Religious Freedom
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
The following is the conclusion of my proposed constitutional amendment for further strengthening religious liberty, the free market of religious choice and maintaining the independence of the institutions of church and state from each other both here and abroad. Previous letters to the editor listed sections 1 – Organizations that would be barred from inflicting prohibition or infringement upon others, 2 – The basic right itself and 3 – The specific types of infringement that would be barred from enactment in policy or practice while sections 4 – The Perpetuity Clause and 5 – The Enforcement Clause were printed in the May 20 edition of the Times-Union.
This whole amendment would establish uniform rules for all levels of government to follow in the present and future, which means the freedoms clearly listed in this proposed amendment cannot be abolished or degraded by constitutional amendment or convention, foreign powers, and international authority, bureaucratic decree, executive orders issued by the president, congressional legislation, or razor-thin majority Supreme Court decisions that can be easily reversed 10, 20 or 30 years down the road. Neither will see voters from coast to coast led by demagogues and charlatans in using a Leviathan federal government in a nationalistic political crusade of steamrolling the country into some form of uniform faith. You will not have certain segments of foreign nationals residing here who are not content with living side by side with people of other faiths deciding that they will not impose their faith upon all by undermining the systems that allows them to live in peace with others in the first place.
Nor will you see a Lilliputian swarm of rogue officials, local elites or so-called majority rule (a mere fraction out of total population that decided to show up at the polls and end up on the winning side) from the various municipalities, counties and states of the Union decide that somehow the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the rule of law and other fundamental freedoms goes no further past and into their state or county lines or city limits:
– for members of disfavored faiths, denominations or congregations whether of majority or minority status along with unaffiliated believers and freethinkers who happen to reside within or relocate to those communities.
– or when it comes to actual or potential attempts by such officials, elites or majorities at compelling all their fellow neighbors and citizens in some form or fashion to bend the knee in the public square and elsewhere before a particular deity or deities and acknowledge the name and sovereignty of that deity and its earthly priesthood to rule over all.
Eternal vigilance will always be needed in safeguarding liberty whether it is for this right or other rights but a major leap forward can be taken if uniform rules are established for all to follow from the voting booth to the highest offices in the land both here and abroad.
Alexander Houze
Leesburg[[In-content Ad]]
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The following is the conclusion of my proposed constitutional amendment for further strengthening religious liberty, the free market of religious choice and maintaining the independence of the institutions of church and state from each other both here and abroad. Previous letters to the editor listed sections 1 – Organizations that would be barred from inflicting prohibition or infringement upon others, 2 – The basic right itself and 3 – The specific types of infringement that would be barred from enactment in policy or practice while sections 4 – The Perpetuity Clause and 5 – The Enforcement Clause were printed in the May 20 edition of the Times-Union.
This whole amendment would establish uniform rules for all levels of government to follow in the present and future, which means the freedoms clearly listed in this proposed amendment cannot be abolished or degraded by constitutional amendment or convention, foreign powers, and international authority, bureaucratic decree, executive orders issued by the president, congressional legislation, or razor-thin majority Supreme Court decisions that can be easily reversed 10, 20 or 30 years down the road. Neither will see voters from coast to coast led by demagogues and charlatans in using a Leviathan federal government in a nationalistic political crusade of steamrolling the country into some form of uniform faith. You will not have certain segments of foreign nationals residing here who are not content with living side by side with people of other faiths deciding that they will not impose their faith upon all by undermining the systems that allows them to live in peace with others in the first place.
Nor will you see a Lilliputian swarm of rogue officials, local elites or so-called majority rule (a mere fraction out of total population that decided to show up at the polls and end up on the winning side) from the various municipalities, counties and states of the Union decide that somehow the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the rule of law and other fundamental freedoms goes no further past and into their state or county lines or city limits:
– for members of disfavored faiths, denominations or congregations whether of majority or minority status along with unaffiliated believers and freethinkers who happen to reside within or relocate to those communities.
– or when it comes to actual or potential attempts by such officials, elites or majorities at compelling all their fellow neighbors and citizens in some form or fashion to bend the knee in the public square and elsewhere before a particular deity or deities and acknowledge the name and sovereignty of that deity and its earthly priesthood to rule over all.
Eternal vigilance will always be needed in safeguarding liberty whether it is for this right or other rights but a major leap forward can be taken if uniform rules are established for all to follow from the voting booth to the highest offices in the land both here and abroad.
Alexander Houze
Leesburg[[In-content Ad]]
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