LETTER: Historic view may be faulty

Editor,

Mark LaRocco is absolutely right. The Constitution does not contain the words “separation of church and state” anywhere. He is also right that the founding fathers and our historical legacy in this country were undeniably Christian.

So, where did the “separation of church and state” term come from? That has been the Supreme Court’s historical interpretation of the establishment clause. If the government promotes one religion to the exclusion of others (or no religion), it is in effect establishing Christianity as the national religion. Imagine for a minute that the majority of citizens in this country practiced Wicca and our national motto was “In the spirits of nature we trust,” or to get really extreme, if the majority were Satanists, maybe we’d be pledging allegiance to one nation under Satan. Suddenly, it makes a difference, doesn’t it? Not all U.S. citizens are Christians and not everyone who complains about the appearance of government promotion of Christianity is an atheist or a “humanist.”

The mottos Mark was defending: “In God We Trust” and “One Nation Under God,” were not selected by the founding fathers. They were selected during the McCarthy era. The founding fathers recognized the diverse nature of the citizenry in this nation, which is why they selected “E Pluribus Unum” as the national motto. We could sure use some of that unity today!

Finally, I’m not sure referring to 19th century Supreme Court decisions is really a strong argument for any point someone is trying to make. After all, the Supreme Court in the 19th century also upheld the legality of slavery and the outlawing of the LDS church. Maybe it’s time to move into the 21st century and recognize that not all of the citizens of the United States share the same beliefs. And yes, it is absurd to claim that “anti-religionists” would want to declare the Constitution un-constitutional, whatever that means, since the Constitution is a remarkably secular document for being, as LaRocco claims, a Christian document.

Dan Stormont