Freedoms are only as good as their keepers
by Barry Henderson
The myth of the opening of Pandora's Box isn't in the Bible, not in either Testament. It's a Greek folk tale, but the outcome of its meaning can hardly be illustrated better than when anyone seeks to tamper with the U.S. Constitution's 1st Amendment. All of the Constitution's protections should be held holy, but the Establishment Clause in particular is under challenge right now, and the evils that surge from and among those who test it are plentiful.
Just how quickly and objectionably a mortal can stretch an inch into a mile was demonstrated earlier this month by a Kansas preacher, the irreverent Fred Phelps, who announced that he wanted to erect a 6-foot granite monument in the Greene County, Tenn. courthouse, condemning to an eternity in hell a young gay man who was ruthlessly beaten to death and who's become a martyr to the right of free choice in matters sexual.
The sheer ugliness of the idea should turn the stomach of all Americans, regardless of their spirituality. It did not sit well with officials of Greene County, either, although they brought it on themselves by thumbing their noses at the Constitution. The county commissioners there called attention to their jurisdiction by passing the so-called God resolution, in effect declaring that He was the source of all things American. That came on the heels of their vote to post the Ten Commandments in the courthouse, and it gave Phelps his opening.
A court ruling last year held that any government entity that displays the Ten Commandments must also display monuments of other religious groups. The court may have meant well, guaranteeing the right of religious expression to everyone, but government entities are no place for such expression, as separation of church from state dictates.
Phelps threatened to picket the Greeneville entity if it refused, which it did. He has yet to storm the courthouse, but Greene County Mayor Roger Jones, in a statement sounding a little like W's infamous goading of Iraqi terrorists with a "Bring 'em on," said, "If they (the Phelpsites) want to come down here and picket, come on."
Jones sent copies of the county's God legislation to all counties in Tennessee and, predictably, a few counties adopted it. Jones said he didn't regret the move, explaining that people from all over the country have praised the resolution. No doubt. There are religious zealots everywhere, but none so zealous as Phelps and his self-righteous, terrible to-hell-with-homosexuals stance.
You see how easily the sublime can turn into the ridiculous?
Alan Simpson saw it, and when the always articulate and sometimes caustic former U.S. senator from Wyoming was scored publicly by Phelps as a "fag-enabler" for supporting gestures of tolerance, he responded in typical Simpson fashion. He shot back with a letter, making certain the media saw it, too.
"I just wanted to alert you to the fact that some dizzy ass is sending out mailings and e-mails from the Westboro Baptist Church—and using your name!", Simpson's letter said.
"I'm certain that you would not want this to continue or some less-alert citizen might think that you, yourself had done it. We know that is surely not the case, because you are a God-fearing Christian person filled to the brim with forbearance, tolerance and love—and this other goofy homophobe nut must be someone totally opposite."
"Quite Sincerely, Al Simpson."
Ahh, we should have elected him president instead of letting him retire to Wyoming to teach.
But back to Tennessee. The Knox County Commission wisely voted to withdraw the God resolution from its agenda a month ago because many of its members saw where it could lead. Even they are astonished by the ill-minded chutzpah and reprehensibility of the Phelps proposal, but they are worried that they'll have to deal again with the movement to give God official government credit for the foundations of our American heritage. It's possible to credit Him unofficially, of course, but if you do, you should remember the Biblical admonition to "render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." That was Jesus of Nazareth who was quoted there. He knew the difference; why can't county officials understand it? Liberty is for everyone, regardless of faith. All Americans have an inalienable right to be free of governmental meddling in religion.
That brings us back around to the former senator, the pride of Cody, Wyo. He's the guy who spoke to the protections of our Constitution in terms that state the case for our freedoms perhaps best of all living patriots.
"There is no 'slippery slope' toward loss of liberty," Simpson said, "only a long staircase where each step down must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders."
To which: Hear, hear.
December 18, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 51
© 2003 Metro Pulse
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