Prohibiting the Praise of God
God is everywhere in American life. The country’s motto is “In God We Trust.” This phrase is common. It’s even on the dollar bills used every day. The U.S. Declaration of Independence described God as the Creator and stated that human rights are what the Creator has given us. All U.S. government officials, including the president and judges, say “So help me God” when they are sworn in. The most common ending in presidential speeches is “God bless America.” The Pledge of Allegiance recited in public schools describes the United States as “one nation under God.”
Some of these traditions have lasted for more than two hundred years, almost as long as the history of the United States since its founding. But in the past 60 years, they have been constantly challenged by communist followers.
One national lawyers association aims to remove the Ten Commandments from public display across the United States. The most famous case occurred in Montgomery, Alabama. In 2001, the association called for the removal of a slate bearing the Ten Commandments that was located in the rotunda of the state court. They found a judge appointed by the Democratic president of the time to hear the case. In a 76-page verdict, the judge ruled in favor of the lawyers association. The specifics of the ruling may sound ridiculous. For example, the judge claimed that the “solemn ambience of the rotunda,” the frescoes behind the slate, and the atmosphere created by a picture window featuring a waterfall constituted sufficient reason to have the Ten Commandments removed. The judge also said that the slate’s “sloping top” resembled an open Bible and gave viewers cause to “feel as though the State of Alabama is advancing, endorsing, favoring or preferring, Christianity.” [18]
This is neither the beginning nor the end of the story. As early as 1980, the Supreme Court had banned the Ten Commandments from being displayed in public schools. This decision catalyzed an overall movement across the country to have the Ten Commandments removed from public view. In Utah, the ACLU even offered a reward to anyone willing to report those plaques and slates that had not yet been taken down. [19]
One U.S. Circuit Court ruled on June 26, 2002, that public schools are prohibited from holding “sworn oaths” because they included the words “under God.” This decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court on June 14, 2004. [20]
This is an ongoing legal battle. The American national anthem, national motto, Pledge of Allegiance, school prayers, and the like are under siege by atheists and leftist activists.
Here, a brief explanation is necessary to clarify that “God,” as used above, was a general reference to the divine, or the “Creator” mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. Each religion has its own understanding and recognition of the Creator. Therefore, the word “God” itself does not promote a particular religion or violate the constitutional amendments of the United States. In a nation of deep faith, the rise of an extreme movement attempting to prohibit public praise of God reflects the extent to which the devil has penetrated the field of law.
Altering the Spirit of the Constitution: Interpretation and Case Law
In the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, the Founding Fathers established the separation of powers, with the judicial branch originally having the least power. Congress (the legislative branch) is responsible for passing laws, the President (the executive branch) is responsible for governance according to those executing and enforcing laws, and the Supreme Court (the judicial branch) has neither the power to pass laws nor to govern.
While the Supreme Court was hearing a case concerning the Pledge of Allegiance, polls indicated that 90 percent of Americans supported retaining the phrase “under God.” In the House of Representatives, there were 416 votes in favor of retention to just three against. [21] In the Senate, the result was 99 votes to zero. [22] The Congressional decision reflected the genuine opinion of the American public.
As elected representatives of the people, members of Congress and the president serve terms that range from two to six years before another election is held. As long as the public and mainstream society is guided by divine standards of morality, the extent to which the president and members of Congress can fall toward the left is limited. For example, if mainstream society is against same-sex marriage, it will be difficult for a congressman or senator to support it. If these politicians go against public opinion, they risk being voted out of office.
On the other hand, Supreme Court justices don’t need to heed public opinion, since the terms they hold are for life. Once appointed, they may work for decades. Furthermore, there are only nine justices. It is comparatively easier to influence the decisions made by these nine individuals than it is to alter the whole of mainstream opinion.
Judges rule according to the law, and laws are passed or repealed based on the Constitution. Thus in order to change society through legislation, it is imperative to change the Constitution. In the United States, amending the Constitution requires support from two-thirds of Congress, and three-quarters of the states. These strict measures make it difficult to amend the Constitution outright.
The progressives’ strategy is therefore not to amend the Constitution, but to change the original meaning of the words in the Constitution by reinterpreting them. They regard the Constitution as a “living” and continually “evolving” document, and going on precedent set by the Supreme Court, encode the views of the Left into law. In this way, they covertly exert their will over the Constitution, which is tantamount to undermining it.
Divine commandment is no longer the highest principle. The Constitution has taken a heavy beating under the gavels of liberal Supreme Court justices. Since Supreme Court rulings are final and must be respected by even the president, the judicial branch is taking an ever-increasing share of authority among the three branches established by the Founding Fathers. In practice, Supreme Court justices have acquired partial legislative and even executive powers.
Liberal Supreme Court justices have brought a number of consequences to American society that are severe and difficult to remedy. As things stand, the Supreme Court can, through case hearings, order the removal of the Ten Commandments from public schools and spaces, rewrite criminal procedures, raise taxes, recognize the right to abortion and same-sex marriage, allow the publication and display of pornography, and so on.
The growing supremacy of the judiciary combined with the ruling of liberal judges has given the specter of communism an important tool for achieving its designs.
From Chapter Ten: Using the Law for Evil
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Dave Martin/AP/Shutterstock (6408327g) Workmen struggle to move the Ten Commandments Monument down a ramp outside of the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, Ala., . The monument that became a landmark in the debate over religion’s place in government returned to public view Monday, hauled from storage in the state courthouse for a summer road trip to the nation’s capital TEN COMMANDMENTS, MONTGOMERY, USA
