Column for April 26, 2007

Tell the ACLU to "Shove it!"

The American Civil Liberties Union. Now there is an oxymoron if I ever heard one. The organization is certainly not "American", nor does it stand for civil liberties. If anything, it exists to destroy such liberties and replace them with more governmental regulation and usurpation of freedom.

For those of you who did not read last week's "Selma News", there was a front page article on the ACLU wanting the Town of Selma to immediately cease opening the town council meetings with "sectarian prayer". I suppose they want one of three things; pray in the name of nobody in particular, have prayer represented by each religion possibly represented in this nation, or no prayer at all.

I find it absurd that denying a tradition and spiritual act that has been a foundation of this nation is somehow forbidden by the very documents of that foundation. That would be like someone proving from The Bible that Jesus forbade the worship of God. I know that some denominations do that very thing concerning spiritual gifts, but that is another topic for another day.

The ACLU is not about civil liberties. It is about money and power. The modus operandi of that organization is to sue towns, counties, states, and the federal government, to allegedly rectify some wrong. Basically, the ACLU has found a way to extort money out of government coffers, meaning us taxpayers, under the guise of representing a tiny fraction of the populace who are somehow being denied civil liberties by the rest of us enjoying and employing our own liberties. The ACLU then collects money for legal fees from local governments for waging their evil war on these same governments. Our tax dollars are paying for the erosion of our own civil liberties by a group claiming to protect them. In addition, the ACLU gets a lot of money from liberal, secularist, God hating groups of people.

To extrapolate an opening prayer at a local town or county government meeting into a violation of "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" is ludicrous. First, a town or county (the ACLU has sued Forsyth County for this very thing) is not Congress. The amendment pertains to acts of Congress, not states, counties, or municipalities. Second, the original intent of the writers of that amendment and the entire Constitution is crystal clear for those willing to accept it. The "founding fathers" wrote more than just that one document. They wrote quite a bit in newspapers, essays, letters, and the like, as well.

Benjamin Franklin was arguably one of the more secular individuals in the group of founders. He signed the Declaration of Independence, signed the Constitution, and was a Governor of Pennsylvania. He wrote, "I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more clergy of the city be requested to officiate in that service." Does that sound like he wanted there to be no prayer before a meeting of Congress? Only a twisted, perverted view of First Amendment interpretation can lead to the belief that the amendment means exactly the opposite of what it says. We could have a long discussion about Supreme Court rulings and original intent regarding "separation of church and state". However, that will take more space than I have in my little column, so contact me if you want more information on that topic.

The ACLU claims that they received a complaint by an individual. I declare that this individual should be named publicly along with the date of the complaint, and the exact nature of said complaint. If an individual has a problem with how the town handles its affairs, the first place to turn is to the town for a redress of grievances rather than to some secularizing group that intends to relieve the vast majority of our rights. This catering to the small minority paradigm is pure stupidity. Quite honestly, anyone who believes in the ACLU's mission, tactics, and method of funding is, in my opinion, intellectually dishonest at best.

It is my hope that the town council here in Selma will, as other towns and counties have done, stand and defend its rights and those of its citizens. There are plenty of resources and organizations that are willing to join this fight. Forsyth County has decided to fight this battle, and The Alliance Defense Fund has stepped up to the plate on their behalf. Some battles are just worth fighting, and this is one of them.