The First Amendment - Conservative Politics Web Site

american conervative news opinion politics the land of the fre

U.S. Government Links	Info on the FairTax	Historic Quotes	Right Wing Thoughts	Book Store	Truth Alerts	Conservative News & Opinion Archive
Read: American Conservative Daily Blog Contact Information

The First Amendment by Jeff Jackson (6/15/02)

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Translation:
Congress, who is the sole body of the government entrusted with passing laws, shall NEVER pass a law that says that the citizens of the United States must be a of certain religion nor shall they establish a new religion. Too, Congress shall not prohibit any free exercise of religion, speech, or press (which is redundant since they already mentioned speech but were focused on print media) for any and all people under her jurisdiction.

The government can not prevent citizens from peaceably gathering and can not stop the people from coming before it so settle disputes.

Other Facts:
What this amendment does NOT say is that the government must deny that it was indeed a christian nation founded under God. There is not one thing in that paragraph that even eludes to it. It simply prohibits the government from requiring that the citizenry worship in a certain way "or else".

Please note that the free exercise of religion, speech, or press is not limited in any way by this Amendment. It does not say that the free exercise of religion is prohibited in public areas (i.e. like the town putting up a Christmas tree in its town square) or that such public displays must be non-denominational in order to be allowed. Free exercise is just that. Free. Also note that it says that Congress shall not pass such laws but does not explicitly prohibit lesser legislative bodies from doing so.

Likewise, it does NOT give the citizenry the right to assemble and cause an irritation or be generally destructive.

Now that we have established those facts we can have a serious discussion about the "Separation of Church and State" that is often touted as a reason to prohibit the mention of God or the posting of religious scripts in our government facilities.

It's sad actually. It's sad that people can not read simple language like that that exists in the First Amendment to the Constitution. And I continue to issue the same challenge that I have for over 10 years for ANYONE to show me where in this amendment government is prohibited from being religious itself. Recognizing the founding principles of this country does not constitute an establishment of religion.

And no one will EVER be able to find language that prevents this simply because such language doesn't exist. The only place such psuedo-rules exist is in half baked attempts to translate this amendment to suit their own agendas. Take a second to scroll back up and re-read it. Now ask yourself if there is honestly a single thing in that phrase that prohibits the Federal Government or any government beneath it from being composed of people that choose to actively practice their religion. Now ask your self if there is a single part of that phrase that prohibits the governments from recognizing the religious base of its founding fathers.

Don't give yourself a headache doing it though.

It's time in this country that we, as a people, stop being so pigheaded that we can't even admit what the facts are. It's time that we stop, once and for all, having to be right at all costs instead of seeking out the truth, promoting the truth, and above all else defending the truth rather than our own selfish ideals that don't happen to fit into the mold that is the founding of this country and her greatness.

Until we can be honest, there can be no debate. And once we are honest, the tired old arguments about "Separation of Church and State" simply will wither and die.