Letter to the Editor: Prayer is a free exercise for all
Michael Zubick stated that President Obama could have done no greater service to our country than canceling the National Day of Prayer. Is he truly so consumed by his desire to flush religion down the drain?
With such problems as America’s economy, the war against terrorism and natural catastrophes so prominent in our modern world, he believes that the President of the United States of America can do no greater favor than to cancel the National Day of Prayer?
Either he considers America’s president to be an unintelligent derelict, incapable of performing his job, or he has an extreme prejudice against religion which olds precedence over all other problems in the world.
It does not take an intelligent individual to discern that there are more important problems in the world to be dealt with than their own prejudice.
One of his beliefs is that prayer, being a symbol of religion, “should be kept private.”
Either he voices his opinion because he believe something should be done about it, or he simply like letting people know how he feels, though these feelings have absolutely no conviction behind them and are simply fleeting ideas. I assure the latter is not true. yet the enforcement of such an idea, that prayer and other symbols of religion should be kept private, would be a violation of the Constitution. For it says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
The “free exercise thereof ” consists in part of the freedoms of religion and speech.
In his column, Zubick brought up the above excerpt about congress making no law respecting the establishment of any religions. I assume Zubick understands what that means? If not, all it’s saying is that congress is prohibited from establishing a national church. They set up this safeguard to avoid the same persecution that their forefathers underwent over 100 years before them.
I have addressed some of the misconceptions in Zubick’s column “Where Do We Draw The Line?”. Though there is more to discuss, this is supposed to be kept brief.
Justin Straka
Future Ole Miss student
Port Gibson, Miss.
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Comments
What I find most amusing about young Justin's fairly vapid letter is the following question: What would his reaction be if Obama and/or Congress had changed the name of the day in question to "National Day of Prayer and/or Salah," the latter being the practice of praying in the direction of Mecca as is done by observant Muslims? Such a proclamation would not place any obligation on non-Muslims to pray in that manner. It would just be an acknowledgment that Muslims have a different name for prayer. And yet, I have a strong suspicion that Justin would not welcome such a change as being protected under the Free Exercise Clause. On the contrary, I suspect he would respond to such a change with purple-faced rage, as would most members of that branch of Christianity who spend every waking moment looking for a reason to feel oppressed.
Oh well, JD Griffith is graduating soon. Hurry up and get here, Justin. We need another small-minded Christianist Republican to tell us what Glenn Beck said last night.
Where did this myth come from that the First Amendment only prevented the government from establishing a national church? Jefferson himself said the intent of the law was for "building a wall of separation between church and state." If you are unclear of the intent of a Founding Father, you've got it.
I object to that National Day of Prayer because I believe in the right of conscience. A government that compels me when and how to pray through the National Day of Prayer violates that right and it violates the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment. Removing the National Day of Prayer strengths religious freedom for all Americans because it puts the responsibility of prayer on the individual.
Mr. Straka,
Since you're still in high school, not to mention in one of the lowest literacy rated areas of the state, I'll go easy on you. First, I've written here for over a year and been in school here for 4, and have covered all of the topics you feel are more important. I know you're proud of being one of 90,000 accepted students for the Fall of 2010-2011, but seriously, you don't try to "punch the biggest guy in jail" before you even get there.
Furthermore, kid, you know not what you speak of. Congress not passing a law respecting religion means exactly that. Oh, and by the way, your argument is even more flawed simply because you prove yourself wrong by including the freedom of expression part. It proves my point for me. Freedom of expression means the freedom to pray, not making a holiday to pray. By endorsing any religious holidays on a federal level, congress is endorsing that religion, and is therefore introducing a state church.
Maybe, after POL 101, or a few classes not taught by "coach" under your belt, you'll better understand our system of government. I recommend Prof. Winkle's POL Con Law classes.
If Journalism is what you are pursuing, helpful tip. When writing for publication, make sure to leave your punctuation inside the quotation. It's a little something called the AP Stylebook, your student loans should more than cover a copy for you.
Good luck at Ole Miss. You're lucky you caught me in a transition period right now with graduating college and all, something statistically someone from your town will have a hard time doing. Enjoy your time here, for what it's worth..even if you only make it one semester.
Love,
'2010
PS - I'm Jewish, and the 20 shekels was worth it.
God is Dead. Yahweh was the last god left..he died because of his compassion.