I was completely horrified to learn that a religious quarrel about the consitution was mandatory for a number of reasons. One being that religion is a very fragile subject. How can you ask a group of young adults to listen to a topic that most adults cannot even handle without getting angry and fighting over? And do they think the Corps of Cadets is that mature to handle such a subject?
During this speech, the professor supporting a God-based constitution stated that Atheists have no moral fabric or values. He further stated that they shouldn’t be trusted in office or as community leaders. This statement is an outrage. Even as Christians hold office or high corporate positions, we are left at the mercy of their judgment. And many times we are disappointed by their lack of values. So what gives anyone the right to judge my character, or anyone else’s for that matter due to religion?
It was a complete outrage to me, as were the conversations afterwards. The students were walking around joking about how stupid and evil Atheists are. I stood there, almost invisible, because they had no idea what I am.
I was pleasantly surprised though. Even with the small, rude displays and conversations of some students most kept their comments to themselves and remained respectful. I was thankful for that much.
But the subject had still messed with my day and made me increasingly uncomfortable. I still wonder why this Constitution Day was based solely on religion and how it cannot co-exist, even in the United States of America.
The Constitution is the foundation document for the U.S. There's no natural law. Neither God nor religion plays any role. There are no "law givers." Laws do not get made on Sinai.
The Constitution contains no reference to a god. The word 'God' does not appear. ('Jesus', 'Christ', 'Christianity' don't appear either.) The word 'religion' appears only once, in Amendment One.
The first amendment protects "freedom of conscience." Initially the rights of a well-to-do white man (not slave, not female, not propertyless) to freely choose how to conduct his life as a legal person.
One Civil War (1865), the vote for women (1920), one Civil Rights Movement (1965) -- that's the turbulent blood-soaked price paid so far for extending equality (reciprocity).
Amendment One also establishes freedom *from* religion. The U.S is a secular state from its inception. The U.S. is *not* one nation under some god.
It (she or he or some committee) doesn't rule here. The people do. Not child molesting priests, not fanatical tax-dodging televangelists, nor cabals of delusional fundies seeking to overthrow the Republic.
God-talk disappears from justificatory language of 1776 (in the Declaration of Independence) and gives way to a view of 1786 (in the Constitution) that the people give themselves their own dignity and rights as citizens.
They enjoy or abuse their 'freedom of conscience' in matters of religion, speech, publications, public assembly, petitions to the elected representatives of the people, civil disobedience, and even armed revolution. Is this order on the edge of chaos? Yes.
Some conjectured divinity (or divinized leader) no longer needs to exist as a "holy lie" a la Plato for people to act in ways consonant with social order. The people are sovereign; we abide by the laws which we create for ourselves.
Let's be clear here: The people are sovereign.
Christ is not sovereign . . . God is not . . . they do not exist. They are as fictional as Zeus, Sherlock Holmes, or Batman. Theology is fan fiction.
There are many who pretend to speak for metaphysical nonentities, demanding social control and political domination. They are christo-fascists, threats to our secular Republic greater than all islamo-fascists combined.
bipolar2
copyright asserted 2007