TRIMMING THE FRIENDSHIP TREE?
By Rep. Mike Morley
It is with dismay and disbelief that I have read very recently of the extraordinary measures being taken by pubic schools around the country to distance themselves from all association with the beloved religious holiday of Christmas. A school trip to see “A Christmas Carol” was cancelled due to religious content. At an elementary school in Wisconsin, the words to “Silent Night” were modified to read "Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm." The Nativity was deleted from a “holiday play” while the Hanukah & Kwanzaa parts remained. A school was forced to call a Christmas tree a Friendship tree or take it down. Another school forbid the use of red and green napkins for the holiday party because they were Christmas colors. All tableware had to be white.
It is hard to imagine how much has changed just in the past 45 years. As recently as 1961, prayers were allowed in public schools. Until 1960, government officials were required to declare their belief in God in order to be allowed to hold a public.
The first signs of change came in the 1947 case Everson v. Board of Education wherein the Supreme Court declared, “The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.” This was the first time that the court used not the words of the Constitution, but Thomas Jefferson’s words excepted from a letter, to begin the trend we see today; freedom from religion, not freedom of religion.
The so-called “Establishment Clause” of the First Amendment has been the subject of much debate in the last several years. I grow weary of people referring to the “separation of church and state” in the Constitution. The words “separation of church and state” do not appear anywhere in the U.S. Constitution, nor did any of the ninety Framers of the first amendment make mention of such a separation. This portion of the First Amendment simply reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
The phrase “separation of church and state” originates in a letter by Thomas Jefferson written January 1, 1802, where he refers to “a wall of separation between church and state.” The letter was written to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut whose members were very concerned about a widespread rumor that another denomination was to become the national religion. This rumor was very alarming to people who were well aware of religious persecution in England by the state-established church. Jefferson made it very clear in his letter that the government would not establish a national religion or dictate to men how to worship God. Jefferson's letter from which the phrase "separation of church and state" was taken affirms, “I contemplate with solemn reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”
Although the legal phrase is unfamiliar to many today, in this same letter, Jefferson refers to free exercise of religion as a “natural right.” This term meant that these rights were inalienable or God-given, protected from federal regulation or interference. This Founding Father so keenly understood the source of America’s inalienable rights that in this quote he relates his doubt that America would survive if we ever lost that knowledge, “And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have lost the only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?”
Jefferson believed that God, not government, was the Author and Source of our rights and that the government, therefore, was to be prevented from interference with those rights. Very simply, the “wall” of the Danbury letter was not to limit religious activities in public; rather they were to limit the power of the government to prohibit or interfere with those expressions.
The Supreme Court in earlier years long understood Jefferson’s intent. Unlike today’s courts which publish only his eight word separation phrase, they published the entire letter and concluded that “Congress was deprived of all legislative power…” except in cases of “…overt acts against peace and good order.” The federal courts have misused Jefferson’s words to strike down scores of state laws which encourage or facilitate public religious expressions. In addition to his other statements previously noted, Jefferson also declared that the “power to prescribe any religious exercise. . . . must rest with the States” (emphasis added). Such rulings are the antithesis of the words and intent of this great man from whom they claim to derive their policy.
I’m not advocating government-mandated prayer and reading of the scriptures in our public schools or public meetings. It is not my desire to force my Christian beliefs on others not of my or any faith, but surely we can find a compromise between government coercion and banishing any mention or recognition of religion from all public arenas. It may not be politically correct, but I can’t think of a better thing to do over “Holiday Break” than celebrate the birth of our Savior with all the rich symbolism of candy canes, pine trees, gifts and Santa…oh, and red and green napkins.
May this Christmas season find you and your family healthy and full of joy. Merry Christmas!
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