A Guard on Religious Freedom

Persuasive Essay #1

A Guard on Religious Freedom

In the eyes of our founding fathers, few things seemed as important as the separation of church and state. The first amendment grants all Americans the freedom to subscribe to any religion they wish and promises that the government will not promote any religion above any other. Although the separation of church and state and the freedom of religion are firmly and concretely secured in the Constitution of the United States, events in the recent past bring to question whether this ideal is under threat of losing its place as an American standard.

A recent controversy that brings to light the threat of the separation of church and state is the debate over the words "one nation under God" in the pledge of allegiance. A review of current event programs when the offense first unfolded showed few other stories as important as an attack on our separation of church and state. Although maintaining a critical eye on our rights and assuring that no true threats develop on one of the cornerstones of the country, it is important to also keep in perspective whether a true infraction has taken place.

On several American artifacts you can find a reference to God. However, taking offense to these references is counterproductive and overly sensitive. First, the God mentioned on these American artifacts is a generic God and only means that the collective American faith is placed on a higher power, without any specificity as to a particular god. Secondly, these references are more a following of tradition than a violation of the separation of church and state. It is important to choose a battle wisely to not take away from future battle and maintain importance on the battles deserving of a fight.

One such battle that is deserving of attention is the battle of prayer in school or the moment of silence as a clever euphemism. To publicly bring attention to students with different beliefs is clearly a violation of the ideals of our fore fathers. Not only does the moment of silence bring sensitive differences to light but clearly presses on the issues of religion and possibly alienates religious minorities.

Another such recent test to the separation of church and state was President Bush's public definition of marriage and attack on homosexual relationships. Under the code of unethical, Mr. Bush attempted to ban the union of two same sex members from joining as married. Although no Biblical scripture has been presented as support for the proposed constitutional amendment, the disagreement with same sex marriage can primarily be found in the religious fields or in area's traditionally