— By Rock Roth
I have (or had) a very long ‘Chaplain’s Corner’ for the month of September. Upon re-reading it, I found it could be viewed by some as ‘partisan’ and leaning toward ‘conservatism’. That started me thinking. How much latitude do I have as Post Chaplain? For answers, I went to VFW’s By-Laws and Manual of Procedures to see what it said about ‘The Chaplain’. I could find little, which is not surprising. What I did find stated that the Chaplain “shall be concerned with the spiritual needs of the members and by precept and example point the way toward a high moral plane for the organization.” Boy that was helpful!
In searching for that “high moral plane”, what could be higher than the First Amendment to the Constitution which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” Freedom of religion not freedom from religion, clearly a much different perspective than ‘some’ would have us believe. Nowhere in the Constitution could I find any mention of a separation the church and state; in fact our Founding Fathers clearly believed in religion and in God. (A vast majority of our Founding Fathers attended church on a regular basis.) Read the Declaration of Independence if you doubt they believed in God – “…Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”, “…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”, “…Supreme Judge of the World”, “…divine Providence.” My point is we are (or should be) “One Nation Under God”. We each should be free to worship God in the manner we choose and not as someone chooses for us. Of course, we should also be free to not worship – if we so choose. An American who is of the Muslim faith has the right to worship as he or she sees fit. However, a Muslim, or anyone else, has no right to dictate or influence (beyond the use of the freedom of speech) how you or I choose to worship. Freedom of religion not freedom from religion!
As a student of the Bible’s Old Testament, I am constantly reminded that Israel ‘seemed’ to be successful as long as she follow God’s Commandments. When Israel drifted away and worshiped “other or foreign gods” they ran into serious trouble; they never seemed to learn – drift away, return to God, drift away, return to God. I frequently ask myself, “Why? Can’t they learn? Don’t they see what happens to them each time they turn away from God? Are they that dumb?” No, they weren’t dumb and, unfortunately, the Israelites were not so much different than modern American. Can’t we learn? Don’t we see the lessons offered by history? Don’t we see what happens when nations turn away from God putting themselves – man – in God’s position? Apparently not! We as a nation need – must – reaffirm and follow policies that reflect that we are “One Nation Under God” and that we recognize God is in charge and not us. God has granted – given us as Americans a wonderful gift – “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” If we don’t protect our God Given Rights we will lose them. Without God we cannot continue to serve humanity as that “Shining Beacon of liberty”.