Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 18, 1990 TAG: 9006190371
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Those who overemphasize the free-exercise clause maintain that the "federal government has no authority to interfere" (Tom Taylor, June 3). Is that right? If a majority of the Americans support one religion, is it OK to teach it in schools?
I would object if I moved to a cult-dominated community and the local schools teach that religion - even with a 90 percent parental approval! Neither the lack of moral training at home nor the benefits received by some in the past gives schools any right to teach religion.
On the other extreme are those overemphasizing the establishment clause. They try to build the total separation of church and state, objecting to a Nativity scene in schools, federal employees' saying "Merry Christmas" at work, and Bible-study clubs initiated by students.
If they oppose references to Christmas, maybe they shouldn't take their Christmas vacations. Dec. 25 should not be a national holiday, and we should stop using the phrase "the year of our Lord."
How about a mention of "God" or the "Creator," which may offend today's popular religion, atheism? (Humanist Manifesto II says, "No deity will save us; we must save ourselves.") Maybe we should revise the Pledge of Allegiance, the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and the second stanza of our national anthem, all of which have some reference to God. The Treasury Department should stop making bills and changes that say, "In God We Trust."
"That's ridiculous!" You may say.
That's exactly right. You got my point.
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