Comments
by Scoper...
Sis Boom Bahh!
Gentle reader, in the United States
of America, there is NO religious persecution to speak of. So why do people
keep speaking of it, even screaming about it? Mostly because here, they're
allowed to, which would seem to support that opening sentence.
Religious persecution is: hiding
yourself in the basement to pray, hiding your sacred texts so they won't
be confiscated, or being forced to wear a symbol of your faith in public,
so that others will know whom to spit on. Krystalnacht. Auschwitz. The
Stalinist
Purges. THAT'S some major-league religious persecution! What the Supreme
Court did in June doesn't even reach the scale.
Of course, nothing will "pump up
the volume" quite like a Supreme Court ruling. Not on religion itself (that
would be unconstitutional,) but on rational limits to its dynamic exercise.
A variation of: "your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins."
That was what six of the Justices
had in mind when they issued their ruling barring loudspeaker-led collective
prayers before high school football games in Santa Fe, Texas. In the Internet
age, it took only minutes before those disagreeing with the ruling were
electronically shouting: "God-censorship!" But they really miss the point.
Now it's true that the Supreme Court
does most of its work sequestered in its own little world inside the DC
Beltway. They may have scant idea of the intense Americana that's represented
by high-school football games in Texas. Or that for a dozen or so Friday
nights a year, they are THE major Fall Social Events in the smaller towns.
Given that, and given that there's almost certainly a majority fundamentalist
Christian religion in each of these towns, maybe it's a little easier to
understand why the folks there feel a bit threatened.
But this was a case of the majority
bullying the minority, and "tyranny of the majority" is what the Justices
must try to guard against, even when -- as here -- they anger more people
than they satisfy. That's why we have a Supreme Court, a Constitution,
and a republic instead of a pure democracy.
There are hundreds of Internet articles
you can read dealing with this decision and whose toes are being stepped
on. I submit that while the Court was in the "no-win" situation of all
time, it did its best to see that as few toes as possible were bruised.
The gist of the Justices' opinion is that while prayer is freely allowed
and sanctioned, amplified prayer before what amounts to a captive audience
at a government-school function is crossing the line.
And that would apply to ANY prayer,
of any sort. Religion, by its nature, is "denominated." And because of
this, there is no "prayer" generic enough to please everyone or offend
no one. It's not "nit-picky" for the Court to give equal weight to Catholics,
Jews, Mormons and those of other faiths, even though there are far fewer
of them in Santa Fe, Texas.
Two important concepts are being
drowned out by this shrill "debate." First, that private prayer of any
kind has never been disallowed in this country, and unless someone manages
to set up a theocracy, it never will be. Second, to preserve that cherished
right, it's the duty of the Supreme Court to say, in effect: "stop forcing
your idea of prayer into everyone else's ears with a 500-watt amplifier,
under these circumstances." That's all. They didn't demand that everyone
else with a different viewpoint be allowed access to the microphone. And
they really didn't strike a blow either for or against religion. If anything,
they struck a blow for courtesy.
In this country, everyone who chooses
to gets to pray, the way he wants, and just about any time, any place.
And in a nation as pluralistic as the United States, that's a pretty amazing
achievement.
I despise censorship. But no one
was "censored" in the classic sense by this ruling. The really angry ones
are those who don't consider prayer itself nearly as important as the act
of being seen praying in front of others. The ones who somehow can't
feel "sanctified," unless you're there to validate their sanctimony. Yes,
religion matters to them, almost as much as what the neighbors think.
According to the New Testament, Jesus
Christ had a few words to say about this, too. Far better words than mine.
Look them up if you wish. It'll be easy, because we have religious freedom
in this country.
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