There are many reasons that I feel blessed to a citizen of this country, but the one I am thinking about today is the blessing of freedom of religion.
Our forefathers were very wise when they wrote the founding documents of our country. They remembered that many of the early settlers of our country fled here to avoid religious persecution. They understood that religion should not be dictated by by the state. Faith is an individual thing. The religious practice of an individual should not be controlled by government. Our founding fathers were very careful in the words they chose to preserve individual religious freedom. When writing the Declaration of Independence they avoided any name for the divine that could refer to a particular religion. Words like “Creator,” “Nature's God,” and “divine providence” are used. There is no mention of Christ nor any reference to the God of the Christian Bible. The Constitution is not a Christian document. It is a document that preserves religious freedom. This is what the first amendment says:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
I am a Christian who is happy to be able worship God. My faith and understanding has changed a bit as I have journeyed through life. I am grateful that I am free to adjust my religious practice as my understanding and faith have changed. I appreciate my freedom of religion.
Recently there was a large protest in one of our southern states that angered me. In a place where many large Christian churches are filled with people enjoying their religious freedom, large, angry mobs formed to try to deny other people the right to practice religious freedom. The protesters did not want to allow religious freedom to people who did not practice the same faith. There were screams and shouts about the Constitution saying this was a Christian nation. The mobs were not demonstrating the compassion and love of the Christ they claim to follow. They were demonstrating their ignorance of the Constitution.
I do not want this angry, narrow-minded group of people to impose their brand of religion on me or any one else. They frighten me. I do hope the constitution is upheld and the people of another faith will be allowed to build their worship center and peacefully enjoy their right to freedom of religion.
God bless America!
2 comments:
"The mobs were not demonstrating the compassion and love of the Christ they claim to follow. They were demonstrating their ignorance of the Constitution." You are sooo right! People like that make me SO angry, too. Thank God they aren't in the majority of folks in this country.
Amen!
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