Religious freedom provides moral foundation

By Todd Diebold

Within the past decade many invisible changes have been made to our Constitution. Case by case, the First Amendment has been amended to freedom from religion.

Here is a story from the pamphlet "Should Church and State Be Separate."

"In Colorado a public school principal told a teacher that he could not read silently from the Bible for his own interest during silent reading periods in the classroom. There was no evidence that the students were aware of what book the teacher was reading. The principal was concerned that the students might be influenced by the teacher's choice of reading materials. The principal also ordered two books of Bible stories be removed from a classroom library of nearly 400 books.

"A 'federal court held that not only was the principal justified in prohibiting the teacher from reading the Bible silently and in removing these two volumes from the library, but that the establishment clause required these actions."

The court's decision nullifies a section of the Bill rights: The First Amendment prevents the government from interceding with establishing a religion or prohibiting the free exercise of religion. Ignoring this clause under the First Amendment, the court violated the rights to freedom of religion.

From this story the only argument that can be made is that our country is falling from its foundation of unity -- where will the United States of America be if this continues?

Between 1620 and 1776, immigrants came to a new land in search of religious freedom. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was written and ratified by members of each new state. The First Amendment emerged later in the Bill of Rights and included freedom of religion. America was united by one large goal of freely worshipping God.

Because our country was founded on freedom, because freedom of religion is in our First Amendment and because religion gives essential morals and values to the American people, religion should be dependent on a choice, not a minority voice.

Several Americans feel that if someone is practicing his or her religion around them they will be affected by peer pressure to join in these practices.

According to the pamphlet "Should Church and State Be Separate," in the case of Lee v. Weisman, Deborah Weisman and her father, Daniel, filed a lawsuit to prevent inclusion of prayer in a public graduation ceremony held at Nathan Bishop Middle School in Providence, R.I. The family claimed the prayer had violated their First Amendment.

However, "Deborah Weisman was not required to be present at the graduation at all. Nor was she required to stand, or if she stood, she was not required to fold her hands. Even if she folded her hands, she was not required to enter into the prayer other than remain silent during it."

Freedom of religion includes both the ability to practice a religion and to deny a religion. Those students who wish to practice a religion have had their First Amendment rights violated with the deletion of prayer from graduation ceremonies. Deborah Weisman remaining silent through the prayer did not violate her freedom of religion because she was not forced to carry out or even listen to others' religious views. The Supreme Court justices, in essence, violated the First Amendment of all those who wish to pray at graduation ceremonies.

On July 12, 1995, former president Bill Clinton gave a speech where he acknowledged our country was founded on religious beliefs. Clinton stated the country "was founded by people of profound faith who mentioned Divine Providence and the guidance of God twice in the Declaration of Independence. They were searching for a place to express their faith freely without persecution."

Later in the speech Clinton continued, "Religious freedom is literally our first freedom. It is the first thing mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. And as it opens, it says Congress cannot make a law that either establishes a religion or restricts the free exercise of religion."

Despite these powerful words by Clinton, exactly the opposite has occurred. Court cases such as Lee v. Weisman and Marsh v. Chambers have double-standard outcomes.

In the case of Lee v. Weisman, as discussed earlier, prayer was removed from the public graduation ceremonies violating freedom of religion as described by Clinton. An article from "Policy Review" supports this argument. "Religious liberty means more than the ability to comply with personal religious obligations. Religious freedom would be a shallow right indeed if individuals were prevented ... from their religion ... ."

Several years before Lee v. Weisman, in the case of Marsh v. Chambers, the Supreme Court ruled public prayer was acceptable. The faltering reliability of the Supreme Court and our nation causes inconsistency in the U.S. Constitution.

Although teenagers and young adults are deemed worthless and ungrateful, the Bible teaches identical values taught in the first colonial schools in America. Those students who practice their religion freely at home and outside of school maintain these values of kindness, right over wrong, responsibility, hard work and obedience.

According to an article from "Review of Politics" titled "Religion in the Public Square: A Reconsideration of David Hume and Religious Establishment," Alexis de Tocqueville, a religious establishment critic, suggests, "Religion plays an indispensable role in improving the manners and morals of a people."

If religious freedom continues to be denied to Americans, the manners and morals of the upcoming generations will suffer greatly.

Citizens of America deserve the right to practice the amendments "freely without persecution." Freedom of religion is the First Amendment, and this freedom is essentially the biding unity of America.

Logic proves if you unbind the seams of clothing, the material will fail and fall apart. American is only the title people clothe themselves with. Without the seams, the amendments of the U.S. Constitution, our country too will fail.

Todd Diebold is a senior at Jackson High School.