Position Essay 1

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ENGL0101 – Composition 1 Position 1 Essay -1

God vs. The United States of America Chances are that most of you have heard about one of the most recent controversies in the news today. The controversy I am referring to is the Ten Commandments monument at a judicial building in Montgomery, Alabama being removed. Although I am not, nor do I claim to be a religious person. I do not agree with the removal of the monument from the judicial building. While I may agree with the basic principle of separation of church and state, I do not agree with the very vocal minority and the extremes to which they have taken their stance. This whole ordeal started when Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama installed the monument in August of 2001 without consulting the other justices. Three Alabama lawyers who frequented the building sued, and U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled that the monument was an unconstitutional promotion of religion. Moore appealed the decision, but the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt Thompson's order demanding the monument's removal. Although his appeal was rejected, Moore refused to comply. This prompted the state Supreme Court's other justices to overrule him. Finally, with Thompson threatening to impose fines on the state of up to $5,000 a day, Moore's colleagues ordered the monument removed "as soon as practicable." To take a look back in time, we find that the beginnings of this ideal originated with the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802 to answer a letter from them, asking why he would not proclaim national days of fasting and thanksgiving, as had been done by Washington and Adams before him. The letter contains the phrase "wall of separation between church and state," which lead to the shorthand for the Establishment Clause that we use today: "Separation of church and state." Amendment one of the Bill of Rights states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an

ENGL0101 – Composition 1 Position 1 Essay

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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.” This is where the controversy starts. What exactly was meant, and was the removal a violation in the first place? Not only was the removal of the monument offensive to Christian Americans, it was also in complete contradiction of the first amendment in my opinion. When the first amendment stated that there shall be no prohibition of the free exercise of religion, it left the actual application under interpretation. In my opinion, by removing the monument from the judicial building, the Supreme Court violated that clause of the first amendment. "We see the First Amendment to protect religious liberty, not crush religious liberty," as stated by the director of the Christian Defense Coalition Patrick Mahoney. The first amendment stated that congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting any religion thereof. To my knowledge, they have not done this. But on the other hand the Supreme Court of the United States can vote to remove a monument which only represents the right of the free exercise of religion and the origin of this countries laws. It does not “promote” a state or national religion. Chief Justice Roy Moore is the leader of the opposition. He is the man that challenged the decision to remove the monument and was suspended for doing so. As a student of law myself, I have to agree with his argument. Moore argues that the Ten Commandments are the foundation of the U.S. legal system and that forbidding the acknowledgment of the Judeo-Christian God violates the first amendment. When the Ten Commandments monument was removed, we deserted the notion that the Ten Commandments were the founding principles of our legal system. I assume everyone would agree that our laws have been derived from the Ten

ENGL0101 – Composition 1 Position 1 Essay

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Commandments. For example, “Thou shall not kill.” Being the first commandment, it is also the highest crime punishable by law, murder. Another example would be, “Thou shall not steal.” Again, this is a crime in our society, and all over the world. In fact, the entire world is governed by these same principles. The four major religions of the world have fundamentally similar beliefs. Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islamic principles all have the same basic laws. The Ten Commandments just happened to be Christianity’s version, the version our laws are based on. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State would have you believe that the separation of church and state refers to the prohibition of anything with religious value in government. In fact, this is not the case as corroborated by the first amendment of the Bill of Rights. For the ACLU’s view point of the separation of church and state to be valid, you would have to do away with “In God we Trust” on our currency, and change the pledge of allegiance. The phrase “God Bless America”, would be obsolete. Is that really the spirit of the United States? Any person with historical understanding would argue that this was not the fundamental foundation of this great nation. To take this to an even greater level, you would have to eliminate the church from every aspect of government. You would no longer be able to swear on the Holy Bible when taking the witness stand in court. You would no longer be able to go to a courthouse and be married by the judge (who by the way is a registered minister paid by the government). If this were to come to pass, America would take on the characteristics of a communist state. Which is what we have been fighting against for the past fifty-five years. Not only do I disagree with the actions of the ACLU, I believe it can be a destructive force in our society. With organizations like these operating in society we can surely expect the

ENGL0101 – Composition 1 Position 1 Essay

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on going attack on American heritage. Although I may not agree with the ACLU on this particular topic, I do believe they are an instrumental entity concerning civil rights in the United States. It is when they attack our origins that they become a very destructive force in society. When the principals of the Ten Commandments are publicly denounced, it allows society to perpetuate immoral behavior. With the continual weakening of morals in the United States, we can only anticipate more problems within American society. Combined with pop culture and the ever so envied freedom of speech, we as a nation are headed for a future that is completely alien from anything experienced in society to date. Although everyone may not agree, I believe these are necessary evils in the pursuit of true freedom in this country. That is the beauty of freedom, it fosters debate and dialogue. In conclusion, the removal of the Ten Commandments monument is an example of the direction in which this country is heading. What was once unacceptable in society is now commonplace. What was once viewed as reprehensible is now acceptable. Must we completely lose our identity before we finally realize that enough is enough?