The Letter of the Law

The season to be jolly is upon us! The mall is fashioned with Christmas decorations, stores are tripling their advertising budgets, families are hanging festive lights throughout their homes, and yes, that is a Christmas tree at the State House. The fact that any state official of any party would even consider to change the name of a rich, cultural symbol once again only proves our elected officials will do anything to divert attention away from the dismal RI economy. Do we call the Menorah Holiday Candles, or the Quran the Holiday Book? Of course not, that would just be silly. We as a society are called to openly accept and tolerate the entities of faith that are so
dear to our citizens, whether we personally agree with it or not. So to everyone one at the State House – it’s a Christmas tree, always has been, always will be; now do your job and get RI back to work.

However, the primary issue is not what nickname some governor would like to give a Christmas Tree, but how the secular left continues to use false propaganda to mislead constitutional truths. You will often hear secularists use the phrase “separation between Church and State,” however, what you will not hear them say is that this phrase is not in the US Constitution. In fact, this phrase cannot be found in any law or bill. This phrase was simply mentioned in a letter from President Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802. That’s it; it was simply a phrase in a presidential letter. Can you imagine what would happen if judges ruled not based on laws passed by Congress but on letters sent by President Obama or President Bush? It is absurd to even contemplate such a notion.

This association of Baptist churches feared government oppression restricting their freedom to profess their faith openly due to the minority status of their church. It sounds quite similar to today’s government imposing laws that conflict with one’s conscience. In a letter confirming the protection of the ability to openly proclaim one’s faith in public Jefferson writes, “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”

So this is the simple phrase of Thomas Jefferson, in a letter, not a congressional bill, which the secularists have blown out of proportion to keep religion from society. In fact, Jefferson’s intent was not for the government to oppress the Baptists of their free right to exercise their faith in public, or for government to change the name of religious symbols such as a Christmas Tree or Menorah, but rather government would protect the rights for individuals to exercise their faith openly and freely in public as well as the heritage that allows such an exercise of faith. This bill states that the government cannot impose one single national religion for all religions and that heritages can be openly celebrated, not oppressed.

So Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah to you and your family! And if anyone tries to oppress your right to celebrate this holiday in public, remember: the US Congress passed a bill signed by the President of the United States, which was passed by the Supreme Court declaring Christmas as a national holiday. And last I checked, a passed law has precedent over a letter by a president.