Saturday, October 08, 2011 American "Liberty of Conscience"

Saturday, October 08, 2011

American "Liberty of Conscience"

First From Julie's keyboard:

What a beautiful week it's been with all the warm breezy weather and the colors of fall starting to emerge for this year's "show and tell" session.  It's such a blessing to live in an area where the benefit of each season can be experienced.

David and I had set this past week aside to complete some projects that we had before us here at home.  Yet, even when we take those "working vacations," there's still a special enjoyment in whatever we seem to be occupied.

What a joy indeed to know that the presence of the Lord is always wherever we are.  He gives us all such great things to enjoy as we walk with Him.  Sometimes our eyes may not be open well enough to see the "great things" the Lord has given, but that doesn't change the truth that He has provided and given them to us.

It just seems that maybe it should be necessary to stop and count the many blessings afforded to us from our great Creator.  When one is tempted to measure his success by what he sees and hears around him, he's destined for trouble.  This world and its means is an unstable, or even false, measurement device of success and the pursuit of happiness.

We must remind ourselves that this life is as a vapor in the wind, or like the flower in the grass that's here today and gone tomorrow.  However, though this span of living be so short on this earth, there's an eternity to be reckoned with somewhere.  Where will you spend yours, reader?
According to the Word of God, it will be one of two choices. 

In light of the fact that this walk through life is so brief, wouldn't it be wise to focus on the preparation for the life that "never ends?"  I pray that the thing we love most from our lives becomes more and more obvious to be our "First Love." (Jesus Christ our Lord)

Our lives are speaking volumes today.  What are they saying?  Where is your hope built?  Who and What do I love?  The only real peace, the only real prosperity or joy that can be acquired is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

He's more beautiful than the colors of the seasons!  He knows more about peace and rest than any one in this world because, He is Peace and Rest!  Is He your Savior today?

Blessings,

Julie

Ephesians 2:14 "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us:"

Hebrews 4:9-11 "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."


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American "Liberty of Conscience"

Today much is made of government infusion of religion or religious activity conducted by government officials or public-run facilities and universities.  For instance, if a student wants to offer a public Christian prayer at graduation or sporting event, they do so at the risk of lawsuit by the ACLU or some like entity.  Mostly these suits reference the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution, the so called establishment clause, and or the "separation of Church and State" statement by Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptist that does not (though you would think so) have any legal aspect to it.

The premise is that if a none Christian perhaps being present, might be offended and his or her liberty of Conscience would be violated and their protection through the Constitution would be unduly abridged.

This view is being taught by our institutions of learning and promoted through our political and media outlets so much that a large portion of our population is under the impression that this is Constitutionally correct and was the intent of our Founding Fathers.

Rather than give you my opinion, let's again look to the words of our Founders or early Courts to get the exact understanding of the intended "Liberty of Conscience".

In turning to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1859 I would present the question, "What was the understanding of "Liberty of Conscience" during the framing of the United States Constitution and the following decades?"

They [the Founders] could not admit this [liberty of conscience] as a civil justification of human sacrifices, or parricide [killing one's parents or close kin], infanticide [The intentional killing of an infant. Abortion perhaps], or thuggism [religious murders], or of such modes  of worship as the disgusting and corrupting rites of the Dionysia, and Aphrodisia, and Eleusinia, and other festivals of Greece and Rome.

They did not mean that the pure moral customs which Christianity has introduced should be without legal protection because some pagan, or other religionist, or anti-religionist, should advocate as matter of conscience concubinage, polygamy, incest, free love, and free divorce, or any of them.

They did not mean that phallic processions and satyric dances and obscene songs and indecent statues and paintings of ancient of or modern paganism might be introduced under the profession of religion, or pleasure, or conscience, to seduce the young and the ignorant into a Corinthian degradation; to offend the moral sentiment of a refined Christian people; and to compel Christian modesty to associate with the nudity and impurity of Polynesian or of Spartan woman. No Christian people could possibly allow such things. . . .

By our . . . laws against vice and immorality we do not mean to enforce religion; we admit that to be impossible.  But we do mean to protect our customs, no matter that they may have originated in our religion; for they are essential parts of our social life.  Instinctively we defend and protect them.  It is mere social self-defence. . . .

Law can never become entirely infidel [secular]; for it is essentially founded on the moral customs of men and the very generating principle of these is most frequently religion." - - - - Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Commonwealth v. Nesbit (1859).

Thanks to the early court's insight we can understand the true meaning of American "Liberty of Conscience".  If you will, look again at their statements and notice they provided protection for what they called our Christian customs that were practiced by Christian people in reference to the general population.  Christianity was inferred to be the religion of the nation by sure acceptance. 

They wanted to protect their Christian practices while guarding against other improper and indecent practices that might be attempted under the guise of religion.  They were going to protect a student who wanted to offer a Christian prayer against anyone who would have objected under the guise of liberty of conscience of another religion or non-religion.  They were also going to restrict the offering of a prayer of any other religion that was in the practice of many Christian vices such as Islam and the practice of polygamy. 

They also understood that law could never be entirely secular and that religion is at the base of man's moral understanding.

Unfortunately, we now on a consistence basis violate every afforded protection sustained by this early court and their understanding of our laws.  This will be a hard lesson we must learn if we do not educate ourselves on the principles of our Founding Fathers. 

May God bless each of you,

David