Your Guy Scalia And His Recent Thoughts On Religion In America
Scalia’s beliefs would have us drift towards an American religious state.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said the idea of religious neutrality is not grounded in the country’s constitutional traditions and that God has been good to the U.S. exactly because Americans honor him. 219 years of constitutional history disagree with him, but this symbol of waning conservatism in our country is unsurprising.
Many people erroneously believe our country was inspired and founded on “Judeo-Christian” principles. The Founders never intended for our government to be free of religion they say. Every cornerstone was believed to be founded by religious inspiration. Afterall, while this country was started by people coming to have religious sanctuary, they were pious people and certainly not secular.
Those founders were tricky guys. Jefferson created his own bible and had sex with his slaves, none of whom he married. In his Reply to the Danbury Baptist Association, he emphasizes the “wall of separation between Church & State” at the federal level.
Also, Jesus Christ is never mentioned in the Constitution, and The Treaty of Tripoli 1797, Article 11 states:
As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
To the shock of many, it looks like the founders had no beef with Islam. Alert the Patriots concerned with the advent of Sharia Law.
Religion
While the separation of church and state is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, it’s implied in the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment.
The Establishment Clause
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion
It prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.” It not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another. It also prohibits the government from unduly preferring religion over non-religion, or non-religion over religion.
The Free Exercise Clause
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…
The Free Exercise clause reserves the right of American citizens to accept any religious belief and engage in religious rituals. It also protects actions made on behalf of those beliefs. It also seems to allow for violation of laws, as long as that violation is made for religious reasons. Recently we have seen how this conflicts with public accomodations laws.
Justice Scalia
I’d ask Justice Scalia which God has been so good to the United States? The one that blessed slavery into law or discrimination against people of color, Jews, and women? This kind of thinking ushers in the belief of an American religious state and fuels fundamentalists all over the world.
