God and Government

Let's clear up this church and state thing once and for all.  It's really quite simple, not complicated in the least.  The people who founded this nation were fleeing religious persecution under a state-mandated religion.  They set up a nation based upon the concept of religious freedom.  A nation where religion of all kinds, or none at all could flourish unimpeded by the heavy hand of the government.  People would be free to worship when and where and what they pleased, or not at all.  They did not distinguish between private and public religious practice.  They were not concerned about people expressing and practicing their religion in the public square and in the halls of government.  Just look at how many of our early politicians held strong religious beliefs, talked openly about them in the chambers of government and how many mentioned their faith in speeches on the floor of the House and Senate.  Look at how many Presidents prayed openly and encouraged prayer for our nation. The sessions of Congress are opened in prayer and Presidents are sworn in on Bibles (or other religious books) and swear their oath, so help them God.  Our founders did not intend for religion to be hidden away to only be practiced in the home or Sundays in church.  No, what they intended was a vibrant religious fervor throughout the land, in homes and churches and schools and businesses and the halls of government, unchecked by intrusion from the rulers.  The thing they did proscribed was any establishment of a state religion or policies setting one religion above another, or giving one special treatment over another, or prohibiting some altogether.  This is not to be construed to an interpretation which keeps religion out of the public and government realms, but rather keeps government out of the religious realms.  The separation of church and state is to keep the state out of the church, but not the church out of the state.  We have come a full 180 degrees since George Washington said in his farewell address of 1796, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."  Atheists and agnostics are now everywhere lobbying for the removal of anything religious from our schools, public squares and halls of government.  What gives them the right to do so anymore than those of us with religious affiliation the right to remove them and their beliefs from these same places.  One could argue that atheism and agnosticism are simply religions of faith in things other than a supreme being.  In the world of the First Amendment they have no more right to demand religious cleansing than the religious to demand their cleansing.  No, we must all co-exist and blossom together in all aspects of life.  The First Amendment guarantees the right of freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion.  I would recommend that those who seek to remove anything religious from the public square grow thicker skin.  What religious people do doesn't harm them, and what they do doesn't harm the religious.  Live and let live.  The industry of being offended has become too much a growth industry.  A lot of what they do and what happens in our country and the world offends me, but I choose to let it roll off of me like water from a duck's back.  I do what I can to make a difference in the world from my perspective, they would be advised to do the same.  By the way, the Constitution and Bill of Rights nowhere guarantees a right to not be offended.  It's part of life.  Amen.