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| Howard |
"I'm certainly not going to run down there and take the picture down because some group from Madison, Wisconsin who knows nothing about the culture of our community or why the picture is even there, wants me to take it down," Howard barked at a television station.
To him, the picture had “historic significance.”
This week, the picture was removed.
Historic significance has no standing when competing against religious freedom. To someone like Howard, that’s the freedom to impose his faith on others. To the courts, the opposite is true.
The Warner Sallman print, titled “the Head of Christ” came off the wall of
Royster Middle School with little fanfare after the school’s legal counsel
agreed its presence violated the principle of separation of church and state."I conferred with legal counsel and both of them told me to be in compliance with state and federal law that we had to have it removed," Chanute Public Schools Superintendent Richard Proffitt said in a published report.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation, the Wisconsin-based organization that pushed the case, pointed out that courts have been clear: Religious symbols don't belong in public schools.
Does it matter?
Absolutely, particularly considering the statements of Republican presidential candidates who want to impose their religious views on the rest of us.
 |
| Bush |
Jeb
Bush,a convert to Catholicism who is actually the front-runner despite his current malaise, noted that
religion informs his actions. He pushed
for new abortion restrictions during his reign of error as governor of Florida,
highlighted by his efforts to keep a dead woman in
a vegetative state for 15 years on life support. When Terry Schiavo’s husband
wanted her feeding tubes removed, in accordance to the woman’s expressed
wishes, Bush ordered the tubes reinserted only to be overruled by a federal
court.
Ohio Governor John Kasich announced his candidacy by claiming he has a “calling” and by citing Bible verses.
 |
| Cruz |
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said God doesn’t give him a
to-do list, but He “calls me to live by His will.”
Florida Senator Marco Rubio said, “Faith in our
Creator is the most important American value of all.”
 |
| Christie |
“No rights are
given to you by government. All our rights are given to you by God,” insisted
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Mike Huckaby
added, “Spiritual convictions should certainly be reflected in one’s worldview,
approaches to problems and perspective.”
In answer to a
question, surgeon Ben Carson couldn’t decide if as president he would be sworn to
uphold the Constitution or the Bible.
Here’s the response to all of them: American culture has no religion. No one in this
country, of any faith, can be forced to participate in the belief system of someone
else. That is the basic tenet of this country and the golden aspect that
separates it from any other.
One more thing to think about: according to studies, only 34 percent of
registered Republicans today can be classified as "highly religious
Protestant Republicans.”
That should create an entirely different picture for candidates
chasing the ever-shrinking religious right vote.
Long-time
religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious
history. He also speaks at various
religious organizations throughout Florida.
You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net. He is the author of the famed Unauthorized
Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel
Writers Get Their Information; Noel:
The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Dummies Guide to Comparative
Religion. His most recent book is Passover in Prison, which
details abuse of Jewish inmates in American prisons. His books are available on Amazon.com,
Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.
He can also be followed on Twitter.
You
can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion for Dummies, at
http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1
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