The first amendment to the constitution of the United States of America reads as follows: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I think that makes it rather clear. The United States is not a Christian nation. Neither is it a nation devoted to Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or any other faith. The United States of America is a secular nation. It is a republic and it is our duty as citizens of that republic to honor the laws of that nation. If we choose to practice civil disobedience, then we must be ready to pay the consequences of those actions. According to the first amendment, we have the right to protest through peaceable assembly and to seek redress of grievances in the courts.

There is a huge movement afoot to take away the independence guaranteed by the first amendment. They would decide the morality of issues based upon their interpretation of the bible which consists of both the Hebrew and Christian writings. Their causes include prohibiting abortion, sex education in the schools, teaching of evolution, gay marriage, stem cell research, cloning, euthanasia and many other right wing causes.

If we cave in to these people, then we will have lost the precious freedoms that we and our ancestors have cherished. My ancestors were persecuted for their faith in Switzerland and Germany; states ruled by the churches of their time. One of my ancestors was beheaded along the Limmat River in Zurich because he was rebaptized as an adult. And so, they came to Pennsylvania and enjoyed the religious freedom offered by William Penn in his Noble Experiment. That's right; liberalism arose, not in Massachusetts, but in Pennsylvania.

One of the problems presented by the religious right is that they spread misinformation. (Thou salt not bear false witness.) They tell us, "The supreme court outlawed prayer in the public schools." That is simply not true. The Supreme Court ruling said in effect that school districts, representatives of the government, may not prescribe prayer. After all, whose prayer would it be? Would it be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Animism, or some other faith? They describe people who agree with the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade as being pro-abortion. Nothing could be further from the truth. These people are for the right of women to choose for themselves whether or not to have an abortion. I could go on with other examples, but you get the idea.

There is also a great deal of contradiction in the positions of the religious right. They want to protect the unborn fetus, yet they are willing to see 100,000 Iraqi citizens, men, women, and children die for the American empire. What is pro-life about that? They call for the execution of persons who have been convicted of crimes. What is pro-life about that? They seem to always be defending militarism. What is pro-life about that? Again, you get my point.

What can we do to prevent the erosions of our freedoms? First of all, we must stay informed of what is happening in our country. We must be ever alert to the small steps that cause us to lose one freedom at a time. Secondly, we must work for the election of politicians who favor the preservation of our freedoms, be they Republican, Democrat, or of a third party. Finally, we must all exercise our franchise at the polls. It is a sad commentary on the citizens of this country that so few vote on Election Day. The religious right does a good job of getting their people to the polls. We who love freedom must do the same. Thanks for listening to the ramblings of the Old Professor.