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Letters to the EditorsOusted group is pro-freedom, not anti-Christian© St. Petersburg Times published December 20, 2002 Re: Group kicked out of library undermines our society, letter, Dec. 9. I would like to refute some of the points the letter writer made referring to the Tarpon Springs Library's policy to disallow the Americans United for Separation of Church and State organization to meet there. First, despite what the letter writer claims, the AU organization is not a political group. This group stands for the separation of church and state and does not align itself with any political party. It aims to confront any and all government officials who don't respect church/state separation. Secondly, we are not a Christian nation, contrary to what the majority may believe. Our nation's Bill of Rights guarantees that all persons have the right to believe and practice any religion, nonreligion or belief system he or she wishes. Thirdly, the ALA (American Library Association) allows and encourages groups to meet and discuss controversial issues in all of their public library buildings. Finally, I will quote James Madison, father of the Constitution. "The number, the industry, and the morality of the priesthood and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the state."
Writer needs to reread ConstitutionRe: Group kicked out of library undermines our society, letter, Dec. 9. The confused letter about the Tarpon Springs Library meeting rooms decision begs for clarification on matters pertaining to church/state separation. The letter writer seems to think that the separation of church and state is some sort of conspiracy started by the U.S. Supreme Court "some years back." The fact is this: The very first of our Bill of Rights, finally ratified in 1791, established that political/religious balance which was absolutely unique in the history of nations at that time, and which has worked well for over 200 years. That balance calls for full freedom of religious expression for all citizens, on the one hand, together with government neutrality on religious matters on the other hand. It is easy to understand why the colonists strongly demanded this particular amendment to the Constitution. All around them (even in those good old days of colonial America) they were experiencing the deadly power of state-endorsed and state-enforced religion. So when the new government was taking shape, they demanded an end to the age-old practice of governments -- or majority groups -- using their power to demand religious conformity. Going further, the letter writer makes the claim that America "was founded as a Christian nation" and implies that America should be a Christian nation. If he simply means that the majority of Americans are Christians, he has a point. What he obviously means, of course, is that our nation should be officially Christian, with Christianity receiving special recognition and special treatment. If so, he will find no such view in the Constitution. In that document, there is deliberately no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ. But dislike of religion was not the driving motive behind the creation of our secular form of government. In fact, most of the founding fathers were religious believers themselves. They were simply deeply aware of the deadly danger of church/state entanglement and moved to create a nation where freedom of conscience was guaranteed to all. (My own Baptist ancestors were among the most vocal in calling for all religious power to be removed from the hands of both government and majorities.) Americans United for Separation of Church and State has been solely concerned for over 50 years with advocacy and education regarding the First Amendment guarantees of liberty of conscience. This watchdog task is urgent and controversial, as always. For there will always be those who believe their religious point of view is uniquely true and worthy of privilege and special endorsement. Such a view is profoundly unconstitutional and carries great danger to our nation.
Quotations can be read out of contextRe: Group kicked out of library undermines our society, letter, Dec. 9. Letter writer H. Scott Parrish wants to keep God in our institutions. Sounds good, but which one(s) to keep? That of the New Testament? Old Testament? Muslims? Hindus? Buddhists? Rastafarians? Scientologists? And how would we assure a balance? In this dispute, each side can find supporting quotations of our founding fathers, especially if quoted out of context. Those quotations notwithstanding, there is absolutely no dispute that those men were convinced that the state-sanctioned religions of their time were tyrannies against those holding other beliefs. In effect, religion WAS the government in those days -- the tyranny that drove the founding fathers to America. Religion was, and is, used as the pretext to force the populace to conform. The overarching issue was, and should remain, the concentration of power and absence of choice, not religion.
Separation keeps religion freeRe: Group kicked out of library undermines our society, letter, Dec. 9. I am a member of the Suncoast chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. In response to the recent letter by H. Scott Parrish Jr., I would like to make some observations. He claims that the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion but not separation of church and state. As a practical matter, it is difficult for an individual to have freedom of religion where another religious group is able to use the power and budget of publicly supported institutions (especially schools) to pursue their religious interests. Where courts have considered this matter, they have virtually always come out recognizing that freedom of religion requires separation of church and state. Mr. Parrish feels that we were founded as a Christian nation and that Thomas Jefferson's holding religious observances in the Capitol establishes the expectation of religious practice in public offices. While we don't know much about the nature of religious observances held during Thomas Jefferson's presidency, we know a grat deal about what he believed, because he wrote it down. Was he a Christian? He didn't believe the Bible was "the word of God" because he felt free to change a lot of it. Although he was an admirer and follower of Jesus' teachings, he didn't believe in the virgin birth, the resurrection or miracles. These things are very clear in the Jefferson Bible. Clearly, Jefferson was a religious minority. If he were here today, the Tarpon Springs Library Board would probably find that he "... lacks the political neutrality necessary ... to be allowed to use the library's Community Room as a meeting place." One other matter should be cleared up. When the newspaper headline reads Tarpon library wants to oust meetings, there is an implication that a conflict exists between our organization and the staff of the library. I know of no such conflict. The staff are professionals. Their motivation is to make their beautiful building into the best possible library service for the community. The community is proud of their great success. It seems to be the volunteer library board which has introduced politics and religion into a previously harmonious relationship.
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