Here's a dialogue of letters to the editor from several years ago.
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Mary Santomauro wrote: Regarding the display of the Ten Commandments, this country was founded upon a belief in a creator from whom we were claiming certain inalienable rights.
The Founding Fathers not only recognized the existence of this creator, but sought his help in the foundation of this country and in formulating our country’s laws and even injected the Bible containing this same creator’s laws, the Ten Commandments, into use in our judicial system, by making it mandatory for every person testifying in court to first swear an oath on this same Bible to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Not only is the display constitutionally legal, but the fact that the Ten Commandments is not allowed in any court, since these same Commandments are depicted on the Supreme Court building, speaks volumes about the lack of wisdom, the ignorance and utter arrogant disregard for the truth, evidenced by some of the decisions of some judges and their presumptions of assuming the congressional duties by making laws instead of correctly interpreting those contained in the U.S. Constitution.
As for religion belonging in our churches and homes, too many people evidently don’t understand what religion is.
Besides being a constitutionally protected right for Americans, religion is man’s acknowledgement of a supernatural creator involved in the lives of all humanity and man’s acceptance of the laws set forth by this same creator as a guide to be followed in the fullness of man’s life, not just in church or in the home.
If this were not the case, we would, among other things, prosecute people who commit murder only for those murders committed in churches or in homes.
Does that make sense? I think not!
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D.K. Eggleston responds: First of all, the Pilgrims’ search for a place freely to practice their religion had nothing to do with founding this country. The Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth 156 years before the American Revolution. The revolution occurred because the colonists opposed paying taxes to the King of England without having any say in what laws and regulations would apply to the new colonies. Thus the battle cry, “No Taxation Without Representation.”
Secondly, this country was not founded upon Christianity. There is no mention of Christ or the Judaic Ten Commandments in any of our founding documents. If the laws of this nation were based on the Ten Commandments, then adultery, lying, swearing and disrespecting your parents would be crimes, and much of our population would be in prison. The basic precepts of not killing or stealing are common to virtually every civilized society or religion.
Finally, without the benefit of modern scientific research, our founders and most other people at that time assumed that some higher being created life on earth. It’s important to note that in our Constitution, they chose the ambiguous term “Creator” rather than the word “God.” They purposely made no judgment as to who or what was responsible for our creation. In addition, the use of “In God We Trust” on our currency, as well as God in “The Pledge of Allegiance” came more than a century after the writing of the Constitution.
There are many voices out there these days claiming that our county was founded on Christianity. In fact, the most likely reason that religion holds such a prominent place in our Bill of Rights is simply because the Church of England was embedded in the politics of England at that time. The prevailing sentiment of the colonists was that the affairs of Church and State should be separate.
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And I wrote this: How sad that D.K. Eggleston is so ignorant of our nation’s history while at the same time desiring to give us a “history lesson.”
He tells us that the ambiguous term “Creator” is found in the Constitution. Actually, it is in the Declaration of Independence. So much for the history lesson. If I could prevail upon Eggleston to read a bit more of the Declaration, he would also find this phrase: “… the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them …” Does Eggleston think that this phrase is ambiguous regarding God?
Another phrase from the Declaration: “… with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence…” suggests that the writers believed that God intervenes in the affairs of men. I think we can be reasonably assured that this was not the god of Islam to which they referred. It probably isn’t Buddha, either. Nor did the Founding Fathers adhere to Hinduism, Taoism or Confucianism.
Yes, it was Christianity. And this is confirmed in the private and public writings and speeches of Washington, Madison, and 150 or so other Founding Fathers.
The Founders were deeply religious; they could be termed “right-wing religious extremists” in today’s parlance. And in their enduring genius they crafted a Constitution from a Christian worldview. Many religions have flourished here because of it. Could that be because Christians are tolerant, respectful and kind people?
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