It should be obvious, world governments do not operate on
the same principles as the United States government. Shocks of all shocks, those differences are what make America unique. That
uniqueness makes our Constitution a world-changing document. It is not just one
thing but also many: the willingness to tax our selves, one-man one-vote, and
of headline importance right now “freedom of religion”. Special interest groups, in one way or another,
have repeatedly challenged all of these things. For example, we easily talk about
the government taxing us to much as though we are not the government. A large segment
of the Republican Party wants to challenge the fundamental concept of the federation
of states to allow re-segregation, suppress voters’ rights, deregulation, etc. You
hear this as a return to the Civil War mentality or as a cry for “reestablishment
of states rights”, and destroy the Department of Education and the Environmental
Protection Agency. The Republicans even challenge the fundamental underlying concept
that shed us of King George V, that is royalty and foolishly try to replace the
king with the economic elite; the 1%. On man one vote, but it really matters to
them who that man is: European descent; Christian; but, most important, wealthy.
We openly talk about all of these things; however, mention “freedom of religion”
and the room falls silent.
Since the start of history, the Middle East has been in
turmoil because of the lack of freedom religion.
The constitution says we have freedom of religion, which in terms of peace truly
is the most import statement in the entire document. It is easy to find myriad people
who claim to be Constitutional Fundamentalists, who interpret the statement to
mean you have freedom of religion but only if you are a Christian; that is not
freedom of religion! There is no place for Muslims in our nation because we are
a Christian nation—does that make sense to you in light of the constitutionally
mandated freedom of religion.
That Christianity is the only religion is an anachronism;
yes, an archaic stance outdated but the Constitution just as royalty was
outdated in the United States and the new one-man one-vote government introduced
to the world for the first time ever—not all at once but over a long period in
the 16th, 17th and
18th centuries. I would remind Christians that their claim is cut
from the same cloth as what Shia and Sunni religious sects say in war torn Iraq,
in Iran, in Syria, and in emerging democracies Turkey, and in Egypt.
They are all Muslims nations but the deep divisions clearly demonstrate
that religion is a tool used by some to gain power even more powerful than state
government are and often challenge state sovereignty. For example, the nation Iran
(Sunni) is ready to fight against the Shia faction in Iraq anther nation but
they both are going to establish their own version so Shia law, which says that
God is in charge which makes them Caliphates. For those that do not know, several
sites exist in each of the mentioned nations that Americans refer to as “chop-chop”
square. This is where the “government, chosen by God”, cuts off heads for not believing
in Allah and for alleged infidelity; hands chopped off for stealing; people are
stoned to death for being victims of rape, and all the other nice things the
Bible and Koran tell us to do. Gentle Americans look at this in horror while
condemning people to an “eternal lake of fire” for not saying; “one nation
under God”.
The answer to the Middle East strife is not to take sides
but to do what Obama has so wisely done—in Egypt for example; let them fight it
out while encouraging them to form a nonsectarian government modeled after our
own (tongue in cheek), where they have freedom of religion; Shia, Sunni, and Christians
living side by side, where people can build a Mosque near the World Trade
Center. We, as people, seem innately incapable of separating spirituality from government
just as we are innately incapable of believing in hierarchy dominance (peck order),
living together (gregariousness), or living free of greed (survival of the fittest).
Over two hundred years of U.S. history have proved it is not easy! Try to convince
politically active religious leaders such as Pat Roberson and Ralph Reed that
there must be science in the classroom and total, clear, separation of
government from religion if we are to survive as a great nation. Democracy does not come easy but the
success of the United States proves it is worth the struggle.
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