For close to 200 years since our nation\u2019s founding in 1776, God was ever present in our public schools, and certainly present at graduation. The U.S. Supreme Court began its attempt to forbid prayer and God in our schools in 1957. For nearly this past half century, God\u2019s been banned. Their ruling was predicated upon a convoluted interpretation of our Constitution\u2019s First Amendment that states, \u201cCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion\u2026\u201d Meaning, the United States Congress shall not establish a Church of the United States. The Church of England was the national religion in the former country of many of our nation\u2019s founders. They absolutely said no to such an entity.
The absence of religious influence in our schools, over these many years, has been a contributor to the unprecedented violence we now see consuming our Nation. During my years in Glenwood\u2019s high school, as well as across our state, prayer was present and violence was rare, even with guns everywhere. It was common during deer and elk hunting season to allow rifles to be stored in students personal hallway lockers.
However, it\u2019s remarkable that the Pledge of Allegiance is allowed in Colorado\u2019s schools. The Supreme Court took their thumbs off the scale for a moment and concluded \u201cone nation under \u2018God\u2019\u201d to mean \u201cone nation under \u2018Ceremonial Deism.\u2019\u201d A witch\u2019s caldron might give you a whiff of what that means.
The Declaration of Independence tells us, citizens \u201care endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.\u201d It would take thousands of pages to document the words of our early statesmen and presidents that blend God within our government. Even to this day, the Supreme Court begins a session with \u201cGod save the United States and this Honorable Court.\u201d This may be uncomfortable for a few of the justices.
The National Archives contain many documents relating to God. Religious inscriptions are found everywhere on Washington\u2019s buildings, monuments and statues, as well as in every state of our union. Will our courts forevermore erased centuries of history?
Floyd Diemoz,
Glenwood Springs<\/p>\n