STP Speaks

What is it with these religious nuts who insist on calling for the violation of the constitutional amendment our Founding Fathers saw fit to write in as the FIRST??!! The latest is Katherine Harris from Florida (remember she was the Secretary of State during the first Presidential election.....you know the one with all the make-up)? Anyhoo, she told the Florida Baptist Witness (a Florida Baptist State Convention journal) that separating religion and politics is wrong because "God is the one who chooses our rulers". She also said, according to a CNN article, that electing non-Christians is essentially legislating sin. Scary stuff, for anyone who believes differently.

I know that Christians don't have a monopoly on highjacking governments - but they sure seem to be trying real hard to do it in this country. From President Bush on down to local legislators here in MO and KS there has been a real shift in politics. The question is, have they gone too far? In Kansas, the controlling members of the state school board recently lost power in the August election. Since 1998, the school board has changed hands twice, resulting in anti-evolution standards, then back to evolution friendly standards - coming and going with alarming frequency. This debate will seemingly go on and on. In Missouri, we have the stem cell initiative which will be voted on in the November elections.

Some folks are still calling for school prayer. A relative of mine insists that it would cure all the ills in society if we would just have kids pray in class. In 2005, a Gallup poll showed that a majority of Americans favor voluntary prayer in school, but only 25% favor a spoken prayer. The majority prefer a moment of silence. This is encouraging, but it seems like we need more education on constitutional issues in our public schools. I don't remember having much of this during my high school civics classes. A good working understanding of the Constitution along with some basic caselaw on hot topics like this could go a long way in helping to educate the general public why our laws are what they are. People may still disagree, but at least they would have access to the debate and why our courts have ruled the way they have on certain issues.

It seems we do have a chance for change if we liberals and moderate conservatives join to vote for that change. Hopefully, the pendulum will swing the other way by this November.