Freedom of Speech-Article that appeared in the January 2005 Portal

First, thank you for the many thumbs up I received after the first article and for your kind words of support. This column is unabashedly devoted to the Conservative viewpoint, family values, and that freedom for which many of our ancestors came to America for and many gave their lives for. Religious freedom. You may have heard of it. We don’t see much religious freedom and tolerance as of late in the public forum. I hear almost daily in the media about some in our society that would like to abolish any religious language, symbol and idea, i.e. no Christmas carols in some schools in Florida and New Jersey this past Christmas, including that rabble rousing hymn, “Silent Night”; and thanks to Tiny Tim, that little Dickens, there was no “A Christmas Carol” in Washington (he says, “God Bless Us, Everyone”). There are people that claim that these examples of aberrant behavior are not allowed by the Constitution of the United States of America.
So, here are some questions for all of you. Let’s play a little game. What part of the Constitution tells us that there must be a separation of Church and State and so by way of example, you can’t invoke your God at a graduation or other public function, or have a nativity scene in a school? Still looking? You’ll be looking for quite some time, because the answer is that it doesn’t appear in the Constitution. It’s not in the Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence either, and you won’t find it in the letters of Thomas Jefferson (maybe try the writings of Karl Marx). Where did this idea (that would be most foreign to our framers) come from? From our liberal friends, of course. The same ones who pushed Roe v. Wade down our throats. These are the same true-blooded Americans who recently told a Social Studies teacher that he couldn’t teach about the Declaration of Independence in his fifth grade class because it mentioned the word God?! These are the same Americans who told a fourth-grader who bowed his head in the school cafeteria to thank God for his food, that he had better stop or face disciplinary action. He didn’t pray aloud (that would have been horrible, wouldn’t it?), he didn’t invite anyone to join him. He merely bowed his head for a few moments and prayed silently. Fortunately for the other children, there was an alert teacher on duty and noticed this heinous act. This young man was eventually punished with a weeks detention after continuing this practice. I don’t know about you, but before this, I didn’t know anyone who came away from praying worse off then he was before. One must be careful nowadays.
How about this one from the ACLU. Most people I think would agree that abstinence in our youth should be promoted. The opposite view has brought nothing but misery, so you would think that when someone tries to promote abstinence it would find some support. The State of Louisiana on its website tries to promote premarital sexual abstinence. But the ACLU says that this violates the establishment of religion clause of the Constitution. How could this be, you ask? Because on the web site some young people expressed their view that one of the reasons they chose abstinence was because of their belief in God. I thought that we want freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. Obviously, if you can’t express your opinion in this way it violates their freedom of speech. Also, in no way do these opinions endorse or try to set up a state religion as indicated in the establishment clause.
It is obvious to me, as it may be to you, that our country has been hijacked by the liberal left. It has been highjacked by people who claim to be pro-choice, until they find out that your choice differs from theirs. They would like you to be tolerant of their beliefs or lack of them, but they don’t have to be tolerant of yours. This country was founded on religious as well as conservative values in the Judeo-Christian tradition, yet the liberals who are in the minority are trying to tell us, and quite loudly at that, that we should give up all that we hold dear, and succumb to their relativist, secularist and humanistic values. Who do you think the framers would most resemble today, Liberals or Conservatives? Liberals want us to believe that we all are wrong about what the framers intended. They would have us believe that any mention of God defies the Constitution as does a Nativity scene in a public park. The comical part is that liberals are wondering how and why they have been losing many elections in recent years. I hate to break it to them, but I believe that most Americans are conservative and realize deep down what is going on. Some may talk a liberal streak to be chic or because some of their friends are, but when it comes to living, they live conservatively. My belief is that this sleeping giant has finally awakened and that we are disturbed at the direction that the liberal left would like to take us. The values most of us truly believe in are being thwarted. Belief in God is ridiculed. The church that has given so much to me has been trashed and is still being trashed. My sense is that we are finally ready to fight back. I know I’m ready.
How about this. Why do some liberals in the media have the audacity to make bigoted and racist remarks about Condoleezza Rice? Why do some liberals almost always attack people more often than they attack ideas? I think I know. Think back to when you were a whiny little kid. What did you do when you became frustrated while playing a game that you were losing. That’s right!! You called your opponent names. Just like a child who cannot have his or her way and can’t think of any intelligent thing to say, they always resort to name-calling. Now to be fair, we have all done this. But eventually it becomes time to mature, develop your core beliefs, learn to articulate them, and then stand up for yourself!
Dr. Rice is not an Aunt Jemima as some have recently labeled her. She is an extremely bright and articulate black woman who has risen to one of the highest positions in American government. I realize that it was too much to hope for, that Democrats who care so much about diversity and multiculturalism would have been pleased. Why do liberal Democrats call someone like Clarence Thomas an Uncle Tom? I heard Harry Reid on Tim Russert recently. He said he thought that Thomas has been a disgrace. Really? Did Russert ask him, in what way? No, he did not bother to ask. Reid went on to say that some of Thomas’ opinions were not well written. Did Russert ask for examples, or ask which particular case he was referring to or even ask if he had really read them? No, he did not bother to ask. Oh, that’s right, this happened right after word got out that Thomas was being considered for Chief Justice. One more. How about Miguel Estrada. Born in the Honduras, with a juris doctor degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. No one, before the more tolerant Democrats found that he was going to be appointed by Bush could find anything wrong with Estrada. Yet, Senator Schumer and his liberal cohorts ambushed him with many inane and inappropriate questions.
Now, what do Rice, Thomas and Estrada have in common? Yes, they are minorities, (hmmm…a common thread). Yes, Rice is female. That may be a part of it. I think that there is another, bigger reason. Let me spell it out for you. They are all conservatives!! Now we all know that liberals feel that we can’t have narrow-minded conservatives especially minorities, who are all religious zealots sitting on the bench or in a high governmental position! Only Liberal Democrats have the integrity not to let their personal values influence their decisions (just take a look at John Kerry’s voting record).
Here’s a final thought. I know many people who began as a Liberal (me included) and who eventually realized that that was a wrong-headed view, and so became Conservative. How many do you know, began as a Conservative and later became a Liberal? Interesting, isn’t it? I couldn’t come up with one person either.

God Bless America