Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Editor, Times-Union:
What can we say about the state of religion and government in our nation at this time? It is important to honor and respect everyone’s religious beliefs, recognize our diversity even within common faiths, and honor the Constitution that holds our nation together.
The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known as The Bill of Rights.
The First Amendment of The Bill of Rights states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or of the rights of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievance.”
What is “Religion”? “A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.”
Or, in simpler terms, “Religion” is a specific set of fundamental beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.”(Dictionary.com)
The United States Constitution tells us that no one religion or faith be it Christian, Judaism, Muslim, Hinduism, Buddhism and so on, shall be the religion ruling over the conduct of the government. Our nation is a boiling pot of many religions, beliefs and faiths that when taken together in the spirit of unity enrich our understanding of God and each other.
It is true that most of the men, and, respectfully, they were men, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights were Christian, though not all as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine were Deist, believing in a God. These men were well aware of the bloodshed across previous centuries in Great Britain as ruling monarchs and their supporters fought over making subjects of their rule Catholic or Protestant and putting thousands of men, women and children to death for their religious cause, while doing very little to provide for the care of the common citizenry. In addition in the 13 American colonies there was conflict and persecution between Protestant sects and Catholics and Jewish communities and other minority religious groups with some being accused of witchcraft and heresy simply based on their different ways of worshiping. The writers of the Constitution recognized that “Religion” could not become the ruling force in our government if we were to maintain freedom and unity for all in our nation.
The founders of our nation, while surely guided by the moral laws of the God in whom they believed, also believed that while religion may guide us as individuals, each person has a right to their own beliefs and cannot be governed by any one religion, but by the common good of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and justice for all as spelled out in The Declaration of Independence.
For these reasons all citizens of the United States, while entitled to believe what they like and practice their faith as they wish, should oppose the concept of Christian Nationalism that seeks to make Christianity the religion of this great nation. This is a violation of our basic freedoms as citizens of the United States of America.
The rule of Love is at the heart of nearly all religions and the rule of Love should guide all that we do.
Rev. David W. Heim
Retired United Methodist Pastor & Elder
Winona Lake, via email
