The Secularist Inmates Are Running the Asylum

There are at least two wars going on right this minute in this country. The first is obvious and in the news frequently; the War On Terror. "Sure, I know that." you think to yourself. The other war? Ahh, that one is not so obvious. It's the war on faith, all faith in general, but on Christian Faith in particular. Chuck Colson (yes, he of Watergate fame who is now President of Prison Fellowship) writes in Friday's Wall Street Journal (here)

"Americans are still spellbound by the saga of Ashley Smith, the young Atlanta widow held hostage by murder suspect Brian Nichols. Reporters covering the story seem mystified that anyone at the mercy of an escaped inmate--one who had that very day killed another woman and three men--could remain so calm."

"The reason was that, as she herself implied in later interviews, Ms. Smith had learned to trust God. During her seven-hour ordeal, Ms. Smith--the widow of a murder victim who suffered much in her life--was able to enter into the suffering of the man who held her captive. She calmed him and told him that God just might have had a purpose in sending him to her apartment. She even served him, making him pancakes."

"...Ms. Smith had learned to trust God." A simple statement reflecting the author's view of how Ashley Smith was able to transform what was a terrifying incident in her life into a minor miracle of redemption and caring for another, though the other was, as were Christ's fellows on the cross on Calvary Hill--thieves and murderers.

A remarkable woman, who through expressing her faith and voicing that faith to an admittedly desperate man was able to escape what others that day could not. Death at the hands of a hardened criminal caught on video in the act of murder and many subsequent acts of mayhem.

However, as remarkable as that story was, some pundits were not willing to accept that an act of faith had positive outcomes. Jill Porter of the Philadelphia Daily News had to declare that that act of faith "...is infused with the rhetoric of Christian evangelism." Also

"But the universality of Smith's appeal is being compromised by the religious propaganda that seems to infuse the story more and more.

The truth is, there could be any number of reasons why Nichols responded so remarkably to Smith."

Religious Propaganda? Oh My Gosh. Since when is accurate reporting of facts propaganda? "Afterwards, she said that she'd read to Nichols from "The Purpose-Driven Life," a bestselling book that eschews the self-help ethos so prevalent in pop literature to say that salvation can only be found in God." Pop Literature? OMG again, sharing your faith, what you believe to be true is only a "self-help ethos?"

Porter, states that she admires Smith for what she did, and then castigates those who report what Smith did; namely share her faith and Nichols was touched. More from Porter:

"And the truth is that Nichols was receptive to his hostage's spiritual message, saying he thought Smith was "an angel sent from God," she later told reporters."

James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal's "Best Of The Web Today" perhaps says it best:

"You just have to feel sorry for Jill Porter. Why should other people's religious beliefs threaten her so? Why can't secularists just live and let live and be comfortable with who they are?"

Good question, and the only answer I can think of is "misery loves company." Down on the Gulf Coast of Texas, there is an old saying about how if you want to keep a crab in a wicker basket when you go crabbing; you must put another crab in with him. As one crab tries to crawl out, the other will reach up and pull him back down. Apparently, the non-religious and perhaps even some religious types are pretty miserable in their seeing someone else declare their faith and just reach up with their "claws" and pull them back down.

Ashley Smith is not the only example of this, there is a decided move to use "Happy Holidays" when "Merry Christmas" used to be the term. I don't recall anyone ever objecting to the use of "Happy Hanukkah" and I still wish my Jewish friends Happy Hanukkah and send them Happy Hanukkah cards. My Jewish friends of faith send me Merry Christmas cards as well. I long ago had a Muslim friend whom I wished the best on Ramadan and she wished me Merry Christmas. Being strong in our own faith does not mean that we cannot allow others to be strong in their faith. I wonder if Porter has written a column about the faith of the Islamo-fascists going about beheading people? I won't hold my breath waiting for an answer though.

The war extends not only to matters of faith, but to its symbols as well. Take for example the battle by the ACLU to remove a tiny cross from the seal of the County of Los Angeles. The seal contains numerous symbols specific to the history of Los Angeles County. Including Spanish Galleons, cattle, oil derricks, even the ancient Roman goddess Pomona, goddess of gardens and fruit trees. As you can see from the seal itself, the cross embedded is a very small portion of that seal, and the cross represents the Spanish Missions established in Los Angeles County which arguably are a significant part of LA County's history. At any rate, it is not even the largest symbol. The largest single symbol is Pomona the Roman goddess of gardens and fruit trees. Since the basis of the ACLU's suit was that the cross broke the establishment clause by the government of LA County advocating Christianity, does the fact that the goddess Pomona is still on the seal indicate that the ACLU believes that it is OK for the County of Los Angeles to promote Roman polytheism?

I have come to the conclusion that for many in this country, far too many if you ask me, there are some clauses and amendments in the Constitution of the United States that mean exactly what they say; things such as the establishment clause, the 14th amendment, etc. But they believe fervently that other clauses and amendments either don't mean what they say, or are irrelevant. Evidence? OK, try this on for size: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," means what it says but "...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." does not. The Fourteenth amendment means what it says; the Second does not. Many on the left don't even know the meaning or intent of the Tenth Amendment. I'll leave it there for now, but you can bet that I'll be back. My faith is my own, and I'll express it any way I choose. Jill Porter, the ACLU or no.

Additional evidence is available of the war on faith. Blogs for Bush notes that:

"The Boy Scouts of America is pulling the charters of thousands of scouting units from public schools in an effort to spare them from lawsuits threatened by the American Civil Liberties Union."

"In a letter sent to the BSA last month, the ACLU vowed to take legal action against public schools and other taxpayer-funded governmental agencies that charter Scout groups, claiming their sponsorship amounts to religious discrimination and violates the separation of church and state."

Now, why would the big powerful ACLU make war on children? Simple, the Boy Scout Oath states:

"On my honor, I will do my best; To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight."

Scouts have been and are being kicked out of schools, parks and US Military bases because they promise to do their duty to God, and because of this, the ACLU and others believe that any governmental agency that sponsors a scout troop or explorer post or even cub scout pack is promoting religion and violating the establishment clause. Are these people NUTS? (Oh, wait, dumb question.)
I'm concerned that Martin Niemöller's poem may come to pass for those with faith in God. Niemöller was a U-boat Commander in WWI and became a protestant minister prior to WWII. He said nothing as he watched the Nazi's systematically destroy the fabric of German society until the fall of 1937. He was arrested and sent to a concentration camp from which it is suggested the wrote:

"First the Nazis came…
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out�
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out�
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out�
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out�
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me�
and there was no one left to speak out for me."

Niemöller's personal history (here)is important, because he proves, as much of history does, but proves it in a way that is both personal and direct that if we do nothing about the gradual loss of freedoms in this country, a day will come when we do not have any freedoms. "No one was left to speak for me." Indeed!

If you need to be reminded, the First Amendment guarantees that the state shall not establish a religion, AND that we may worship as we please. Freedom of religion, not freedom FROM religion.

The first amendment mentions nothing about the boy scouts, nothing about being afraid of Christianity or other religious expression and nothing about old missions, symbolized on a county seal. Would someone tell that to the idiots at the ACLU, and to Jill Potter and to the LA County Board of Supervisors? They really do need to know.

Posted by GM Roper at March 19, 2005 12:14 PM | TrackBack