NO. 899 LET'S VOTE ON IT!

No. 899

Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN

LET’S VOTE ON IT!

Almost from the time I started writing this column back in 1995, I have made it known that I am a Christian. I am not a minister and I certainly don’t preach, and my faithful readers know that I am always careful to respect the rights, opinions and values of others. However, I don’t mind taking a stand for something I believe in. Here is a deep concern that I want to share with you during our visit today. Over the past decade we have seen an assault on Christianity from the secular media, atheists and others who seek to remove Christianity and God from every area of our society. They hide behind the term “the public square” (meaning anything where tax money is used) and cite the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Well, I have read that First Amendment and it says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or the press or the right to peaceably assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” I did not see anything in there where it says freedom “from” religion but rather it says freedom “of” religion. I also did not see anything about “the public square.” In fact, if you will go to our nation’s capital and visit the original buildings, you will find verses of scripture from the Holy Bible chiseled in stone in most of them.
I might also add the first three words to the Preamble of our Constitution say, “We The People.” We have a system of government here in the United States where the power is invested in the people. However, we have let that concept slip away and now the power is invested in the hands of a few. When we have a religious observance, symbol or any other religious activity (especially if it’s Christian) that is deemed to be in the public square, all it takes is three people to remove it, or cease to exist, even if it’s gone on for decades and supported by more than 90 percent of the American people.
All it takes is one atheist, an ACLU lawyer and a liberal judge to stop or remove it. While this is just my thinking and I have not done a lot of research on it, here is what I believe could be a possible solution. In the spirit of American Democracy, let’s vote on it. When we have a religious tradition -- all religions and not just Christian -- that can be documented as having been a part of our culture for a decade or more, and some person or some group wants to remove it, let them begin a petition drive and secure eight percent of qualified voters in the state (and yes I believe it’s a state issue), and then place it on the ballot to be voted on by the people in the next general election.
This is something I can support and I believe most Americans will as well. This is the way we amend our constitution here in my state and perhaps yours as well. By law we can only have three proposed amendments each year and we vote them up or down. Why not add religious observances or symbols to this list. We vote on the lottery, marijuana, alcohol, abortion, casinos, tax proposals, and many other issues that impact the lives of our citizens, so why not something as important as preserving our religious and Christian heritage?
When this process takes place, then I can live with the decision of the majority of our qualified voters. But I see no justice in having a very small percentage of our citizens seek to have their will imposed on the vast majority of those who wish for our Judea-Christian heritage to remain strong. God has blessed this nation as no other in the history of mankind.
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a public speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034. To begin a bookcase literacy project visit www.bookcaseforeverychild.com. You won’t go wrong helping a needy child.)