Zero degrees of seperation

A hot topic, especially right now, is the so called “seperation of church and state”. This thought is ridiculous. Why do I say that? Because it is not true and there is no law what so ever supporting it, be it in the U.S. Constitution or the U.S. Bill of Rights.

I always hear that the argument for a seperation of church and state is based on the first amendment of the Bill of Rights:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,

Notice that at the end of that statement is a comma. Unlike the people that argue for the seperation of church and state, I am not re-writing that statement with a period at the end. Why? Because the second part of that amendment states something that everyone should know.

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.

There! There it is! It states that Congress cannot prohibit the free exercise of religion nor abridge (block) the freedom of speech. So why is it that all these states seem to think it’s ok to block someone from saying a prayer before a football game or before a school graduation? Is that not blocking the freedom to exercise religion and the freedom of speech?

Allowing people to practice their religion, even just a prayer, is not establishing a religion. The origination of the idea of a seperation of church and state is from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson. His letter was in response to a question about the government (state and/or national) establishing a religion much like England did (the Church of England). Jefferson did not believe that government should create a “national religion” because

religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions

Jefferson referenced the Bill of Rights first amendment, pointing out that the clause preventing Congress from establishing a religion, as the seperation of church and state. At no time did he, or any other members of Congress at that time, state that there should be no religion in government. If there really was a removal of religion from government, why is the President sworn in with a bible?

I am not a very religious person but I respect people and their religion. I hate when the religious fanatics try to push their beliefs down my throat but I don’t have a problem if they want to hold a public prayer session. I just really don’t understand how the politically correct crowd that preaches tolerance has such a very low tolerance for people practicing the Christian religion.

16.Dec.04 Life Comments (2)

Learn the rules, kids

This has been around for a while but it is worth a repost. It has been attributed to Bill Gates but it is actually from the book Dumbing Down our Kids (Charles Sykes). Working in the school system, I see so many kids that really need to read and live by these rules.

1. Life is not fair – get used to it.
2. The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
3. You will not make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.
4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.
5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity.
6. If you mess up,it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
7. Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.
9. Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
10. Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
11. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

This really isn’t just for the high school kids. It also goes for a lot of college kids that think their degree will bring them the big money. Once you leave the hallowed halls of learning, you are just another number in the crowd. The degree helps get your foot in the door but experience is what brings you the money. You can always shoot for the big jobs but don’t pass on the small ones. The small jobs are what gets you in the building, setting you up to prove yourself worthy of having the higher paying (i.e. more responsibility) jobs.

22.Nov.04 Life Comment (1)