Freedom from—or of—religion?
Carol Harper
www.carolharper.com
April 2010
Well,
it has been a very interesting week. At the very least it has caused me to
reflect upon the reasons I believe what I do about prayer, and the very
exercise of it in this free nation.
Federal District Court Judge Barbara Crabb recently ruled the National Day of Prayer as
unconstitutional. I certainly didn’t expect such ignorance from a member of our
Judicial branch, but then again, I’ve been surprised
at a lot of decisions being made by all
branches of our US government as of late. Evidently, they all need a lot of
prayer.
First of all, I think the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) might be a bit confused, and
what they’ve done in this confusion appears to be, in and of itself,
unconstitutional. For the sake of argument, let’s examine the First Amendment's
very words:
“Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”
There
are absolutely no laws where Congress is respecting Christianity or any other
religion as the established religion of the United States of America. So where
does the confusion come in? The next elements of the
Amendment is where the FFRF’s case fails to hold water:
“…or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…”
Congress
is neither prohibiting the free exercise of religion, nor abridging the freedom
of speech, which in this case, is defined as prayer. If anything, Congress has
and is upholding a practice already constitutionally established as a citizen's
right. Let’s go on:
“…or of the
press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble…”
Nashville’s
National Day of Prayer Task Force is not planning a riot, a “tea party” or a
protest, or any politically-charged rally at the Grand Ole Opry
House. On the contrary, the plans for May 6th are for a peaceable assembly that
is free to the public; all are invited. If you want to come
and pray with us, then come on down. If you don't want to, then don't.
No one is being forced to go, no one is being forced to pray, no one is going
to be forced to become a Christian, or drink Kool-aid,
or sign the dotted line of any religious affiliation.
No one is questioning the FFRF’s right to
“petition the Government for a redress of grievances”, but there’s a difference
between freedom from religion, and freedom of religion. Again, prayer is an
exercise of free speech and a right that is constitutionally protected; we have
rights that have already been established, upheld, and better yet, important
enough to be specifically protected by law, including a person's right to choose.
It is merely the FFRF and a Federal District Judge who seem to be oblivious to
these rights.
The truth is, the
FFRF doesn’t have a problem with prayer, per se. What they have a problem with
is religion.
I pray. I’m the mother of two US Marines;
every day I prayed for the safe return of my son from Iraq, and I pray daily
for our troops and their safe return home. Our troops pray. Our leaders pray,
our Congress prays, our President prays. Americans pray. Whether individually
or collectively, people pray…and thank God we have a Congress and President
that protects our constitutional rights of the free exercise of speech, whether
in protest or in prayer. I choose the latter, and on Thursday, May 6, 2010, The
National Day of Prayer Task Force of Nashville, TN invites all to come together
in a peaceful assembly to exercise their freedom OF religion and speech at the
Grand Ole Opry House. For more information, visit:
www.nashvilleprayer.com