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Tuesday, 02 January 2007 13:50 |
Reader challenges notion
of U.S. as Christian nation
A Republican congressman from Virginia has warned that the election in Minnesota, of the first Muslim who intends to use the Koran in a private swearing-in ceremony in January, is a threat to traditional Christian values.
A conservative radio host condemned the decision "as one that would undermine American civilization" and claimed that "the Bible was the only relevant religious text in the United States."
The
Muslim is Keith Ellison, an African-American lawyer, who traces his
American ancestors back to 1742. It is gratifying that other members of
Congress, and President Bush, have spoken out in support of religious
freedom and free speech.
It is amazing
how many people are unaware of our unusual American religious
tradition. Ours is unique, since religion is strictly a voluntary
affair and a matter of free choice. Although some 80 percent of the
population identify themselves as Christians, there are more than 1,500
different religious groups in America and they all flourish without
support of the government.
It wasnët that
way in the beginning. Early settlers brought traditional attitudes from
Europe. Most assumed a single orthodox religious truth and required
conformity and exiled dissenters. There were exceptions: Maryland was
tolerant of all Christians; and Pennsylvania, New York and Rhode Island
welcomed Christians, Quakers and Jews.
Then, at the
time of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers were impressed by
the Enlightenment theories of John Locke and others. Enlightenment
thinkers offered intellectual justification for toleration and freedom
of consciousness that challenged traditional religious values, and
advocated the separation of church and state.
The Founders ǃÓ
Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Paine, Adams, Madison and Hamilton
were influenced by deism. This is the theory that accepted the
existence of Aristotleës "prime mover" from the order and harmony that
exists in the universe. The deists all tended to reject revelation as
the test of religious truth, accepting reason instead.
It was the
deists who influenced the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution. There is no religious qualification for voting or office
holding in the federal Constitution. Its preamble does not invoke the
blessings of Almighty God. It declares its purpose in keeping with the
Enlightened goals of the times ÇƒÓ "to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity."
The Founding
Fathers endorsed the Enlightenment idea of opposition to any state
involvement in religion, sponsoring the First Amendment to the
Constitution as a wall of separation between church and state. In 1947,
while I was in law school, Justice Hugo Black in Emerson v. Board of
Education, invoked the Foundersë desires in what was the first major
statement of the Supreme Court on the "Establishment Clause."
During
Washingtonës presidency the United States entered into a treaty with
Islamic Tripoli. The treaty stated that "the government of the United
States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."
Therefore, it
would appear the congressman from Virginia may be confused about the
values he criticizes. An examination of history confirms that Mr.
Ellisonës fitness to serve in Congress is a matter the Founding Fathers
left to the voters of his district.
Lloyd V. Stover
Tallahassee, Fla.
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