Heres a rough draft Im submitting to The Times about the Wieners for Jesus Rally. Please add your thoughts and or corrections ASAP: Sheriffs rally follows worst of our traditions Mike Johnsons opinion column printed on July 1, 2014 shows either a total disregard for facts or deliberately misleads. He starts off by telling us whats in the mind of the ACLU by stating that the only thing worse than being a conservative is being a god-fearing citizen. If this were true (and its not) then why does the ACLU defend religious liberty issues and even includes the following position statement on their website under the heading of Freedom of Religion: The goal of the ACLUs work on freedom of religion and belief is to guarantee that all are free to follow and practice their faith – or no faith at all – without governmental influence or interference.... Mr. Johnson doesnt want you to know that part, he just wants to poison the well and get you to believe they are out to destroy America. Mr. Johnson states that the ACLU is upset because thousands of citizens would want to come together again for a free event to celebrate Independence Day and show support for the national motto Really? Thousands? Last time I checked the estimated number of attendees was about 500 at the 2013 rally. Maybe Im nit picking when he is off by a factor of 2 or more. Mr. Johnson then tells us about a legal precedent were a town in NY was opening meetings with Christian prayers. At issue here was that the town allowed minority faiths to participate but there were none, therefore they were not excluded. Upon checking the religious affiliation data of Bossier Parish, I note that it is approximately 60% Baptist, 12% Methodist, 14% Catholic and 15% other. At issue here is did the Sheriff invite any of these minority religions to participate or was it purely a Baptist Jesus Festival? If one looked at the schedule of speakers for the 2014 rally, its clear that it was. The entire purpose of this event is a ruse. According to press releases by the Sheriffs office he didnt want to panhandle for donations for his Young Marines program after the Justice Department warned him that to receive tax dollars he had to cut out all the religious proselytizing, particularly the praying. Of course, he refused and tried to make it look like his religious liberties were being persecuted. According to the Sheriffs own website he states, Although the Bossier Sheriff’s Office doesnt solicit funds from the public, Sheriff Whittington expresses his gratitude and will accept public support. If this isnt soliciting donations, what is? Further, he claims this rally is all about proclaiming our National motto - In God we Trust. This motto was voted on to replace the previous motto - E Pluribus unum in 1956 during the height of the red scare. . This was Latin for From Many, One or Out of Many, One. The whole purpose of adopting this motto was to separate or differentiate us from the godless Communists. The old motto was a unifying one, the current was designed to be divisive. An us verses them mentality. This rally isnt about supporting our national motto. Its not even about God in a deistic sense, its about whipping up the religious right by making them think their religious rights are under attack. After attending the rally for myself it was apparent that its not some unnamed god in general, its the majoritys specific god, Jesus, that is being celebrated. The Sheriff is right about one thing, no one was being forced to worship his god, everyone was invited to attend and worship Jesus, just like he does. Of course thats the view of a biased person. Where he oversteps the law is that he doesnt celebrate an unidentified God, he promoted his God at the expense of others. This amounts to an endorsement by an elected government official while using a government facility to do so. The purpose of the separation of church and state was not to persecute believers, its designed from protecting the minority religions and from entangling the state with the church. Had the rally been to celebrate Allah, Zeus, Apollo or any other god, Sheriff Whittington would probably not feel welcome to participate. By celebrating his God, he makes all those that dont share his beliefs feel marginalized. The last time I checked, religion (especially when used in a political manner like the Sheriff did) is a divisive issue in a pluralistic society like the United States, therefore it is divisive, not unifying and follows the worst of our traditions.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 00:26:48 +0000
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