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A slippery slope

I don't usually delve into the realm of politics, but a certain attitude raising its ugly head in this country has me a bit concerned.

Setting the stage: Mr. Keith Ellison is a duly elected member of Congress. He is also a Muslim. While members of Congress (nor the President of the United States for that matter) do NOT place their hands on a Bible or any other book, some do carry a Bible to their swearing-in ceremony. Mr. Ellison has chosen to carry a Koran.

Oh my gosh...you'd think he had said he was going to march in naked carrying a greased pig. A firestorm of protest has arisen from certain Christians saying that this should not be allowed. We were, after all, founded as a Christian nation, and for him to carry a Koran is tantamount to heresy.

Well, I decided I would go down to Barnes and Noble and get myself a copy of the Constitution. I find nowhere in the original Constitution the word "religion" at all. The first time "religion" appears is in the First Amendment which states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Even the Presidential oath doesn't mention religion: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." No placing one's hand upon the Bible, or any other book. No promise to uphold the cause of Christianity or to spread the Gospel of Christ. Just a promise to uphold the Constitution.

But the clincher is in Article VI: "...no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

How much more clear do we want it? Mr. Ellison has just as much right to carry his Koran as I have to carry my Bible. People have fought and died to give him that right.

When we start denying a certain segment of the population the same rights and privileges that all other members of the population enjoy, based solely on a person's religion, or skin color, or gender, or whatever, we start falling down a very slippery slope indeed.

A friend emailed me with the following statement:
"Those who think Christians are "intolerant" of things like homosexuality, should try being a muslim, where the death penalty for that and other 'lesser' crimes is regularly, quickly, and quite happily enforced."

My point exactly! Once you start denying a certain segment of the population the same rights and priviliges as every other member of the population, you end up with the Taliban. Would you have us round up all the Muslims and put them in concentration camps? Would you have us start burning witches at the stake again? (After all, doesn't the Bible say we should not allow a witch to live?) First you can round up the Muslims, and then the Jews, and then all the Buddhists, and the satanists, and the athiests, oh and lets not forget the Native Americans who still worship in their old traditions. Where does it stop? And when somebody finally decides that your own theology is not up to par, what are you going to do when they come for you? Don't you see where such insular thinking eventually leads? God forbid we ever get to that point!

The Christian religion does not exactly have a great track record when it comes to violence and fairness. Think "Crusades." Think "holocaust." (Hitler was confirmed as a Catholic, for Heaven's sake...) Once we start denying people the right to be who they are we put another step on that slippery slope. And believe me, a Christian version of the Taliban wouldn't be any better than a Muslim one.

And let us not forget that some of the worst miscreants inhabiting the White House were Christians. Just think of the adultery of John Kennedy and Bill Clinton, just as an example. Christians are no more perfect in their lives as anybody else. To pretend that making this a "Christian nation" would somehow bring about peace in the world is folly at best.

I think our Founding Fathers knew what they were doing. They deliberately left religion out of the mix of government, which is where it belongs. And the places where religion intrudes it is only to say that government shouldn't meddle!

Now, you can say what you like about Mr. Ellison's politics. You may not approve of his stand on certain issues. But to reject out of hand a person based solely on his or her religion, or gender, or skin color, or any other arbitrary thing is the worst and most dangerous kind of prejudice.

I, for one, am proud to be an American. Yes, this country has its problems; but I am grateful to the men and women who defend and protect this nation that gives us the right to free discourse on matters that concern us. I am grateful to be a Christian, and to have the right to follow Christ as I see fit. And I am glad that so far we've not fallen all the way down the slippery slope of discrimination.