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Welcome 2006 Coming of Age - 3/ 19  Justice Sunday - 3/26 Church and State - 8/27 Church and State Is America a Christian Nation? presented at UUCNH on Aug. 27,2006  led by: Carol Ballance, Monica Walsh, Russ Walsh, Sara Kennelty, Lance Kennelty and Kathy Ke   Carol: Today's service is being presented by the Religious Education Family Community Circle. We meet on the last Wed. of the month for a family style potluck dinner. After dinner we have childcare and the adults meet for community support and discussion. Our group varies somewhat from month to month. If you're interested please join us. Please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance   Russ: (Question 1) One Nation under God? Doesn't that prove that America is a Christian nation? Even our money says "In God We Trust".   Sara: The words, "under god," didn't appear in the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954. During McCarthyism Congress felt the need to insert them. Again as a result of the "red scare" the words "In God We Trust" were added to paper currency in 1956. Various phrases had appeared on coins prior to that. *(It is believed “In God We Trust” was added to coins during the civil war for the north to show God was on their side). We particularly like "Mind Your Business". The founding fathers' original motto was E Pluribus Unum which means "Of Many, One" – a celebration of plurality not theocracy.   Russ: (Question 2) But the majority of our founding fathers were Christian, weren't they? Ben Franklin, at the Constitutional Convention, said: "...God governs in the affairs of men.? And John Adams stated that: "The general principles on which the fathers achieved Independence were ... the general principles of Christianity.?   Lance:  The following excerpts were taken from -A Little-Known U.S. Document Signed by President Adams Proclaims America's Government Is Secular by Jim Walker as published in The Early American Review: Although, indeed, many of America's colonial statesmen practiced Christianity, our most influential Founding Fathers broke away from traditional religious thinking. The ideas of the Great Enlightenment that began in Europe had begun to sever the chains of mon-arch-ical thee-oc-racy. These heretical European ideas spread throughout early America. Instead of relying on faith, people began to use reason and science as their guide. The humanistic philosophical writers of the Enlightenment, such as Locke, Rousseau, and Voltaire, had greatly influenced our Founding Fathers and Isaac Newton's mechanical and mathematical foundations served as a grounding post for their scientific reasoning.   A few Christian fundamentalists attempt to convince us to return to the Christianity of early America, yet according to the historian, Robert T. Handy, "No more than 10 percent-- probably less-- of Americans in 1800 were members of congregations."   The Founding Fathers, also, rarely practiced Christian orthodoxy. Although they supported the free exercise of any religion, they understood the dangers of religion. Most of them believed in deism and attended Freemasonry lodges. According to John J. Robinson, "Freemasonry had been a powerful force for religious freedom." Freemasons took seriously the principle that men should worship according to their own conscious. Masonry welcomed anyone from any religion or non-religion, as long as they believed in a Supreme Being. Washington, Franklin, Hancock, Hamilton, Lafayette, and many others accepted Freemasonry.   The Constitution reflects our founders views of a secular government, protecting the freedom of any belief or unbelief. The historian, Robert Middlekauff, observed, "the idea that the Constitution expressed a moral view seems absurd. There were no genuine evangelicals in the Convention, and there were no heated declarations of Christian piety."   From Barack Obama: "Folks tend to forget that during our founding, it wasn't the atheists or the civil libertarians who were the most effective champions of the First Amendment. It was the persecuted minorities; it was Baptists like John Leland who didn't want the established churches to impose their views on folk who were getting happy out in the fields and teaching scripture to slaves. It was the forbearers of the evangelicals who were the most adamant about not mingling government with religion, because they did not want state-sponsored religion hindering their ability to practice their faith as they understood it."   I don't have a problem with using the word God, or other religious language in the public sector when it seems appropriate. We need to protect the separation of church and state with reasonableness.   To quote Barack Obama " ...a sense of proportion should also guide those who police the boundaries between church and state. Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation-context matters. ....Imagine Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address without reference to "the judgements of the Lord". Or King's I Have a Dream speech without references to "all of God's children." Their summoning of a higher truth helped inspire what had seemed impossible, and move the nation to embrace a common destiny. "   Russ: (Question 3) PENNSYLVANIA'S FIRST LEGISLATIVE ACT, 1682: "Whereas the glory of Almighty God and the good of Mankind, is the reason and end of government, and therefore, government in itself is a venerable Ordinance of God, therefore, it is the purpose of civil government to establish such laws as shall best preserve true Christian and Civil Liberty, in opposition to all Unchristian, Licentious, and unjust practices.?   Lance: This early document was made when Pennsylvania was a colony of England and has since been super-ceded by the Constitution of the United States. But, it is interesting to note its wording and if it is placed in the correct historical context can tell us a lot about early intolerance of religious ideas that differed from the then current societal norms.   Pennsylvania’s early history: (From the Pennsylvanian Historical and Museum Commission)   Penn was born in London on October 24, 1644, the son of Admiral Sir William Penn. Despite high social position and an excellent education, he shocked his upper-class associates by his conversion to the beliefs of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, then a persecuted sect. He used his inherited wealth and rank to benefit and protect his fellow believers. Despite the unpopularity of his religion, he was socially acceptable in the king's court because he was trusted by the Duke of York, later King James II. The origins of the Society of Friends lie in the intense religious ferment of 17th century England. George Fox, the son of a Leicestershire weaver, is credited with founding it in 1647, though there was no definite organization before 1668. The Society's rejections of rituals and oaths, its opposition to war, and its simplicity of speech and dress soon attracted attention, usually hostile.   Penn’s Woods was founded as a safe refuge for the persecuted Christian Sect: the Quakers. They profess no creeds and practice simplicity, non-violence and tolerance.   King Charles II owed William Penn £16,000, money which Admiral Penn had lent him. Seeking a haven in the New World for persecuted Friends, Penn asked the King to grant him land in the territory between Lord Baltimore's province of Maryland and the Duke of York's province of New York. With the Duke's support, Penn's petition was granted. The King signed the Charter of Pennsylvania on March 4, 1681, and it was officially proclaimed on April 2. The King named the new colony in honor of William Penn's father. Penn drew up the First Frame of Government, his proposed constitution for Pennsylvania. Penn's preface to First Frame of Government has become famous as a summation of his governmental ideals. The General Assembly was summoned to Chester on December 4, 1682. This first Assembly united the Delaware counties with Pennsylvania, adopted a naturalization act and, on December 7, adopted the Great Law, a humanitarian code which became the fundamental basis of Pennsylvania law and which guaranteed liberty of conscience.     Jim Powell writes: William Penn was the first great hero of American liberty. During the late seventeenth century, when Protestants persecuted Catholics, Catholics persecuted Protestants, and both persecuted Quakers and Jews, Penn established an American sanctuary which protected freedom of conscience. Almost everywhere else, colonists stole land from the Indians, but Penn traveled unarmed among the Indians and negotiated peaceful purchases. He insisted that women deserved equal rights with men. He gave Pennsylvania a written constitution which limited the power of government, provided a humane penal code, and guaranteed many fundamental liberties.   For the first time in modem history, a large society offered equal rights to people of different races and religions. Penn's dramatic example caused quite a stir in Europe. The French philosopher Voltaire, a champion of religious toleration, offered lavish praise. "William Penn might, with reason, boast of having brought down upon earth the Golden Age, which in all probability, never had any real existence but in his dominions. "   Penn's practices contrasted dramatically with other early colonies, especially Puritan New England which was a vicious theocracy. The Puritans despised liberty. They made political dissent a crime. They whipped, tarred, and hanged Quakers. The Puritans stole what they could from the Indians.    Russ: (Question 4) But there is no place in the Constitution where it specifies "separation of Church and State". The phrase, "a wall of separation between church and state," was coined by President Thomas Jefferson in a carefully crafted letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802, when they had asked him to explain the First Amendment. The Supreme Court, and lower courts, have used Jefferson's phrase repeatedly in major decisions upholding neutrality in matters of religion. The exact words "separation of church and state" do not appear in the Constitution; neither do "separation of powers," "interstate commerce," "right to privacy," and other phrases describing well-established constitutional principles.   The U.S. Constitution is a secular document. It begins, "We the people," and contains no mention of "God" or "Christianity." Its only references to religion are exclusionary, such as, "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust" (Art. VI), and "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" (First Amendment). The presidential oath of office, the only oath detailed in the Constitution, does not contain the phrase "so help me God" or any requirement to swear on a bible (Art. II, Sec. 1, Clause 8). If we are a Christian nation, why doesn't our Constitution say so?    Russ: (Question 5)But doesn’t affirming this separation lead to apathy or lack of church involvement in civil affairs? (I’ll have a quote from a fundamentalist Christian leader stating that in the face of apathy from most Americans, it’s easy to advance a fundamentalist agenda).   Kathy - Let’s address both halves of this question: do we have to keep religion out of politics and politics out of religion? Well, we can’t keep our values and our morality out of the public sphere – especially if we are truly trying to live our principles. The personal IS indeed political. That doesn’t mean we are advocating a state-sponsored religion. It means we are doing publicly what our principles call upon us to do: respect the inherent worth and dignity of everyone, treat all people with compassion, be good stewards of the environment…   And by the same token, we also need not fear bringing politics into our churches. The law states: Political Campaign Activity Under the Internal Revenue Code, all IRC section 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches and religious organizations, are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made by or on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. All this means is we cannot endorse a particular candidate or political party. But, we CAN talk about social justice, we can participate in environmental advocacy, we can organize around issues that matter to us.   In fact, we MUST do so, now more than ever.   As Barack Obama states: “If we don’t reach out to religions Americans and tell them what we stand for, then the Jerry Falwells, Pat Robertsons, and Alan Keyeses will continue to hold sway.”   Closing Words   Is America a Christian nation? The answer is up to you.     Here are some of the web sites we found useful:   http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/summer97/secular.html http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/pahist/quaker.asp?secid=31 http://www.quaker.org/wmpenn.html http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060628-call_to_renewal_keynote_address/ http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues http://www.ffrf.org/quiz/ffrfquiz.php