Maybe We Need More Agnostic Americanism”
(Madison, Wis.) Tennessee’s Senator Lamar Alexander needs a refresher course in civil liberties, says the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Alexander gave his “maiden speech” before the U.S. Senate on March 4, to promote his new bill, the “American History and Civics Education Act,” a complicated measure allegedly designed to increase civics comprehension by teachers and students.
“If more future federal judges took more classes in those values, we might have fewer mind-boggling decisions like the one issued recently by the Ninth Circuit,” Alexander said.
In a letter to the senator, the Foundation wrote that it was puzzled how a study of American history and civics could lead Alexander to this conclusion:
“A thoughtful study of the history of state/church decisions–protecting youthful captive audiences from state proselytizing–leads inexorably to the conclusion reached by the Ninth Circuit” in the Pledge of Allegiance case.
The Foundation also took Alexander to task for “a slur upon millions of Americans,” when he condemned “this drift toward agnostic Americanism,” along with multiculturalism, bilingualism and diversity. His statement implies, the Foundation wrote, “that you believe minorities are second-class citizens.”
Foundation spokesperson Annie Laurie Gaylor added: “It would appear you have trouble with the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of ‘equal protection under the law’ and the Pledge’s concept of ‘liberty and justice for all.’ Perhaps before you lecture the nation on the need to go back to summer school, you might take a refresher course yourself in civics and civil liberties.”
In case you want to join the effort to enhance his civics understanding, Lamar’s address and email follow, along with the Foundation’s full letter:
Senator Lamar Alexander
141 Hart U.S. Senate
Washington DC 20510
Dear Senator Alexander:
On behalf of our national membership of atheists and agnostics, our state/church watchdog group is concerned about some of your remarks about the American History and Civics Education Act during your “maiden speech” on March 4, 2003.
We agree it is vital to teach civics to public school students. But we are puzzled at your understanding of American history and civics when it leads you to conclude that if more of us studied them, “we might have fewer mind-boggling decisions like the one issued recently by the Ninth Circuit.” On the contrary, a thoughtful study of the history of state/church decisions–predicated on protecting youthful captive audiences from state proselytizing–leads inexorably to the conclusion reached by the Ninth Circuit.
The only references to religion in our secular U.S. Constitution are exclusionary (such as there shall be no religious test for public office, Art. VI). The U.S. Constitution is a godless document. Its First Amendment, according to Pres. Thomas Jefferson, famously creates “a wall of separation between church and state.” Ours was the first constitution to invest sovereignty in “We, the People,” rather than a divinity. We think its status as the longest-lived and most successful founding document in history attests to the unity that is ensured by honoring the constitutional principle of separation of church and state.
The original Pledge was likewise godless and entirely secular. Congress unfortunately tampered with the Pledge in 1954, turning a patriotic pledge into a rote religious litmus test for schoolchildren.
Your reference to “this drift toward agnostic Americanism” appears to be is a slur upon many millions of Americans, simply for following their First Amendment right to freedom of conscience. Your remarks dissing agnostic Americans along with multiculturalism, bilingualism and diversity certainly imply that you believe minorities are second-class citizens. It would appear you have trouble with the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of “equal protection under the law” and the Pledge’s guarantee of “liberty and justice for all.”
Perhaps before you lecture the nation on the need to go back to summer school, you might take a refresher course yourself on civics and civil liberties.
Sincerely,
Annie Laurie Gaylor for Freedom From Religion Foundation
