A farce or a tragedy?
Nov. 25, 2006 at 8:04 PM
Politics
I'll help you out Larry, here's a link to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, you won't find it in either place. You might try here.KING: Why is [marriage] a state institution rather than a religious institution? Why is the state involved? I'm not being...
(CROSSTALK)
DOBSON: Well, it's both. It is both. I mean, you can go...
KING: But we have a separation of church and state.
DOBSON: Beg your pardon?
KING: We have a separation of church and state.
DOBSON: Who says?
KING: You don't believe in separation of church and state?
DOBSON: Not the way you mean it. The separation of church and state is not in the Constitution. No, it's not. That is not in the Constitution. That was...
KING: It's in the Bill of Rights.
DOBSON: It's not in the Bill of Rights. It's not anywhere in a foundational document. The only place where the so-called "wall of separation" was mentioned was in a letter written by Jefferson to a friend. That's the only place. It has been picked up and made to be something it was never intended to be.What it has become is that the government is protected from the church, instead of the other way around, which is that church was designed to be protected from the government.
KING: I'm going to check my history.
Larry King isn't alone. I've met a few too many school teachers who believe that the idea of separation of church and state is in the United States Constitution as well. If Larry King and many our school teachers don't know, what hope is there for the ordinary citizen? Unfortunately, it's the schools or the TV where most people get their information these days. And if there is a "wall of separation" it's between the citizen and his knowledge of the rights our great country affords him.
President James Madison said,
A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."So with the knowledge most are given today, would President Madison believe we are becoming a farce, a tragedy, or perhaps both? And if that's the case is there anything that can alter our course? I believe there is.
6 Comments and Trackbacks
posted by mustardseed on Nov. 25, 2006 at 8:41 PM
I believe both Madison and Jefferson would roll over in their graves to see how the separation of church and state has been misconstrued. I am glad James Dobson set Larry King and viewers straight and I am glad you are blogging about it. Because people have been ignorant about its meaning, the argument of separation of church and state has been used to advance political agendas that have caused prayers to be taken out of schools, the ten commandments to be removed from courthouses, religious icons to be removed from national landmarks, and now, an attempt to remove the real meaning of marriage from our country.
posted by midwifemom on Nov. 25, 2006 at 8:54 PM
I was wondering how that interview turned out since I heard about it. We do not have cable. I have to say the only time I really miss it is during the Christmas season. I love to watch all the old Christmas movies.
posted by Dell on Nov. 26, 2006 at 10:19 AM
Great post! It is sad how widespread the misconceptions about this "separation of church and state" is.
Interestingly when Jefferson made the reference (in correspondence, not in any official "document") to the "wall of separation" he was assuring some Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut that the state would in no way interfere with THEIR religious rights. He was not saying that religion shouldn't influence the state, but quite the reverse, that the state must in no way meddle with the freedom we have to follow God and teach our children His ways.
Odd how it has gotten removed from context and turned inside out.
posted by jacobsacademy on Nov. 26, 2006 at 5:47 PM
Truthfully, this comes as no surprise since most Americans also do not know the real truth behind the Thanksgiving tradition and why the Mayflower set sail in the first place. Bet Larry King would deny that, too. Just more evidence of how government schools have blurred history and how it has influenced the dumbing down of our society.
Hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Blessings,
Harriette
(who did not participate in 'Black Friday' - only Sunshinin' Friday here on the Dirt Road!)
:)
posted by Anonymous on Nov. 27, 2006 at 10:05 PM
...don't we hear all the time of rulings made by the court based on some amendment.law/principle of separate church and state? Are judges misinformed about this idea of separation not being in any legal document upon which the US is founded? How are they lawfully making these rulings?
posted by spunkyhomeschool on Nov. 28, 2006 at 9:06 AM
They make these rulings because they can. Checks and balances are a little out of balance.