RELIGION: Let freedom rule

The “Freedom from Religion Foundation,” which wants to remove the 10 Commandments monument from Farmin Park in Sandpoint, in their atheistic zeal to remove any mention of God from any phase of community life, has crossed the line between rights and persecution.

Not only are they discriminating against Christian beliefs, their agenda is also anti-Semitic.

As Pastor Van Noy of Candlelight Christian Fellowship in Coeur d’Alene pointed out last Sunday, The 10 Commandments are Jewish in origin.

The present theory of Separation of Church and State is far from the Founding Fathers’ intent. They did not want the government dictating Church policy — as it was in England.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Well, Congress has never been guilty of regulating religion. Congress is not anti-religious. They still have a chaplain who prays an invocation before each session. Our currency still says “In God we trust.”

It is the Supreme Court judges, usurping congressional authority and legislating from the bench, who have done all they can to suppress religion. Instead of being advocates of religious rights, they have become the adversaries of religion.

The word “establishment” in the First Amendment is used as a noun (person, place or thing). The Supreme Court has chosen to use it as a verb (action word), thus their faulty interpretation means establishing a religion. Again, Congress has never done so, but the Supreme Court, by its misguided interpretation, has apparently decided to protect us from God. They have made themselves the gods of this land.

Hurrah for the citizens of Sandpoint and Bonner County who turned out to protest the possible removal of the monument. I call upon the officials of Sandpoint not to cave in to the demands of this heathen organization. “Political correctness” is what is destroying this country. Make a stand for righteousness instead.

ED TORRENCE

Coeur d’Alene