Wednesday, August 27, 2003

What the hell is wrong with religious zealots?


People were laying in the street crying today outside a courthouse in Alabama. Was some innocent person wrongly accused? Were people dying inside? Was Rush Limbaugh’s show canceled?

No. What happened was people with common sense were removing a religious symbol from a state courthouse — in compliance with our nation’s mandate requiring that the government not endorse or support one religion over another.

Now, I can understand how people who think our country should be a theocracy would be upset. Their agenda has taken a hit. But really — crying? Weeping on the pavement? Are you serious?

There are a lot of things in this country worth weeping over: children in need, an education system struggling to stay afloat amid neglect from the government and the populace, racial disparity in the application of the criminal justice system, political corruption that gives corporations more say than citizens, the Philadelphia Phillies inability to secure that one power hitter that will put them over the playoff bubble.

Seriously, pray all you want. Pray all day. Pray while your shopping. Pray in the shower. Our government will allow you to do that — unlike many other governments in the world. But our government should not require or endorse one way to pray like many governments do — the Taliban, for example.

To all those who believe life can not go on without a statue of the Ten Commandments in every courthouse: Get over it.

Our nation would do perfectly well without “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, without “In God we trust” on our money and without “so help me God” at inaugurations. Regardless of the founding fathers' religious beliefs, they set up the law of the land so that we as citizens can pray to any god we want — or to no god at all.

By the way the “under God” wasn’t in the original Pledge, it was added by Congress in 1954 to underscore the difference between us and the “godless communists.” “In God we trust” was also not the founding fathers’ idea. It was first printed on coins in 1864, also by act of Congress. Before that there was absolutely no mention of any deity on U.S. currency. Also, placing a hand on the Bible and saying “so help me God” are not part of the Constitutional requirement for taking the oath of office, although many presidents have chosen to do so on their own.