When Trouble Comes...

The issue of religion in public display is one that is at the forefront of debate in our society. Daily we are bombarded with an array of arguments, all usually based around a small fact or phrase perverted and twisted to establish the base leftist point, with reasons why Christianity most specifically should be abolished from the public square. "In God We Trust" and "Under God" join Nativity scenes, crosses on the necklaces of government employees , and school prayer as taboo artifacts of an arcane culture, one that is seen more of as menace than a part of the fabric of our society.

We could discuss this at great length, and rest assured I intend to, but such a wide attack often requires an even wider defense, so one step at a time. Today I choose to look at the primary philosophy behind the removal of religion from our society over the last fifty years, secular humanism.

Humanism is, quite simply, a humano-centric viewpoint of the world. We are here because we evolved here through natural processes. We are part of a cog or the pinnacle or some byproduct because chance has plopped us on this dirt clod. It is an attempt by some to rationalize their and our existence. Interesting, sounds like religion. This viewpoint is currently used to energetically argue that God or any variant thereof has no place in our government or anything our tax dollars may touch. Leaving aside the obvious socialist abuses of our tax dollars that make such an argument even possible, the argument often is that such elements will invariably offend someone and thus only their lack of presence will sate the masses.

Secularists view laws as being moldable based on the times or needs of society. With some laws, this may be appropriate. With others, especially criminal law, it is not. Secularism rarely makes the distinction. Secularism also sees our rights as CIVIL, and therefore granted by fiat of the government or grudgingly perhaps as an accepted norm by society in general. Rights are not the gift of a Creator or natural to our existence, but mutable and moldable. Again, this is very doctrine-oriented.

Then there's the oft-bandied "Separation of Church & State" line, usually attributed to Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists, but more quoted from a Hugo Black opinion of more recent vintage. So, again, in senile old men riding a bench in Washington, not God, do they trust.

Secular humanists are quick to point out that their doctrine is not religion. It is a philosophy, a simple way of describing their general view and not the core of some faith or worship system. But what is religion? One definition notes it as "A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion". That's off dictionary.com for those looking. Just about anyone with cause enough to research the battle against religion in society over the last fifty years would attribute this definition to secular humanists. They are zealous and most certainly proceed with conscientious devotion to weed out any and all traces of religions, mostly Christianity, that they do not agree with seeing exhibited by the bulk of society through our public spaces.

Regardless of whether you believe secular humanism is a religion unto itself or not, it certainly acts like one, and just as readily the actions taken by those who knowingly represent its cause or not in removing religion from the public square are forcing their own "Establishment of Religion" by presenting an alternative as noted above to the view of the Founding Fathers, one more easily moldable and changeable and one far less devoted to the roots of our society, its founding principles, or most importantly its stated freedoms.

Take away one Creator and replace Him with nature, with a secular view of existence, and you've Established a new faith, a new doctrine or more simply a new religion and you are the people the Founding Fathers warned us about when they wrote the First Amendment. Violating the Free Exercise of the faith of those who seek to say "In God We Trust", "Under God", or praise Jesus in an opening prayer in a state legislature is a more egregious violation of our Founders' intent than any Nativity scene in a public square.

The Left views religion as Marx did, the opiate of the masses. It is an addiction, certainly, a way in which many cannot go through their daily lives without having some way to explain their existence or purpose on Earth. The crack cocaine of secular humanism seeks to replace this addiction with one more destructive than any religious war or zealous crusade. We saw its implementation in the former Soviet Union. We see it in China. We see it everywhere those who believe in humanism over something greater have taken power. We even see it, in small doses, here. If you would please, gentle reader, please explain to me how it proved more noble or superior to religion in those places, or here at home. That's a story I'd like to hear.