January 12, 2005 6:10 AM

Anyone care to explain "Separation of Church and State" to these folks?

Protesters decry removal of Bible from courthouse

A lot of good people are going to waste a lot of breath and a lot of emotional energy over this issue, but to me it seems fairly straightforward. The separation of Church and State is enshrined in the Constitution, is it not? And the language in the Constitution is designed to prevent government from promoting a particular religion, no? So, where’s the fire? What part of the separation of Church and State is unclear?

“When you remove the word of God, you are saying, ‘God, you are not welcome here,’ ” said Homer Allison, an evangelist at Battle Cry Ministries.

About 90 Christians gathered outside Harris County Civil Courts Building on Fannin to protest a court decision that led to the Bible’s removal today.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Harris County’s request to allow the Bible to remain while the county appeals last summer’s order by a federal district judge in Houston requiring that the Bible be removed.

The Star of Hope mission, which owns the Bible and the monument where it is displayed in front of the Harris County Civil Courts Building, 301 Fannin, took the book from the display about 3:30 p.m. Monday. It will be stored at the agency’s men’s center on Ruiz.

Actually, no one is telling God that He is not welcome. If you choose to interpret it that way, I suppose that is your right. Of course, it is my right to reject your protestations of righteous indignation. There is nothing new in this ruling. Government is supposed to serve the people, not promote a particular religion, even if it is the religion of the majority. As one who adheres to a “minority” religion (Buddhism), I resent the statement that “America is a Christian nation”, because it marginalizes any of us who happen not to be Christians. America IS a nation populated by Christians- and Jews, and Buddhists, and Hindus, and Packer fans. For Christians to “claim” America as their own is the height of arrogance, not to mention that it smacks of the tyranny of the majority.

The reality is that America was founded by those fleeing religious persecution. That was the driving force behind the separation of Church and State. That truth is still as real now as it was in the days of the Founding Fathers. No amount of self-righteous indignation will change that.

There are plenty of places that a Bible belongs. A government institution doesn’t happen to be one of those places.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake ruled on Aug. 10 that displaying the Bible on county property represented an unconstitutional promotion of Christianity by the county and ordered it removed within 10 business days.

Kay Staley, a real estate broker, sued the county last year alleging the 4-foot display offended non-Christians.

“This case has always been about religious tolerance,” said Randall Kallinen, Staley’s lawyer. “Will Harris County be equal, unbiased and fair in matters of religion or will it take government space and promote one religion only?”….

“We think this is the right decision,” said Joe Conn, spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which is providing one of Staley’s appellate lawyers. “The display clearly violates the separation of church and state. And this decision sends the right message.”….

In his August opinion, Lake wrote that the display would cause a reasonable viewer to “conclude that the Bible display conveys the message that Christianity is favored or preferred by Harris County.”

Lake’s opinion said the display fails the three-pronged Lemon test, named for a 1971 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The test says that to get past the First Amendment ban against an establishment of religion, a display on public property must have a secular purpose, must not advance or inhibit religion and must not foster an excessive entanglement with religion.

This was the right decision made for the right reasons. Those who are angered about it might want to give some consideration to what message their attitude sends to those non-Christians whole feel that they have just as much right to not have Christianity shoved down their throats. Count me among them.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on January 12, 2005 6:10 AM.

Mom and Dad went to Malibu and all I got was this lousy rock was the previous entry in this blog.

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