Idiots and God-haters pervert the Constitution

Idiots. That’s the first word that came to my mind as I read the article “Church-state battle envelops school choirs” in the Dec. 5 Daily Inter Lake. It seems that our Wisconsin friends, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, who care so deeply about us here in Montana, are very concerned that our public school kids are being allowed to sing songs.

Having not learned a thing from their spectacular lawsuit failure to remove the Jesus statue from Big Mountain, this busybody organization is now telling Montanans what is appropriate music and where to sing it at Christmas time. They’re being joined by that organization that is known to be less respected than used-car salesmen, lawyers and politicians combined, the ACLU.

Contrary to its name, the American Civil Liberties Union is not in favor of civil liberties, but of civil limitation. After complaining to the Whitefish School District, both organizations realized that they didn’t have their facts right, and they came away looking like the fools that they are. But whether it be in Whitefish or Kalispell, or anywhere for that matter, no one has the right to tell students that they can’t sing any religious songs they want at any venue to which they’ve been invited.

It’s sad that there are people in this country who are so offended and threatened by these talented young people, but since there are, I suggest that they attend such functions. Perhaps they’ll learn something. I appreciate Kate Orozco’s and Darlene Schottle’s responses to the whiners, though I think the words “go jump” would have been just as appropriate.

This bullying needs to stop. I wish someone with lots of money and time would sue the idiots for infringing on the rights of the religious. The fools say that the students’ religious rights violate the separation of church and state, per the U.S. Constitution. The problem with that is the Constitution doesn’t limit religion in the state. The judges and ballyhooers that have perverted the Constitution are all judicial activists who have no desire to uphold the Constitution, but rather to rewrite it.

Unfortunately, due to apathy and stupidity on the part of the American public, they’ve been very successful. The U.S. Constitution mentions nowhere that there is to be a separation of church and state. What it actually says in Article VI, is that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” In other words, for those that are too dense to understand plain English, a person can be of any religion or be an atheist and still serve in government office.

Meanwhile, the First Amendment to the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” You don’t have to be a Rhodes scholar or a Supreme Court justice to interpret that statement. It’s as plain as the schnozz on W.C. Fields’ face: Congress shall make no law. If there’s no law, then there can be no issue; there can be no violation. Congress can’t “prohibit the free exercise thereof…” Exercise of what? Religion! What is unclear about this?

How bigoted, stupid, moronic and just plain blind does a person have to be to reject this clear language? What is the justification for saying that religion has to be excluded from government? Just like it can’t be required, it can’t be excluded. In reality, the phrase “separation of church and state” came originally from the founder of the first Baptist church in America, Roger Williams, and was echoed by Thomas Jefferson, but it’s not in the Constitution and not in any amendments.

Although it has to be obvious to any intelligent person in reading their comments that the phrase was meant to protect the church from the state, it has been perverted by God-haters into meaning that all government is to be atheist in nature. It’s all a fallacy, and with governments and religious organizations shrinking in fear from bullies like the ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, who now have stooped to snooping into every song that every student in America sings, the fallacy will live on. Idiots!

Doug Adams is a resident of Whitefish.