“Our heavenly Father,
Grant us each day the desire to do our best,
To grow mentally and morally as well as physically,
To be kind and helpful to our classmates and teachers,
To be honest with ourselves as well as with others,
Help us to be good sports and smile when we lose as well as when we win…Amen. “
This is the prayer that was written 50 years ago by a student at Cranston High. It is currently known as the mural that was removed from Cranston High. I heard about this earlier today, it immediately irritated me. I went on with my day, but I overheard the headline on the news about it and my heart immediately sank. The news showed clips of the offended atheist girl, Jessica Ahlquist, defending her point. She proudly stated that the United States of America was founded on secular principles. She teamed up with the ACLU, the combination resulting in an anti-God monster. I cringed when I heard Jessica disreputably quote the “separation of church and state” phrase.
First of all, Jessica and the ACLU cannot justify their actions by applying “the separation of church and state” phrase. The “separation of church and state” is not even mentioned in the US Constitution. Once. It first used by Thomas Jefferson writing a letter in response to the Danbury Baptists in 1802. The Danbury Baptists were concerned that their state (Connecticut) did not see their religion as an unalienable right, but as a something that the state government allowed them to have. Thomas Jefferson assured them that the government would not be able to interfere with their religion. The government cannot establish a mandatory national or state religion. In fact, that is exactly what they came recently came away from in England. That being said, Jessica misused the phrase, did not describe the circumstances in which the phrase was first used, and failed to specify that the phrase is not even found in the US Constitution. (I wonder why public school never taught her that…?)
Jessica also stated that the United States was founded on secular beliefs. I beg to differ. The US was clearly founded on Judeo-Christian values. If the alternate were true, why is God mentioned in our founding documents at all. If Jessica is right, whom exactly were the founding fathers referring to when they wrote that we the people have been given “unalienable rights by our Creator”? That is the sole phrase that is the basis on what we were founded on. Why do we have so many rights? Because they were given to us by our Creator!
If we go to the First Amendment, it says, “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.” The Establishment Clause is very clear. On the contrary, there is no amendment in the US Constitution that promises the protection from being offended. Are we so naïve to think that the Founding Fathers truly cared about offending people? If they did, the country of the United States would cease to exist, as we know it today.
The prayer mural hanging in the school may have offended Jessica and others, but it’s not Constitutionally wrong. Kids were not getting forced to say it, or believe it. I utterly fail to understand why one offended girl gets to make a decision for everyone on an unconstitutional basis. Perhaps I’m the offended one now, will they listen to me? No, they won’t, because I am Christian. Suddenly, the whole “being offended” basis for their whole winning argument goes out the window. They did not decide to take the prayer mural down because of a seeming offense, but because of the anti-God indoctrination that has immersed the student population in public school. Luckily for Jessica, she lives in the Untied States and can express her atheist beliefs all she wants without being persecuted. I must admit, though, as far as atheists go, I’ve never seen a group of people so clearly offended by someone they don’t even believe in.
I love how Christians always pull that oppressed card. Like Christians are seriously oppressed? You're one of the most internationally prevalent religions. If not the most prevalent. You're a white, middle-class, Christian in America. You are the absolute opposite of oppressed in this country.
ReplyDelete"I have to say, as someone who is not a Christian, it's hard for me to believe Christians are a persecuted people in America. God-willing, maybe one of you one day will rise to get to be president of this country--or maybe forty-four in a row. But that's my point, is they've taken the idea of no establishment as persecution, because they feel entitled, not to equal status, but to greater status." -Jon Stewart.
I highly doubt Atheist Jess was the "God-hating monster" the press portrayed her as. If she was protesting anything, it wasn't Jesus; it was the prominence of Christianity, which can be extremely suffocating. Now who's to say if the mural should have been removed or not? From a historical standpoint, no. It was was a work of art, a masterpiece that had earned the right to its place. From a religious standpoint, I don't see how it was harming anyone. But if it were atheist or anarchist scribblings, it probably would have been written off as graffiti. So you really have to be aware of the whole equality sermon you preach. But, I don't really have a huge opinion on the mural's status. The only point I was trying to make was that the griping about being silenced because of your religion is ridiculous.
If someone isn't taking you seriously because of your beliefs, than the reputation of your religion as a whole is at fault.