The Separation of Church and State.

THE FIRST AMENDMENT, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"-point being that any law which pertains to establishing a national religion, which is what one does when they want a federal law that was prompted by the Christian faith, is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. This point struck a nerve in me. Not in a negative way but for another reason. I am not going to argue for an established national religion. That is wrong and very oppressive. That is not even an acceptable practice in Christianity. Forcing your beliefs onto another person strips them of their individuality and yes, freedom. A major concept in Christianity and Judaism is the ability to choose. As for the establishment of a national religion by laws established through faith, that cannot be curbed. Just as non-Christians do not want to be singled out because of their religious views, Christians do not want to be singled out either. The current trend today is finding anything religious and making it politically correct. But by doing that are we not impeding on Christian freedoms. If a law was prompted by a group of citizens, who happen to also be Christians, that law can be seen as unconstitutional because they Christian? That seems to impede on freedom more than anything else. If a law is passed at the prompting of people who are Christian then it is still a law prompted by a citizen. Christians should not be singled out or ostracized for their beliefs anymore than a secular person. By systematically searching and destroying all things Christian so that all things are "fair" is that not impeding on Christians rights to be........Christian? I see this as more of a witch hunt than anything else. As a country we should adopt policies that are fair and just to as many people as possible. The United States is a very diverse country and no one will ever be happy over any law passed. There will always be a complaint from one group or another. That is why it is the U.S. Government's job to establish laws that it feels will benefit the most amount of people (notice I do not say the majority). You used the example of the Iraqis and their bout with religious views in the government and how it is tearing them apart. I feel the same can be said for us, but it is the non-Christians and the Christians who are battling here. Christians have a right to try and establish laws that they see fit for themselves. It is their right as Americans to do so. It is also the right for non-Christians to do so as well. The battle between the two sides is therefore natural. By establishing an anti-religious state then the religious people lose and vice versa. That is the beauty of the Constitution. It is pointed enough to establish order yet vague enough that it leaves some wiggle room in its interpretation. The founding fathers did not ban religion just as they did not establish one. They knew that by doing either, that it would create problems. That is why, just as it is important not to establish a national religion, it is equally important to not ban religious input. If a law happens to be passed that reflects Christian values, do not single it out because of this. Just as Christians should not single out laws that are non-religious in nature. The main point is that laws should be established that reflect our citizens beliefs not those of different groups. We can throw quotes and textual passages around all we want but it will never make either side correct. Just as neither you or I can ever full convince all who read this that our argument is correct, non-religious and religious people will always contest one another. People have been arguing over what this separation between Church and State means. It means that the Church should not interfere with the State matters just as the State should not interfere with religious matters. I see the banning of Christian or any other religious law (Judaism and Islam count as church as well), as unconstitutional as well. Therefore, we must find a healthy medium. Some laws will reflect "church" values, others will create a disagreement with some of those values. To completely separate the church and the state is impossible, that is why we should not try because we will always fail and someone's rights will end up being violated. We should just do what is beneficial for our country and stop focusing so much attention on where laws come from. If they help then they should be passed and if they don't, then axe them, no matter what groups prompted them.