mantoona asked this question on 3/13/2000:
Hi, I am doing a debate on the establishment clause for extra credit. I am supposed to argue for establishment. I can't really find very much information favoring this side, can you please tell how having established religion in our country would benefit us? Thanks
Holmes gave this response on 3/13/2000:
A more perfect Union
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In the latter quarter of the eighteenth century, this great nation's founding fathers established a democratic government based strongly on Christian principles and with a legal system having derived its ideas of "right" and "wrong" from the basic, fundamental beliefs of the Christian Church. How then can they say "separation of Church and State"? How can society allow the people who today run the country to push aside the democratic-Christian moral view and replace it with the politically correct secular human view? Is this a Christian nation? Or rather, is this nation's religious majority becoming corrupted by the incessant flow of propaganda aimed at watering down ethical and moral issues?
Upon reading the Constitution, more specifically, the first and fourteenth Amendments, one must understand the times, beliefs, traditions, and standards that the writers lived by. For one, The Bible dictated their lives. Remember that the colonies were a safe-haven for those fleeing from religious persecution. Those same religious people who founded the United States of America did so using the word of God as their guide. For people today to speak of religious "tolerance" is going against what the first amendment was intended to be taken as. To quote, " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" Taken as is, society seems to have to right idea. Nevertheless, do not muddle the issue with the belief that government is or has been biased towards non-Christian religious organizations. There were, in those days, sporadic clumps of these religions throughout the country. Believe this: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Adams did not institute this to promote tolerance of these religions. Rather, this was written as an example to the world in times when Christianity was being persecuted.
It has been said that there must be a wall between the Church and State. However, how can such be when the state was founded on the Church? To separate morality--the aspect of the Church which should be unopposed--from law making would lead to the demoralization of this country. Is this not evident today? Does society not breed immoral and unethical ideas and philosophies which are then held on a pedestal versus the Christian beliefs, which are scoffed at and called politically incorrect, thus making the adherents to this code seem as the nonconformists, the traitors, the cause of disruption in society. It is extraordinary how these secular humanist and New Age views have replace right and wrong with tolerance for those who lead "alternative lifestyles" or choose to conduct themselves in a manner which is contrary to the law and disgraceful to those Americans who know the "truth." Yes, even the "truth" has been distorted. No longer does the "truth" hold its place as the prominent belief of society and its leaders. Instead, mainstream society is flooded with theories and opinions with the ultimate goal of disapproving the beliefs of the church and discrediting Christianity and, for the most part, anyone who is intolerant of these new ideas. There are too many theories and ideas in circulation that are in opposition to and contrary with the guidelines by which this nation was established. Those who believe and have chosen to accept these views have accomplished further diving the Church, further dividing the government, and further dividing the people. Nevertheless, the State continues to show glimpses, however brief and fleeting, of legislative morality. In contrast, there remains a strong push in the other direction, which consists of free-choice, for example, and ultra-liberal views.
The end result remains to be seen, but a safe bet is that, throughout history, nations have met rapid decline as liberal leaders became the majority, and as present day society shows trust in liberal leaders, the United States will soon meet its demise. What is needed is a return to the "conservative," democratic-Christian views which, for too long, have brought this nation and its people to prosperity and are now being denied their rightful place in society.
(You can read the other side of this debate at http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4496/paper.htm )
I also had a tough time finding pro-established-religion info. You definitely got the weak side of the issue! Just try to come at it with the "...creates a more peaceful environment, less religious fighting and/or discrimination, good for the government, etc." I wish you luck on this project! If you have any other ???'s feel free to ask me!
BTD
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