Agree and disagree

June 30, 2009 10:38 pm

— Dear editor:
Mr. Psalmond's June 26 letter to the editor in Friday's Observer was great. For the most part, I really agreed with what he was saying. I differ just slightly on the idea of illegals, but more or less I think we agreed to some extent.
But where we completely agree is where he mentioned how our government is corrupt and out of touch with us, the people for whom it is supposed to work and serve. We've got rich career politicians who see governmental office as a surefire way to make some cash by using the system. They seem more concerned about making sure their investments and corporate buddies have it easy, while us “normal folk” sit here and take the recession full force.
But, what I didn't agree with at all is his stance on God. I have heard this phrase thrown around in various forms for years, that “America is a Christian Nation.” In a way, this is right, for most of existing Christianity has been the majority religion. The first American settlers from Europe were Christians. Christian groups like the Quakers and the Puritans came here and made settlements which still exist today. Pennsylvania, if I remember correctly, was founded by William Penn as a Quaker colony. So in a sense, yes one could say that we are a Christian country.
But, legally and officially, no we are not. He wondered how many of us had read the American Constitution, the document that basically forms the backbone of how our country works. Well, I can say that at least I have, and I can assure you there's no mention of God or any specific religion in it. To double check, I pulled up an electronic copy on the Internet, and performed a search for the word “God” and the word “religion.”' I found no results for “God”.
However, I did find a result for “religion.” It appears once in the First Amendment, which says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” So, in other words, we have the freedom to write, say, and group as we please, provided we are harming no one in any way. We also have the freedom to believe in whatever form of God we wish, or in no god at all, should we choose to do so. We have the ability and Constitutionally-protected right to worship at any church we want, or, again, none at all.
In his letter, he said, “My advice to them if you don’t like God, go to a country where they don’t believe in God. This country was founded on God.” The first portion of that statement goes directly against what the Constitution says. In addition, there are countries where you will be officially executed for not believing in their religion. That doesn't happen here in the United States of America. The second part, that we are founded on God, is just inherently incorrect. The men who founded our country may have been Christians, although quite a few were Deists, but our country was not founded on God.
Proof can be found in the 1796 Treaty with Tripoli, which was written and signed during Washington and Adams' presidencies. Article 11 clearly states that “...America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” The Treaty was unanimously approved by the Senate.
I myself do not have any problems with what someone worships or believes. That is that particular person's business. If someone wanted to worship a giant parade balloon or nothing at all, that's fine with me. But what I do have an issue with is the notion that we all have to believe the same thing, or else we are, as Mr. Psalmond's letter seemed to imply, un-American.

Richard C. Monglére
Moultrie