Religious Freedom

So I sat down tonight and relaxed a bit, or tried to. Life being as stressful as it is with all its various ups and downs, one can never be truly relaxed, only a little less stressed than before. While flipping through my daily news wires, I came across this story.

Now, I know I'm young. I know I don't know everything. I know I may be full of addled theories and facts and interpretations from all my college courses jumbling in my brain. But really? Come on now. If a group of high school cheerleaders want to quote inspirational Bible verses and cheer on their team, shouldn't we be applauding this effort moreso than wearing skimpy uniforms and trying to act provocative? So why do those cheerleaders need to stop? Because of the first amendment? Pft. I don't think so.

Amendment one reads as follows:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an 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."

Thank you Mr. Pocket Constitution.

Now can someone please tell me where it says in there that individual students cannot express their religion? Or perhaps it's the fact that it occurs at a public school which, although it receives federal funds to support its workings, cannot enforce any law to prohibit the free exercise of religion.

The fact of the matter is people that Freedom OF religion does not necessitate Freedom FROM religion. Atheists who don't like that? Tough crap. Don't like it a whole hell of a lot? Move to an atoll in the Pacific somewhere, make up a flag, and create your own country where religion is outlawed.

The fact of the matter is this: Congress cannot make a law which supports and gives money to any religious institution (churches, mosques, buddhist temples, synagogues, etc.) This does not include groups like 'The Fingerprint Initiative' which works toward humanitarian goals because of their foundation on a Christian basis. Because while the Fingerprint Initiative may be Christian at its core, it does not force its workers to be Christians, does not leave bibles in the houses they help build with Habitat for Humanity or other such religious incursions. Congress also cannot make any law whatsoever that prohibits the free exercise of religion. Which means that if Cheerleaders want to paint a sign that says "Go Team! Yay God!" Congress has no power whatsoever to say 'That's wrong, you can't do that.' The same way they can't tell a local coach and football team that they're not allowed to pray for the health and safety of their members, or the speedy recovery of a sick teammate.

The history behind all this goes way back to England. I'll be uncharacteristic here and keep it very brief. Henry VIII was upset that the Pope would not grant his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. So he came up with a new system where Henry VIII as the regent of England, was the head of the Church. It wasn't really all that new of a system (Henry II of the Holy Roman Empire was known as 'God's Servant' and Henry III of the Holy Roman Empire was known as the 'Vicar of Christ' a title today reserved for the Pope). But I digress. Henry VIII then outlawed Catholicism. And when the Anglican church splintered even more, he and his successors outlawed and persecuted those factions as well. Many of the dispossessed factions who were not reincorporated into the British System of government until the mid to late 1800's, set sail for the new world for new opportunities. Opportunities like owning land, participating in government, and worshipping how they wished were all denied them back home in Jolly Old England. (Pip pip and all that sort of thing old boy)

That is why the very first of the Bills of Rights that the Anti-Federalists demanded be added into the Constitution contained the now called 'Establishment Clause'. Everyone can easily remember the first part of that. It's a rallying cry for Atheists and the ACLU everywhere. 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...' But they conveniently forget the second half, which I would argue reinforces and potentially nullifies the first part 'or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...'

Congress cannot make a law that specifically supports a religion, or deny the individual citizen of the United States their rights to freely exercise those religious beliefs.

So ya know what girls? Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School is going to be in my prayers for a while. Mostly that your school administrators who publicly admit that they agree with the free exercise of religion should change their minds and let you display your signs freely. Keep being good kids. Keep being proud of who you are and your religious roots. There's a lot there to be proud of.