Driven to Insanity?
The culture war that Bill O’Reilly discusses on Fox News and in his book “Culture Warrior” (which I have yet to read… but will) has apparently claimed another victim:
Yahoo/AP: Man sets self aflame in Calif. protest — A man used flammable liquid to light himself on fire, apparently to protest a San Joaquin Valley school district’s decision to change the names of winter and spring breaks to Christmas and Easter vacation.
In all likelihood, this poor man was already mentally ill and the “protest” was more about him than it was about the school district’s decision.
The headline & article would have us believe that he was so distraught over winter and spring breaks being renamed Christmas and Easter vacation that he was driven to light himself on fire to draw attention to this grave injustice, sacrificing himself for the good of mankind, saving us all from those who would violate freedoms afforded to us by the United States Constitution, blah, blah, blah…
Come on… do we really think this was a legitimate protest? The man is sick and needs help. This isn’t like some poor soul using self-emulation to draw attention to genocide in Darfur… this is about naming winter and spring break after the holidays that, not coincidently, give us the reason for a winter and spring break.
Thankfully, this man appears to have been saved from himself, at least for the moment:
Flames were devouring a Christmas tree next to the Liberty Bell, where public events and demonstrations are common. Beside the tree the man stood with an American flag draped around his shoulders and a red gas can over his head.
Seeing the deputy, the man poured the liquid over his head. He quickly burst into flames when the fumes from the gas met the flames from the tree. The deputy ordered the man to drop to the ground as he and a parole agent sprayed him with fire extinguishers.
The man suffered first degree burns on his shoulders and arms, Milam said.
Hopefully he will get the help he needs, but the “war” goes on and the battle lines have become more defined as those of us who believe in freedom OF religion (as opposed to freedom FROM religion) have started to say “enough” and stand up for our rights.
Until now, this was a one-sided war of attrition; perhaps it would have continued along that path had it not been for some extreme radicals on the Left, with a great deal of arrogant condescension bolstered by a string of victories handed to them by a left-leaning activist judiciary cheered on by a left-leaning media, attacking the very root of beliefs held dear by the vast majority of Americans.
Just as 9/11 signaled the “start” of a war with Islamic Fascists that had actually been going on for years before we felt compelled to defend ourselves, so did these attacks on the Pledge of Allegiance, Christmas, and the Boy Scouts finally shine a spotlight on how far the original intent of the Constitution had been distorted to suit the needs of a group of anti-religious bigots, wrapping themselves in the American flag while cutting through the very roots of this great nation.
This distortion has gone on for so long, many Americans have just assumed that what they hear in the media is true: The 1st Amendment to the Constitution protects us from even a hint any government acknowledgement of religion. Once something is assumed to be true, once a belief, however wrong, becomes ubiquitous, it is nearly impossible to correct; but it is crucial that we reverse this erosion of our foundation or suffer the consequences.
Here is the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution:
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.
That’s it… that’s the whole thing, reprinted here in its entirety. Take some time and read through it, understand it, apply it to the ongoing debate…
Now, tell me where it says anything about preventing any and all references to religion in public settings.
Oh… we certainly hear a lot about “Congress shall make no law respecting and establishment of religion” with distorted interpretations telling us that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with that terribly inflammatory phrase “One Nation, Under God” is violating people’s rights under the 1st Amendment…. but it says no such thing, now does it.
What we rarely hear about these days is “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”, which means that, no matter where I am, whether it be in a school, in a court room, on public land, or standing in the middle of a field, the US Congress can not stop me from free exercise of my religion, period.
Somehow all of this has been interpreted to mean that “holiday” displays can have a “Christmas Tree” (which of course has virtually nothing to do with Christmas), a Menorah, or any number of other symbols as long as there is no recognition of Christ in the display. In other words, as long as you are not a Christian, you’re freedoms are protected by the 1st Amendment. The argument the Left makes is that we can exercise our religion on private property and the privacy of our own homes… is that what the 1st Amendment intended?
Many point to President Jefferson as a guide to interpreting the 1st Amendment, with the belief that his words help to define the original intent. In Newt Gingrich’s speech to the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, he reminds us of the following:
We then take you to the Jefferson Memorial, Jefferson often being cited as the president who was the most interested in secularism, remember he wrote the Danbury Baptists and said: We need a wall of separation between Church and state. What no one will tell you is what he meant by that is this should not be an official state religion. He clearly did not mean that you could not have God in public because two days after he wrote that letter he went out front of the Whitehouse, got in a carriage, road up the hill to the Capitol, and went to church in the US House which served as a church until the 1860’s. He also loaned the treasury building every Sunday as a church.
And if you go to the Jefferson Memorial he says around the very top of it: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against all forms of tyranny over the minds of man”. Now you can ask your secular friends what do you think Jefferson meant by “I have sworn upon the altar of God’, but it’s fairly difficult for them to explain that he meant large purple banana or some other deeply symbolic meaning. It’s quite clear if you read Jefferson’s writings in total, they meant God.
Sounds to me like Jefferson believed religion and government were not mutually exclusive.
Folks, it is time for us to return to the values and principles that this nation was built upon. The Constitution is just as relevant today as it was 200 years ago, and we must resist those who distort its meaning to thrust their own agenda upon us with the ultimate goal of molding us into a purely secular society.
Stumble it!