The protective cloak of our Constitutional
rights used to be "one size fits all," but political correctness
seeks to increasingly alter them to fit liberals while conservatives (especially
Christians) are expected to stand and shiver in the cold. The First
Amendment guarantees freedom of religion: "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof..." Somewhere along the line, people have come to the
erroneous conclusion that the First Amendment was penned to protect people
from religion rather than to protect their right to express it.
On
May 14, the Washington Post reported that Attorney General John
Ashcroft has come under heavy fire for beginning each day with a Bible
study. Egads! Are these the same people who looked the other way when
Clinton started his work days cavorting with a young intern in the Oval
Office? The cries of "What he does in private is nobody's
business!" still echo today, yet the rules of where to apply this
concept seem to be in flux. If the public can turn the other cheek for
escapades of Clinton's magnitude, why are they causing such a fuss about
Ashcroft's morning devotions? Because, as the Apostle Paul tells Timothy
in 2 Tim. 3:1&4, "There will be terrible times in the last
days. People will be... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..."
If the Attorney General was trying to make a law
establishing Christianity as THE official religion of the United States,
then he would be breaking the law that he was sworn to uphold. If he was
preventing anyone who works under him from expressing differing religious
beliefs, then he would be equally out of line. But he is very much within
his Constitutional rights to begin his day with prayer and a study of
God's word. This gathering is open to all his staff, although it is not
required. The people who want to attend, do so. Those who do not want to,
do not have to, yet they still find reasons to whine. "It's
alienating," one lawyer said. "He's using public spaces to have
a personally meaningful event to which I would not be welcome, nor would I
feel welcome." Oh, paleeeze. Ashcroft made it clear that
anyone is welcome, but it is doubtful that the lawyer was invited to any
of Clinton's "personally meaningful events" with Monica Lewinski.
President George W. Bush is facing criticism for his
faith, as well. USA
Today on May 18 stated that he "starts every day on his
knees, praying. He reads the Bible each morning and studies a daily Bible
lesson." Why? ''I find great comfort in my faith. It helps me realize
that I am a person that has a lot of responsibility, but I am just a
person -- nothing more than a human being who seeks redemption, solace and
strength through something greater than me,'' he told Fox News last month.
It is a refreshing rarity in this self-centered world to see a man who, in
humility, seeks a strength bigger than his own. A man is never bigger than
when he is on his knees in prayer.
One would assume that Ashcroft, the head of the US legal
system, would have "done his homework" to make sure that he
wouldn't be placing himself in legal hot water by having morning devotions
with his coffee. As a matter of fact, he is much more aware of the proper
interpretation of law than the "separation of church and state"
soapbox squad. Perhaps that is what prompted him to make this perceptive
statement at a Christian Coalition event in 1998, "...a robed elite
have taken the wall of separation designed to protect the church and they
have made it a wall of religious oppression."
Jesus said it best in John 15:18-19, "If the
world hated you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to
the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to
the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world
hates you." Darkness will always be uncomfortable when confronted
by the Light of the Word. "Light has come into the world, but men
loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone
who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:19-20) That is the real reason
that people are offended. Don't be afraid to read your Bible at work or at
school. You have the right. V bm
