The bill for establishing religious freedom, the principles of which had, to a certain degree, been enacted before, I had drawn in all the latitude of reason and right. It still met with opposition; but, with some mutilations in the preamble, it was finally passed; and a singular proposition proved that its protection of opinion was meant to be universal. Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word "Jesus Christ," so that it should read, "a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination..
Thomas Jefferson wrote those words in his Autobiography in 1821.
I came across this passage today as I was searching for some historical perspective on the current attack on our judicial system, in conjunction with the rise of religious extremism in America.
The diary written by
philinmaine pointing out Sandra Day O'Connor's fears of our Democracy being undermined is scary. In fact reading the words from former justice O'Connor seemed almost surreal.
I'm not a Constitutional scholar, nor have any advance back ground in the exact history surrounding the times of the formation of the Constitution, but what I do know is that this document was created during a time that is now called the Age of Enlightenment.
The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century, and is often thought of as part of a larger period which includes the Age of Reason. This movement advocated rationality as a means to establish an authoritative system of ethics, aesthetics, and knowledge. The intellectual leaders of this regarded their purpose as leading the world toward progress and out of a long period of doubtful tradition, full of irrationality, superstition, and tyranny (which they believed began during a historical period they called the "Dark Ages").
Fast forwad 200 years and we have what seems for all intensive purposes the beginning of a slide back to the Dark Ages.
Ahh yes, you will say that is extreme, and an irresponsible statement. But really is it?
Justice O'Connor pointed out that the attacks that are being levied upon the judicial system are being conducted by the Republican Elite. Who are unabashedly attached at the hip, and heart, with the religious right. These people have an agenda, and ideology, which they wish to push upon our society.
The problem they have is this pesky thing called the Constitution and the laws of this country. They seem to not fit into their idea of a perfect society. So how do they fix that? Undermine the judicial system.
The judicial system is the only branch of government that is there to protect the American Citizen. It is the last defense from bullies, ideologues, and criminals.
The rise of religious extremism is becoming a very real problem to the future of our Democracy. When the government can be put into action to sign emergency legislation, written in a matter of hours, to stop a plug from being pulled from a brain dead woman's life support, solely based on ideological, not rational, grounds, then we have a problem. And when this same government, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, can't be bothered for several days while a major American city is wiped from the face of the planet, we have a problem.
Not only is this dangerous path eroding our judicial system, but it is also undermining the advancement of scientific knowledge in this country.
The current New Yorker Magazine has an article detailing how this administration has systematically reduced our government funded science programs to the level of a high school chemistry class.
For a while in response to the use of condoms and their in-effectiveness the National Cancer Institute web site (government run) replaced pages that had been there for years with pages...
that suggested, without evidence, that there might be a correlation between abortion and breast cancer
A slide back into the Dark Ages? An irresponsible comment?
In 2004, the Bush administration forbade American researchers working for the Department of Health and Human Services, to travel and lend expertise to the World Health Organization, without permission. If you were granted permission, or I should say, if you are (since the practice is still in effect)...
You have to first agree to advocate U.S. policy. The practical implication are both chilling and farcical.
That same year 150 government researchers (scientists) were prevented from traveling to the International Aids Conference.
Why?
The decision came after the organizer of the conference refused a request by the U.S. to invite the evangelist Franklin Graham to give a speech promoting faith-based solutions to the AIDS epidemic.
A slide back into the Dark Ages? An irresponsible comment?
There are usually hundreds of advisory committees attached to scientific institutions in the United States. They're usually filled by both experts and by representatives of the public, and they oversee most decisions. Since President Bush took office, some of the most political sensitive committees have been dissolved. Others have been transformed into platforms the Administration can use to purse its social goals. When members of such boards do speak out against White House policies they have been removed.
In 2004 the White House dismissed Elizabeth Blackburn, a renowned cell biologist at the University of California at San Francisco, from the President's Council on Bioethics. Blackburn is a supporter of human embryonic stem-cell research.
Diana Schaub, who teaches political science at Loyola College, in Baltimore, was then names to the committee. Schaub has compared the harvesting of stem cells to slavery, and once said in a speech, "Every embryo used for the purpose of research is someone's blood relative."
The article continues to document and catalogue situation after situation, where we had a chance to do something positive for scientific research, but it was stymied by this administration which guides all of their scientific principles by what's written in a confusing 2000 year old book.
The rise of religious extremism in this country is real, and it is chipping away at our Democracy each and every day. Our courts are being undermined, our scientific endeavors are being squashed, and are freedoms, are freedoms are being choked by the stench rising from the Dark Ages.
Dr. Wafa Sultan is a Syrian-American psychiatrist living outside Los Angeles. She recently did a blunt and provocative interview on Al Jazeera television in which she blast Muslim extremist. I watched the video a few days ago and thought this story would never see the light of day, but it is currently on the front page of the NYT web-site.
She has allot to say but what really sent a chill down my spine was when she said...
The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy.
The religious right in this country are trying to do what the Taliban did in Afghanistan in 2001. Instead of blowing up three Buddhist statues, they are trying to blow a hole large enough in the Constitution to render it useless. It's a document that get's in the way of their "true" document.
Please watch Wafa Sultan's interview here. It gave me chills. If only we could have dialogue as blunt and fresh on CNN, or MSNBC.
Since I started with a quote from Thomas Jefferson lets part with one.
The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.