I don't know who's responsible for it, but I would very much like to take him or her out for a drink--and then plant a big sloppy wet one right on his/her lips. The First Freedom First campaign, a joint effort of the Interfaith Alliance and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, has put together an amazing ad campaign of television and print media ads urging (largely presidential, but the principle applies up and down the electoral chain as far as I'm concerned) candidates to protect Americans' religious freedom--including their right to be free from religion in their day-to-day lives, and their right not to have their government co-opted by people of one particular (and particularly narrow) faith.
There are three spots at the YouTube link provided above. Two feature Jack Klugman, and one features James Whitmore. Whitmore's spot and one of Klugman's come in both 30-second and 60-second varieties. The ads will be running in South Carolina ahead of their primary election later this month.
It's things like this campaign that make me think this nation might be worth saving--and that there are still a few people left in it who want to make the effort. It's things like this campaign that let me know the internet is a positive force in society and isn't just a convenient vehicle for endless spam about breast or penis enlargement, casino gambling, every possible variety of pornography, and how to get rich quickly by buying a diploma from a "prestigious online university" or getting in touch with the confidential agent for a relative of some fabulously wealthy deceased dictator who needs a convenient place to launder some ill-gotten gains.
This is what the First Amendment means. It means that I cannot be prevented from practicing my religious faith as I feel called to do, and neither can I be forced to worship in any way that I consider to be invalid or improper. But neither can I insist that everyone else practice either my faith, or in exactly the same way I do. My atheist neighbor has the right not to worship at all. He can't force me to convert to his beliefs, and neither can I force him to convert to mine. That's the sheer beauty of the system the Framers put in place when they drew up the Constitution. It gives everyone living within the borders of this nation the freedom to make his or her own choices about what to believe in and how to live in accordance with those beliefs.
It is an outright lie, and worse, one intended to deceive people, that the United States was founded as a "Christian" nation. Want proof of that? It's right there in black and white in the Treaty of Tripoli, which was signed November 4, 1796, approved by President John Adams, and unanimously ratified by the Senate on June 10, 1797. Article 11 of that treaty, as translated from the Arabic original, reads:
As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
The Christianists, and their dupes or masters (I'm not sure which term is most appropriate) in Congress behind the infamous H. Res. 888 [PDF link], would have us believe that this treaty is of little importance and that yes, indeed, Virginia, the United States was most definitely founded as a "Christian nation." The problem with that argument (if such a thin, paltry thread can legitimately be called by that name) begins with the fact that nowhere in any of our foundational documents is anything said about our allegedly Christian roots. There are only a handful of references to God in either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, and those that are present are vague, euphemistic, and almost certainly not intended to refer to the god worshiped by the Christianists. But the bigger problem for their line of rhetoric can be found in the second clause of Article VI of the Constitution:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land...
Oops.
And that's why the First Freedom First campaign is so brilliant. It utterly destroys the notion that rejecting the Christianist bilge about America being a "Christian" nation and the idea that the separation of church and state is a late, secularist intrusion onto the original faith-based heritage of our founding fathers and mothers means that one is automatically opposed to religion. At the same time, it demonstrates that not all people of faith fall into the same camp as the tighty righties.
It's absolutely no skin off my nose (or any other body part) what religion my neighbors subscribe to. Or my elected officials. Or my colleagues at work, my fellow students, my instructors, or anyone else. It's not my place to tell them how to believe, and I would very much appreciate the same courtesy from all of them. Neither is it my pastor's place, nor my bishop's, nor the pope's, to tell me how I should vote or how the United States should order its civic institutions or what laws it should or should not pass and enforce. Asking God to bless America does not imply that God does not, cannot, or should not bless each and every other nation on this planet. Misfortunes and disasters that occur in America are not signs of divine disfavor--and anyone who tells you that they are is lying to you, deceiving him/herself, or has some ulterior motive: and possibly all three. As Jesus told his followers in the Sermon on the Mount, God's sun shines upon the righteous and upon the wicked, and God's rain falls upon the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45)
I do not need everyone in America (or the world) to think and to believe and to worship as I do. In fact, I rather like the fact that this is not the case. It gives me an opportunity, at least once in a while, to see how other people do it. Nor does it worry me in the slightest that there are people in the world who do not believe at all. They are neither more nor less likely to be good citizens, good neighbors, and upstanding people than my fellow Catholics whom I see every week at Mass. I've often wondered at the apparent insecurity of people who seem to feel that unless everyone believes, thinks, and worships as they do, there is something wrong. The God in whom I believe and to whom I offer my worship is not nearly so petty as some of those who claim to follow him and call upon his name to curse me and anyone like me.
They certainly have every civil right to do that. Just as I have every civil right to call them members of the ignorant tight-ass club who couldn't reason their way out of a wet paper bag to save their wretched lives. What they don't have any right to do is to pass laws that infringe upon my right to call their doctrines a pathetic misinterpretation of Jesus's Gospel of love, to make me a second-class citizen (or to strip me of my citizenship altogether) because of my religious beliefs, my political beliefs, or any other irrelevant characteristic. Nor do I have the right to legislate the Christianists out of existence or to exclude them from the body politic just because I find both their dogma and their tactics abhorrent.
Which is why the First Freedom First ads are such a welcome arrival on the campaign trail. I would love to find that they provoked some serious and long-overdue conversations between citizens and those whom they elect to represent them about issues of faith and spirituality that really matter--instead of the usual pabulum, and the not-so-veiled attack ads against candidates whose religious views do not sit well with the Christianists (John Kerry's Catholicism in 2004, and Mitt Romney's Mormonism in 2008 being prime examples). If you agree with me, drop by First Freedom First and show them some love. Sign their petition. Drop them a little coin if you have it to spare. Tell your friends and family members.
Thanks for posting this! If you loved the ad campaign, you will REALLY love the simulcast event!
On Wednesday, March 26, in 25 theaters across the country, First Freedom First presents: "Everything you always wanted to know about Separation of Church and State ... but were afraid to ask!"
The 90 minute program is FREE. You simply need to reserve a seat, and can do so by visiting the First Freedom First web site at www.firstfreedomfirst.org
Check the listing, for a theater near you!
BAC
Posted by: BAC | Tuesday, 11 March 2008 at 21:45