The Freedom From Religion Foundation has sent the Kentucky governor a missive chiding him for imposing his biblical (im)morality on his state.
Gov. Matt Bevin recently posted a video message on his official Twitter feed encouraging all students in Kentucky to participate in āBring Your Bible to School Dayā on Oct. 4. The day is a pet project of the religious fundamentalists at Focus on the Family. The organization makes clear that the real purpose behind the day is evangelism: āThe event is designed to empower you as a student to express your belief in the truth of Godās Word ā and to do so in a respectful way that demonstrates the love of Christ.ā
It is a fundamental principle of the U.S. Constitution that our government cannot in any way promote, advance, or otherwise endorse religion, FFRF Co-President Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor remind the governor in the letter. Likewise, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which he took an oath to uphold, guarantees: āNo preference shall ever be given by law to any religious sect, society or denomination; nor to any particular creed, mode of worship or system of ecclesiastical polity.ā
The freedom of conscience enshrined in the First Amendment and the Kentucky Constitution means that the government has no business telling citizens which god ā if any ā to believe in, or which holy book to read and propagate. FFRF asks Bevin to imagine the uproar had he encouraged the schoolchildren of Kentucky to bring their Qurans to school and tell everyone all about Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.
In promoting this contrived day of evangelism, Bevin recited a litany of Christian Nationalist talking points, saying: āThe bible is an amazing document. It has an incredible amount of history, knowledge, wisdom, guidance ā things our Founders understood and took to heart as they set this entire nation in motion.ā
Contrary to Bevinās notions, the United States of America was actually founded on the radical new ideas of the Enlightenment, not the antiquated orthodoxy of the bible. āOur Founders rejected divine tyranny and instead set out on a grand experiment in self-government and self-determination that necessarily required the severance of the church from the state,ā Barker and Gaylor declare.
Bevin also misinforms citizens about āhow our Founding Fathers used biblical principles to draft the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, [and] the Bill of Rights.ā Our nation is founded not on Christian doctrine, but on our secular and godless Constitution whose only references to religion are exclusionary. The Declaration of Independence is based on the idea that āgovernments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governedā and does not contain a single mention of āGod,ā āJesus,ā or ābiblical principlesā anywhere. And the myriad ways in which the principles of fairness, equal justice, and the rule of law encapsulated in our Bill of Rights contradict ābiblical principlesā are far too numerous to list here.
The Founders understood that a government free from religion is the only guarantor of religious freedom for all. The abuse of Bevinās government position to endorse the bible shows a clear lack of understanding of this bedrock principle of American government. The governor of Kentucky needs to heed the words of one of its most celebrated sons, Sen. Henry Clay: āAll religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty.ā
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has more than 32,000 members and several chapters around the country, including members in Kentucky and a Kentucky chapter. FFRF defends the constitutional separation between state and church and educates the public on matters relating to nontheism.
Photo Via Shutterstock By Patrick Delahanty