religion, meant denomination). He wrote, “Thus building a wall of separation between Church & State” which has been misunderstood completely; it is only a poorly chosen and misunderstood phrase. He was describing to the Baptists that the United States Bill of Rights prevents the establishment of a national church.
In the Bill of Rights, included in the Constitution, the first amendment is often misunderstood to be the misinterpretation of Jefferson’s personal letter, when the Bill of Rights specifically states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” It did not state anything about separating church and state, only that there shall be no law respecting “religion.” Now today they have a law against it. When they ruled on this case, did they follow historical precedents? No. Did they take a phrase from a personal letter from Jefferson and use it in a manner which he meant not? Yes. Is this wrong? I believe so. Do you ever wonder why nothing was done about this before? For hundreds of years it was common knowledge that the Bible is a learning tool; it’s a guideline for life, to keep stability and peace in our schools. It was understood for so long and then all of a sudden, it changes. Force shouldn’t be used, everyone is free to do as they please. But it is against my personal Christian beliefs to listen to secular music. In school that was a problem and I could leave the room, and I did. Should there be a law against it? No. Because people will do what they want. Prayer should be in school, just not forced, or ordered by the government. Like the old paths of which we walked before, as an early country. So should we walk again.
About the Author: Aria Hopes has a passion for God and a passion for writing that He has given her. Many things she addresses in her articles are: emotional problems, relationships, society, new and old Christian artists, songs, movies, beliefs, etc., and or how they are seen through her opinion as well as the Bible’s, including God’s standards in everything. Aria hopes to become either a Christian Counselor, writer, lawyer, and business owner, or all. She is interested in law, government, psychology, art, counseling, etc. Her hobbies include reading, drawing, writing music, playing music, singing, writing poetry, etc.