Thoughts on our nation's future

Lindy Taylor
September 28, 2005

All right. I cannot sleep any longer. I am going to exercise my limited, but still somewhat extant right to "freedom of speech." Just as long as I don't read it or post it in school or public property, I think I'll be safe.

To be perfectly honest, I'm worried. I wonder how much longer I'll be able to sing all the stanzas of our national anthem and other patriotic hymns that I love. I will always cry when I sing:

"Oh thus be it ever, when free men shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with vic'try and peace, may the heav'n rescued land Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: 'In God is Our Trust.'"

How many of us can imagine not being able to sing "God Bless America," and so many of our beautiful patriotic hymns?

There is so much censorship of godly things, I don't know where the line will be drawn. I fear that the terrorists won't have to destroy our public monuments — we're already practically doing it for them. Thnk of Washington D.C. Did you know that there are scriptures engraven on almost every monument there? Did you know that Lincoln talked about Divine Providence, and quoted the Bible? Furthermore, did you know that on the walls of the Supreme Court, there are engraven the Ten Commandments? Does anyone else think it is hypocritical for them to declare it "unconstitutional" for the Ten Commandments to be on "public government property" in other places, while staring at it in there own courtroom, every day, knowing that it is the most "governmental" property of all?

Now that public and governmental property and schools have pretty much become censored from any mention of God (you can hardly find a single textbook nowadays that mentions God), I'm wondering how we can have a motto "In God We Trust" and still banish the Ten Commandments from the public eye.

To be quite honest, I'm tired of feeling censored. I'm tired of feeling sad that if a community of Christians wanted to sing a Christmas Carol in a school, they couldn't do it. Why not? Because the free exercise of it would incur the wrath of our "government" and special interest groups?

I'm seeing a new law emerging. "He who is the most offended has the most power." I don't like this law, but if it is truly what we are going by, then maybe some of us need to become more offended!

As Patrick Henry said, "Give me Liberty, or give me death." I vouch for liberty.

I vouch for liberty that shows self-government and mutual respect. Freedom of speech, even in schools and on public property (shouldn't it be free ESPECIALLY on public property where the Constitution protects this freedom of speech?) — not to cause harm or break laws, but merely to have an opinion.

Our Founding Fathers must have known that these would be the first liberties to go — the freedom of speech, and the free exercise of religion. That's why they were put in the first amendment to the Constitution. These were the most sacred.

We can't allow ourselves to be governed by the rights of the few. If we were in Rome, we would expect others to have a generalized love of the Catholic Church, and we would respect whatever they put on their buildings or said in their public schools. As long as we were not forced into becoming a Catholic or adhering to its teachings, it would be a wonderful thing! We would do well to have reverence for their faith and tradition. This would be the same for wherever we roamed in the world — Africa, China, etc.

Except on our own doorstep. Here we must conform to the needs of the few, deny the desires of the many, be "tolerant" of every lifestyle; well — almost every lifestyle. Every lifestyle except for one that teaches moral values that might "influence" some to see good and evil with a nod to God as the author of all this is good.

In fact, there is little or no tolerance for any type of idea except those ideas brought about by our new state and country religion. You didn't know we had one? It seems that we do.

Here, a new religion has taken over the government and truly does have power of dominion. It is called "SECULARISM," and we must all bow down to it, or have our job/reputation/opportunity in jeopardy. It is not so far removed from Stalin and Hitler. Under the guise of "protecting" rights, the few voices declaring "we're offended — call off all religious activities on public property" are becoming the dictators our forefathers fought so hard to defend against.

If we let this go any further, I fear that any mention of God will be struck from our historical records, from our monuments, and from our text books — oh wait! That one has already happened.

Isn't it religious persecution and denial of freedom of speech to make certain topics "taboo" because they relate to God? Why is it okay to discuss the Aztec religious beliefs, the African beliefs, the Eskimo and Indian religious beliefs, but it is wrong for us to crack open a Bible or even acknowledge Christianity as our country's basic belief? I feel this is religious persecution. I feel it infringes on the two first freedoms supposedly protected by the First Amendment. If there are those who want to talk to God, what is that to others? In present-day America, we are being told that freedom of speech applies only inasmuch as it DOESN'T include anything that will offend the minority. Now we are going to need a list of forbidden topics. (Maybe we don't need a list. It's easy — just take out God and traditional morality). I would like to make a list too, as long as everybody else is making one.

The idea of having a list of forbidden topics is not constitutional by anyone's standard, and yet somehow, our courts uphold it. Mistakenly, many people have been duped into believing that so-called "separation of church and state" means that we truly have no right to speak of God on public property. They give up this right freely. This is the greatest travesty of all.

I would like to mention here that to my limited understanding, 1) this separation of church and state is not even in the constitution — it is in a letter by Thomas Jefferson, and 2) the intent was obviously to keep any one religion from becoming or overcoming the government; not prohibiting the free exercise of religion. Oughtn't the freedom of speech and religion clause that actually made it into the Constitution have more sway than a mere letter from Thomas Jefferson that surely didn't intend to "sterilize" the nation from any mention of our Creator?

The obvious intent of our Founding Fathers can be found by reading yet other "letters" by our Founding Fathers that don't get as much attention as this one. John Adams, among others, said that the Constitution would only work as long as we were founded as a nation on morals and principles such as are taught by Christianity. Why aren't we upholding that in court? Where is the ACLU to make sure everyone is living Christian morals so our government can stand?

United we stand. Divided we fall. One nation under God. Now, even the mention of "God" raises eyebrows, as if we are looking over our shoulder to see if "Big Brother" would approve. Maybe we'll get sued! Maybe we'll lose our jobs! Maybe other people will take offense and think we're trying to convert them! It's starting to feel more and more like a Communist regime. We can't step on "Big Brother's toes," or offend "Him" in any way.

Who exactly is "Big Brother"? He certainly is a bossy, pushy one — not a brother I enjoy having. He demands tolerance for art, music, literature, and lifestyles that are shocking and offensive to me, and at the same time demands that no one offend him with morality as others and myself see it. In other words, He defines tolerance, while at the same time showing perfect intolerance for any viewpoint but his own! What a hypocritical bully we have trying to run our country and our schools and our government agendas!

The Constitution says that its object is to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." The very first amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech . . . ."

How many of you feel free now to express in a "public building" your love of God and country? How many of you would truly feel comfortable talking about God in a public school (where we can't sing a Christmas carol or read the Bible)?

How many of us doubt that the Founding Fathers themselves would have been dubbed "UNCONSTITUTIONAL" in their behavior? They kept praying and talking about God and Divine Providence and our utter reliance and dependence on Him. And most of it on government property, in government buildings! The ACLU would not have approved.

We are only ordinary people — but "only ordinary people" started this country, and "only ordinary people" will need to preserve the liberties that were fought for with blood not so very long ago. We can do it now by making our voices heard. All of us can do that, can't we?

Are we joining the dictatorship, or are we defending our right to freedom? What does the majority really want? Do we really want our public schools to be censored, and have our children taught the definition of "tolerance" according to our new state religion? Do we want to see no sign of the faith and traditions of our forefathers on our buildings and monuments?

Isn't this what made the United States of America special? Our love of God, freedom, and the right of all men to practice it as they may according to the dictates of their own conscience? I'm starting to feel like our schools are dictating the social consciousness, and that is offensive to me.

I'm tired of sitting it out, waiting for someone else to say what I'm feeling. I'm going to let my voice be heard wherever I can. How about you? If EVERYONE wrote their congress (so easy now, with the internet), and EVERYONE stood up that felt their liberties were being trampled, maybe we could regain our lost liberties, and keep what's left of them from being taken away.

Sincerely,

Lindy Taylor
Orem, UT