The United States is known worldwide as the ‘land of
opportunity’ and the place people seek to gain citizenship to enjoy the vast
amount of different freedoms that often, as Americans, we take for granted. We
have freedom of speech, where as in other countries you could be prosecuted or
murdered for speaking out against government officials. We have freedom of
religion, where as in other countries it is considered a crime against the
government to practice certain religions and it could lead to jail time or even
death. When the states separated from England after the Revolutionary War to
gain its independence, the goal was to have more freedoms and to not be
entirely ruled and dictated by the government.
Separation of church and state was a main foundation when
the constitution was being written and the Supreme Court often attests to that
by maintaining what was written in the first amendment. This is why there is no
established church or religion for the United States or religious qualification
for office. However, this is still a subject of heated debates in numerous different
circumstances. Lately, the controversy has been targeted towards Oklahoma’s
state capitol and their monument of the Ten Commandments.
The amount of people who are against the removal of the
monument seem to heavily outweigh the people getting attention for the support
of the removal of the monument. The Supreme Court (7-2) ordered for the monument
to be removed from this area since it is in violation of the state Constitution
separation of church and state which states “not
have a display on state property that supports "any sect, church,
denomination or system of religion.". People have not held back
their unhappy feelings about this, some lawmakers even want to amend the state
Constitution to allow the monument. The Governor of Oklahoma commented on this
issue saying “…We felt it was a good place to be able to display it properly to
people could see it.” There are many people in the community who felt it was
wrong for it to be removed from this area. But was it?
Let us all take a look at the other side of this. I think
many people’s feelings and emotions are swayed because even though there is no
establish religion of the United States, the number of people identifying
themselves as Christians heavily outweighs other religions. This country is very
open to other religions and spiritual practices and that is what this country intended
to be when it was founded and established as an independent country. People can
choose to practice whatever religion they choose, if any at all. Because of
this, it is important to separate church and state because not everyone has the
same church, belief and values and we cannot rule people according to beliefs
not everyone has. Imagine if the tables were turned and there was a statue of
Buddha or the Five Pillars of Islam? People would be unhappy with that as well because
not everyone follows religious or spiritual beliefs associated with those
monuments. I think it is important to remember that this isn’t an act against
Christianity, this is an act to follow the Constitution and separate state and
ALL religion. Even a Baptist minister said “Frankly, I’m glad we finally got
the governor and attorney general to agree to let the monument be moved to
private property, which is where I believe it is most appropriate. I’m not
opposed to the Ten Commandment. The first sermon I ever preaches was on the Ten
Commandments. I’m just opposed to it being on public property”.
What do you think bloggers, was this removal of the statue
something you agree with or disagree with?
Read more about it at these sites:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oklahoma-removes-ten-commandments-monument-under-court-order-n439806
It is so refreshing to read your post.
ReplyDeleteThere are literally billions of people on this earth that are not familiar with the ten commandments - does that mean they can't become American citizens? I hope not.
The statue would not have bothered me being there, and it does not bother me that it was removed. So many people would be upset and cause uproars if a statue was built on the principles of a religion other than Christianity. Many believe that this is a Christian nation in all aspects and that it should stay that way. It seems like they forget what separation of church and state means. I am not trying to bash any religion here, I just feel the topic of religion and all things political or governmental has become so hypocritical. I just think that if Religion A is against Religion B openly and publicly practicing or celebrating their religion, then Religion A should not be doing so either.
ReplyDeleteThe 10 Commandments being there do not bother me per say, but I do think that it does violate the separation of church and state. People cannot be upset that it is removed because I think they should understand that no religion can be advanced, in order to protect separation of church and state.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think there should be a separation between church and state just because there are so many different views and opinions on both subjects, and the easiest way to avoid conflict is to make a distinct separation of the two. However, when it comes to the removal of a religious artifact or what have you, it almost seems sort of silly to me. Kind of like the issue about how there was controversy on removing the figures from Stone Mountain because it was deemed "offensive", in a sense. I absolutely understand why people think and feel the way they do about that situation, as well as many other situations in years past, but that is just my point. Just because an object symbolizes an event, doesn't mean the object itself is to blame and deserves feuding over. So to me it is silly to remove an object or figure because the object/figure did nothing offensive to earn the fate of removal. It is the opinion(s) held based on the meaning behind the artifact that need to be addressed rather than how someone feels about removing it or leaving it standing. Like Anna mentioned above about no religion can be advanced, no religion or political party or anything that is divided is going to be better than its opponent, and it seems strange that people believe removing or building a symbolic figure is going to change that.
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