Origins
Meaning
Morality
Destiny
HOW did i (and everybody else) get here?
WHY are we here? Is there a purpose to our existence?
WHAT do we do? Are there rules for our existence?
WHEN we die, what happens? Is there a soul?
For all of human history, since man has been able to contemplate & record his thoughts, these questions have been gnawing at us. From time to time, some people have claimed 'special insight' for the answers, & have constructed plausible scenarios for these questions. This is what i will call, 'Religion'. It is an attempt to define & solve these basic questions of the Universe.
It does not matter how far back you go in history. It does not matter who the philosopher, guru, wise man, scientist, or thinker of great thoughts is, they wrote, spoke, & obsessed over the Basic Questions of life.
Now you may ask, 'What does this have to do with the separation of church & state?' It is a long way around to this issue, but it is necessary to define the basic terms & concepts.
In the human experience, there are 2 basic expressions of Religion: Institutional & Individual. We have constructed institutions to be the caretakers & managers of our philosophies of life. Most of these are found as churches or organizations that reflect the opinion of the founders. But there are also individual beliefs & opinions that do not fit neatly into any particular institution.
I would also like to point out some basic Truths about humanity & the Big Questions:
1. NOBODY really knows the answers to these questions. There are only beliefs.
2. Atheism, agnosticism, pantheism, absurdism, theism, & ANY speculation about these Questions are ALL beliefs.
3. There are NO empirical answers for any of these questions. They are outside of scientific methodology.
4. Truth is not a democratic process, but there is not even a consensus among humans to the Absolute Truth of the Questions.
5. Since ANY belief about the basic questions of life are purely BELIEF & conjecture, & since the questions are outside the realm of empiricism & scientific inquiry, ANY & ALL beliefs about these Questions are Religious & philosophical.
For most of human history, including now, a Majority Opinion was the consensus in a society. There was little tolerance for diverse views on these things, & conformity was expected. Wars, force, & conflict were & are common strategies for persuasion of a particular philosophical world view. The American Experiment was born as an attempt at self rule, & was a utopian dream of human governance. The religious/philosophical question was addressed in these 2 basic concepts:
Govt was to secure freedom of religion. This is the 'free exercise' clause.
Govt was NOT to 'establish' or give any preference to any religion. This is the 'establishment' clause.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ~1st Amendment
For the next 200 yrs or so, there have been various interpretations & explanations by the supreme court on this phrase. In most instances, there was no conflict with any expressions of belief by individuals, or any 'free exercise' parts of human belief. The 10 commandments on the courthouse, or a nativity scene in the city square were not considered to be violations of the establishment clause. God was mentioned freely in all human institutions.. education, govt, media, law. Prayers were (and are) offered before congressional sessions & other public settings. The religious beliefs of the majority opinion were allowed expression without violating any minority beliefs. The roots of America were based on Christian biblical principles of human equality, Natural Law, & freedom. These were Enlightenment concepts, & they were incorporated into the founding of this radical new expression of human governance.
The Majority Religious Opinion
Here are the summary premises as a basis for further analysis:
1. ALL beliefs about the 'Questions' are Religious & philosophical.
2. America was founded upon the utopian dream of free exercise, & non establishment by govt in matters of religious expression.
Ideally, the collective organization (aka, govt) should be indifferent to any 'free exercise' of religious expression, & only inserts itself if there is a conflict between the beliefs of one violating the rights of another. That is the role of the courts, to adjudicate any disputes between the citizens. For most of the history of America, there was no conflict with a nativity scene, or some other expression of religious faith by the citizens. The 'majority view' was primarily theistic, & specifically christian.
But as is often the case in human society, changes bring new dynamics. The sense of tolerance & diversity about religious beliefs, that was the basis for the American ideal, has changed with a new majority ideology. What was once 'endowed by the Creator' is now 'granted by the state.' Naturalism has replaced Natural Law. I see the changes illustrated by a few highlights in court decisions.
- 1925- the state of Tennessee passes a law banning the teaching of evolution in public school. It went to court, in what has been called the 'Scopes monkey trial'. Many other states followed suit, banning the teaching of evolution. The tennessee law was upheld initially.
- 1967 – Tennessee repeals the Butler Act, the law that banned the teaching of evolution in public schools.
- 1968 – In Epperson v. Arkansas, the Supreme Court strikes down an Arkansas law banning the teaching of evolution.
- 1973 – Tennessee passes a law requiring that public schools give equal emphasis to "the Genesis account in the Bible" along with other theories about the origins of man.
- 1975 – Tennessee's "equal time" law is declared unconstitutional by a federal appeals court.
- 1982 — In McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education, a U.S. district judge strikes down an Arkansas law that required public schools to give "balanced treatment" to evolution and creationism whenever either was taught.
- 1987 – In Edwards v. Aguillard, the Supreme Court rules that a Louisiana law requiring public schools to give "balanced treatment" to creationism and evolution is unconstitutional.
- 1990 - In Webster v. New Lenox School District, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals found that a school district may prohibit a teacher from teaching creation science.
- 1994, in Peloza v. Capistrano School District, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court finding that a teacher's First Amendment right to free exercise of religion is not violated by a school district's requirement that evolution be taught in biology classes.
- 2005 - in Selman et al. v. Cobb County School District et al., U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper ruled that a evolution warning label required in Cobb County textbooks violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The disclaimer stickers stated, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."
What is interesting to me, is the slow change from one view to the other, & the transition from one being the 'banned' view, into the other now being the 'banned' view. Neither have any empirical evidence of absolute Truth, & both are merely OPINIONS about the origins of man. Yet we have officially transitioned from one 'majority view' exclusive opinion to the other, in the short span of a few decades. This example is easy to follow, as you can see in the court rulings the gradual changes from one to the other.
But this is only one reflection of the majority opinion of Naturalism. It has become the de facto 'religion' of the day, & dominates all of our institutions, especially in the public arena.
The irony to me, is that naturalism used the 'tolerance' & 'free exercise' principles in the constitution to find public validity, & is now using its majority opinion to squash any dissent from alternate views. In matters of free expression, secular humanism & other flavors of naturalism carry the 'religion' label, but in matters of establishment, they disavow the 'religion' label in favor of the 'science' label.
Secular humanism has been defined as a 'religion' by the supreme court (Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 1961) . It is, in fact, a belief system about the universe, origins, the nature of man.. it is an attempt to answer the 'How, Why, When, & What' of our existence.
Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism, and others. See Washington Ethical Society v. District of Columbia, 101 U.S. App. D.C. 371, 249 F.2d 127; Fellowship of Humanity v. County of Alameda, 153 Cal. App. 2d 673, 315 P.2d 394; II Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences 293; 4 Encyclopedia Britannica (1957 ed.) 325-327; 21 id., at 797; Archer, Faiths Men Live By (2d ed. revised by Purinton), 120-138, 254-313; 1961 World Almanac 695, 712; Year Book of American Churches for 1961, at 29, 47. footnote 11 from the case
In summary, the concept of the 'separation of church & state', while lofty & ideal, seems to be impossible with humans how they are. All they do is go from one majority enforced view to another, in the realm of religious & philosophical beliefs. Even in the melting pot of America, where diversity & tolerance is celebrated, an exclusive view seizes control, & its followers demand strict adherence to the tenets of the faith. American once had a majority view of christian theism, but is now mostly transitioned completely to naturalism. It has taken over in most expressions of Law, & is decidedly intolerant toward any competition of other world views. Science is misused, & indoctrination is the preferred method of instruction in this ideology.
